It’s so easy to buy pre-packaged snacks for toddlers.

The health food aisle at your supermarket is bulging with little packets that easily slip into your handbag, and some of them even have the word HEALTH in their title so they must be ok, right?

Hmmmm, not so much.

I think the best way to look at these pre-packaged snacks is as a sometimes food, and not as your every day go to munchables. Anything with sneaky numbers and preservatives should be limited, but thankfully there are a gazillion other options for little bellies to munch on. Sometimes we just need a little inspiration.

This is the age where you can train their taste buds into eating what you ultimately want them to eat when they hit the fussier years.

If they’re used to being offered fruits and vegetables, and snacks not laden with sugar and salt then they will be more likely to continue accepting these food choices as they grow.

Naturally, this is not fool proof as children are all unique little snowflakes!

There are a few things I look for in a toddler friendly snack:

• Firstly, I will say that for any age the best snack is fruit. At least one snack per day should be fruit, and two pieces per day is recommended. You could offer it in different ways if your child is unlikely to nosh a whole apple.
• Smoothies or muffins with fruit are great. Fruit salad with yoghurt is yummy and you can even freeze your fruit and blend it all up for a delicious sorbet.
• Little portion controlled packs of little bite sized snacks are brilliant for when you need them to sit still and be quiet so they’re perfect for journeys or waiting rooms. Yoghurt pouches are fine but ensure you get ones with as little sugar as possible. Many of them have up to 16g of sugar which is 4 teaspoons!!
• Nutritious things that can be eaten on the go, and healthy things that can double as a meal go a long way in my book because then if someone falls asleep en route you know they won’t wake hungry. Toddlers are such busy creatures. It’s not easy to sit down and concentrate on shoveling a snack into your mouth when your attention span is limited and the world is so full of pretty kaleidoscopic distractions.

Let me share with you 5 of my all time favorite toddler snacks:

Fun mix bags

A small snack sized zip lock bag with a mixture of cut up dried fruit and sultanas, puffed corn and puffed brown rice (health food aisle), and a couple of pretzels. Alternatively, you could try grapes, cucumber, dried fruit and cheese stars or cubes.

Triple C Pikelets

These Triple C Vegetable Pikelets are great because you can hide all sorts of vegetables in them, they are very portable, and they double as lunch or brunch for the whole family should you desire making your life easier.
I’m a huge fan of making life easier.

Healthy Choc Chip Cookies
When I discovered these Healthy Choc Chip Cookies I thought all of my Christmases has come at once. Just by their very name and nature they give the impression of a treat but they are actually a great snack choice… and they’re pretty delish with a cup of tea.

Cheese and Chutney Tortilla Stars
I always have tortillas in my house. They are super versatile and take only minutes to prepare. For this I just grab two tortillas, smear on some fruit chutney onto one, top with grated cheese and sandwich the other tortilla on top before quickly dry frying each side in a fry pan until lightly golden.
If your tortillas a nice and fresh you may like to eat them untoasted.
I cut mine into shapes with cookie cutters, but you can just chop into wedges and stick them in a lunchbox for when you’re out and about.

Smoothies
Toss some yoghurt, banana and chopped fruit into the blender with a splash of apple juice or milk. Add a little honey, a leaf or two of spinach and they will never know it’s good for them. Alternatively, toss this mix into icy pop moulds and freeze them for a delicious healthy ice treat.

For more inspiration for feeding your family head over to Keeping Up With The Holsbys and check out all of my other scrumptious ideas.
Alternatively, you can buy my book and have me in your kitchen to help you out all of the time. Head to the Holsby Shop now!

If you purchase ‘Cook Once Feed All’ in the next 48 hours you will also receive the ebook version, and my mini ebook ‘A Bit On The Side’ which is full of sides and salads for the whole family.