Fresh and dried fruits, as well as soft or cooked vegetables, are a great choice for healthy snacks. Avoid fruits that can be choking hazards like whole grapes or cherry tomatoes. You also might want to avoid hard vegetables like raw carrots. Choose fruits that are cut into small, bite-size pieces like apples, bananas, peaches or apricots. Cooked vegetable choices include asparagus tips, squash, zucchini or steamed cauliflower. Fruits and vegetables can be served with dips like hummus, or with a side of cheese, to make them more enticing.
Bread products paired with fruit, cheese, dips or spreads, make delicious, healthy snacks for preschoolers. Mini bagels with cream cheese, pita bread with hummus and English muffins with cottage cheese are all good choices. Cut your chosen bread product into bite-size pieces, and avoid any bread product with a lot of seeds that can be a potential choking hazard. You can also turn these snacks into mini-meals by including a variety of lunch meats.
Cheese and dairy products can be healthy snacks by themselves or paired with fruits, vegetable, whole grains or bread products. Cubed cheese slices, yogurt and cottage cheese can all be eaten as a stand-alone snack. For more variety, give the students fruit slices to dip in their yogurt or make fruit smoothies with frozen fruit, yogurt, milk and ice. For lactose-intolerant preschoolers, there are alternatives to cow's milk like soy, almond or rice milk products.
For healthy packaged snacks, look for products that include whole grains, oats or other high-fiber ingredients. Keep a close eye on the sugar content of packaged snacks and buy those with the words "whole grain" or "whole wheat" on the package. Crackers, pretzels and granola bars can all be found in healthy, whole-grain varieties. For a sweet treat, oatmeal cookies are a healthier alternative for the preschoolers.