This post is sponsored by Coles

Whilst we plan our dinners for the family and make healthy lunch boxes for the kids, creating a healthy after school snack can be an afterthought, which may result in reaching for sugary treats.

Kids need to eat a healthy snack to refuel after a very long day, giving them the energy to continue through the afternoon with homework, after school activities and to tide them over until dinner.

Creating a healthy snack doesn’t need to be hard or tasteless.  Mix it up from the obvious fruit as a healthy choice, easily served sliced or whole and get a little creative, it’s an exciting way for the kids to discover new flavours.  I’ve shared some creative ideas below and also included links to the products for ease to add to your shopping cart if you do your grocery shopping online with Coles.

Tips to creating a healthy after school snack:

• Don’t have unhealthy snacks at easy reach in the pantry
• For the best flavour, quality and price choose product that is in season
• Coles have 12 weekly fresh fruit and veg specials, which can help you create something a little different than your usual snack.  View this weeks specials here.
• Children’s appetite my change each day depending on their activity levels, allow them to choose how much they want to eat
• Create variety each day so they don’t get bored of the same foods
• Giving kids healthy snacks will help support lifelong healthy eating habits
• When used in moderation nut butters/spreads are filling and healthy
• Take after school snack time as an opportunity to chat to your child about their day.  Find some conversation starter ideas here. 

Healthy after school snack ideas

Fruit Ideas

Rainbow Fruit Cups – Fill cups (I’ve used reusable plastic cups for the kids) with fruits current in season (I’ve used watermelon, nectarine, banana and grapes).  Leave plain or add a dollop of yoghurt.  I’ve added blueberries to my sons cup as they were one of Coles weekly fresh special products, his favourite which I don’t buy often, only when on sale.

Frozen grapes – wash grapes, place on a single layer on a baking tray and put in the freezer overnight. Remove from tray and store in an airtight container. Refreshing after school snack on those hot days.

Apple slices with peanut butter and sultanas – remove apple core (i use an apple corer, can be found in the kitchen utensil isle at the supermarket).  Using a sharp knife slice apple into 4 pieces.  Spread peanut butter over each slice, top 2 with sultanas and then place other apple slice on top.

Banana Sushi Rolls – Spread a layer of Nutella onto Mountain Bread, place a peeled banana at one end then roll and slice.  You could use peanut butter in place of nutella.

More fruit/veg sushi roll ideas:

• Peanut butter and banana
• Peanut butter, apple and sultanas
• Peanut butter, banana and museli
• Nutella, banana and coconut
• Hummus, capsicum and celery
• Peanut butter and celery
• Cream cheese, celery and capsium

Cracker/Bread Topping Ideas

There are many different healthy ideas and choices on what to put on top of a cracker, here are just a few:

Cheese and tomato on top of a salada, very simple, but the kids love it

Mashed avocado, tomato and fetta on a vita-wheat

Nut butter topped with sultanas on a sao.

A very different taste of promite and cottage cheese, my eldest daughters favourite

I’m sneaking this one in as a fun treat for the kids, nutella, banana and strawberries on a cruskit

more cracker topping ideas:

• cream cheese and tomato
• cream cheese and tuna
• cream cheese and strawberries
• peanut butter and banana
• tuna and cucumber
• vegemite and cheese
• cheese, tomato and avocado
• avocado and ham
• egg and ham
• mashed banana
• ricotta, grated carrot and sultanas
• you can also find more great ideas here at taste.com.au

Baking Ideas

Scones are very easy to make, I make mine a little differently to how granny made them back in the day, no kneading necessary.  View recipe here.

For a delicious alternative add in some pumpkin, view easy lemonade pumpkin scone recipe here.

Find more baking ideas here and here.

Dips

Beetroot dip –  Very easy to make, the recipe asks for 3 ingredients (yoghurt, beetroot and lemon juice) I only used two and the kids loved it, great for toddlers too.  View recipe here.

Serve with fruit sticks, crackers or turkish bread slices

Bacon and Onion Dip, served with vegetable sticks, view recipe here.

Find more dip recipes here and here.

Pre-packaged idea

For the days I am super busy (because we mums do have those moments!) I may give the kids a piece of fruit and one of the options below:

Helping you make a healthy choice

Confused about what is healthy or not, Coles have introduced the new Health Star Rating System.  Health Stars help take the guesswork out of healthy shopping by allowing you to quickly find and compare healthier food choices. You can do this by simply glancing at the overall Health Star Rating and choosing the food with the most stars.  Read more here.

I could easily continue with more ideas, but I think this is a great start with minimal effort.  I’m certain that your kids will enjoy these healthy after school snack ideas.

What do you make your kids as a healthy after school snack?

This post was coordinated by The Remarkables Group and run in accordance with my disclosure policy