I don’t know about your kids in the summer, but for whatever reason my kids turn into ravenous wolves and eat a ton all day long. Call it boredom, hearty appetites because of the heat, or having friends over. Either way, food disappears when my kids are home in the summer. With a few tips from some readers, I put together my go-to healthy and easy ideas for kid friendly summer snacks to satisfy those insatiable appetites.

Go-To Kid Friendly Summer Snacks

• Make balanced snacks. I like to add cheese, pretzels, grapes and carrots into containers. A little sweet combined with a little salty is an easy way to appease the little ones.
• Pre-cut up veggies and put them in containers in the fridge for easy grab and go. For carrots and celery I put water in the bottom to keep them from drying up.
• Place a container of snacks in the fridge for each child for the day. When their container is gone, the snacks are gone for the day.

• Have a schedule of when you have an “open kitchen”. This way your kids are not eating all day long and your kids know when the kitchen is closed.
• Place a snack basket out in the morning for kids to grab items. When they are gone, they are gone.
• Create a selection of protein picks that can already be cut up or placed in containers in the fridge/cupboard. These can be cold protein picks like summer sausage, turkey pepperoni, or canadian bacon slices. Good dry protein options are nuts.
• Instead of giving your kids popsicles or ice cream to fight the heat, give them frozen go-gurts or frozen grapes for a little more nutrition.

Cucumber Salad

Another tip for kid friendly summer snacks is to keep cold pre-made salads on hand that won’t go bad quickly. One of my favorites is my cucumber salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 large cucumbers, skinned
• 1 cup Feta Cheese
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 red onion cut up
• optional: cherry tomatoes

Mix everything into a bowl and serve, or let it marinate overnight. This salad is even better the next day which is why it is a great salad to make and put in the fridge.

Enjoy these tips for kid friendly summer snacks!

Brooke