Kids Healthy School Lunch & Snacks

Dangle a bag of chips in one hand and an apple in the other and your kid will dive at the chips every time. Kids like to munch and their growing bodies needs three healthy meals each day, as well as snacks. Their bodies require adequate energy for play, growth, and learning. Since your child spends a good portion of his day at school, packing a healthy lunch is essential. Including snacks that benefit his body will encourage a lifetime of good eating habits.

School lunches don't need to consist of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day. Some children aren't fond of breads. Try filling pita pockets with their favorite lunch meat and cheese or even peanut butter and jelly. Make sandwiches from tortillas and roll up this new type of "sandwich" to encourage your child to consume his main course before the snacks. Lunch's main course doesn't always need to be a sandwich. Purchase a small thermos and heat up last night's leftovers, especially if your child really enjoyed the meal. Spruce up lunch by trying soups or pasta that your child loves. Lunchtime should be a fun time for your kid to enjoy his meal as well as visit with friends. He'll soon be the envy of every kid with the cool parents who pack the best lunch in the school.

It's tempting to purchase the cheapest pack of juice boxes at the grocery. However, consider the sugar content in the product before buying juice boxes. All natural juice boxes contain only natural sugars; 100 percent fruit juice are best. Try popping a small bottle of water into the lunch box or purchasing milk at school for your child. Healthy drinks are just as much a part of a healthy diet as the main course of the meal.

A whole apple isn't nearly as appealing to a child as a baggie full of apple slices. Cut up your child's fruit into manageable chunks to encourage little fingers to eat this healthy food. Ready to eat orange slices or loose grapes are much more appealing to children when they don't have to work for their food. Vary the fruits that you put in your child's lunch. You can also include all-natural applesauce or fruit cups (in fruit juice, not heavy syrup) in your child's lunch for variety and to satisfy their sweet tooth. Getting your child to eat more vegetables might be more of a challenge. Try cutting up the veggies into interesting shapes and including salad dressing for dipping. Pack a salad with your child's favorite vegetables and dressing. Put condiments in separate container to keep vegetables from getting soggy.

School lunch snacks are fine in moderation. You should speak to your child about eating his main course first before consuming snacks. It's truly amazing how parents can tell the success of a lunch by the leftover trash in a lunchbox. Kids are notoriously naïve and will put whatever they don't eat right back into their lunch box. This is your parental cue to observe your child's eating habits. A few snacks are fine as long as your child is eating the larger, main meal at lunch. A good mixture of healthy food and one to two snacks is fine for lunch. While you're trying to teach good eating habits, you don't' want to completely discourage your child with boring foods. Include condiments such as ketchup or salsa for dipping tortilla chips so he enjoys his lunchtime snacks.

Healthy after-school snacks require some planning and preparation by mom. It's very tempting for a kid to grab a bag of chips if better choices aren't available. Ice cream or cookies satisfy that after-school sweet tooth. Brownies and the caffeine boost go a long way to charging those tired kid batteries for an afternoon of play. The burst of energy from sugar and caffeine are often short lived. Your kid will be right back in the kitchen munching again within a short amount of time. Encourage healthy after-school snacking by having cut up fruits and vegetables available. Purchase their favorite dressings and dips to encourage eating. Provide cut up cheeses (some come ready-to-serve in individual packages). Whole-wheat mini bagels, pizza sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese make a quick and healthy pizza for an after-school snack. Cut up some bananas, roll them in tasty yogurt and freeze the pieces over night. The kids can pop these tasty treats all afternoon without you worrying about the sugar content in their food. Dried fruit or nuts are a healthy snack. Encourage you child to munch on trail mixes instead of chips. You can make your own by including raisins, low-salt nuts and seeds. Better yet, let your child pick and choose what he likes in his own mixture and allow him to be the chef. Provide lowfat yogurt for eating as well as making fruit smoothies. Encourage your child to man the blender. A simple smoothie recipe includes flavored yogurt, strawberries, milk and vanilla.