Healthier Toddler Snacking: Healthy Snack Ideas for Toddlers on the Go

So you’ve made it through the breastfeeding/bottle feeding chapter - congratulations! You’ve introduced solids via baby led weaning, purees or a combination of the two. Now you have a toddler, AKA a snack monster, on your hands and you need ideas of how to keep them busy, smiling, growing, nourished and satisfied. 

Toddlers do usually need (and very much enjoy!) wholesome snacks to keep them going between meals. Incorporating toddler snacks into a consistent feeding schedule can help set expectations for when they’ll eat next and reduce the chances of spoiling their dinner. Aiming to offer snacks outside of the 2-3 hour window before lunch or dinner can be helpful. Don’t forget to also offer water as just like adults, hydration helps little ones to regulate their appetite. 

If you find your mini human is tugging at your ankles, desperate for a snack while you are preparing their next meal, try offering veggies (or fruit) so that you know they have had something nutritious but not too filling before the main meal.

Homemade or Packaged Snacks

As with meals and snacks for adults, homemade is usually always the healthier option for your toddler. This is because you can use wholefood ingredients, meaning they will be more nutrient dense and you can control the sugar and sodium content. Packaged snacks also often contain additives (colours, flavours, preservatives and emulsifiers) that are best avoided.

We really want to avoid added sugars in toddler snacks for several reasons. Firstly it is not good for their teeth! Secondly, if your child develops a “sweet tooth” at such an early age, this will likely influence their food preferences later in life and can lead to chronic health conditions associated with poor dietary choices. Thirdly, toddlers have a hard enough time stabilising their mood as it is, so we really want to help them avoid a sugar crash if possible, which can look like irritability amongst other things.

On an ingredients list, added sugars can appear as: sugar, raw cane sugar, glucose, fructose, corn syrup, maple syrup, honey, malt syrup, fruit juice and more. While some are better choices than others and are okay for the occasional treat, we don’t want them in everyday snacks. For example, added “apple fruit juice concentrate” contains a lot more sugar than just offering your child some fresh apple slices that come naturally packaged up with the fibre too! Using a mashed banana or stewed apples to sweeten baked items is a great option.

Regarding sodium, it is best to avoid packaged foods with a lot of added salt as tiny developing kidneys can only cope with small amounts. Home cooked food lightly seasoned with salt or stock is okay for toddlers, we do just need to be mindful of “salty foods”.

Nutrients of Focus

Regularly Offering your child different whole foods will both encourage healthy eating and positively influence their ongoing food preferences, it will also ensure they are consuming a variety of nutrients. In offering food this way, we do not need to count and monitor specific nutrient intake. However, there are a few particular nutrients we can aim to include regularly in our offerings which will help our little ones thrive.

The following nutrients, protein, fats and fibre have been highlighted particularly for their support of blood glucose regulation which in turn provides mood stabilisation and keeps your toddler satisfied for longer. Additionally Iron and Calcium are minerals of major importance during this period of growth and development.

Nutrient Dense Snack Ideas 

If your toddler is anything like mine, sometimes (often) snacks get thrown on the floor, so I love to be able to offer nutrient dense delicious toddler snacks that also require minimum effort so that it is not too heartbreaking if they aren’t fully appreciated every time!

-  Pancakes made using rolled oats (blended to flour) or buckwheat flour with egg, mashed banana and cinnamon to sweeten

-  Muffins made using wholemeal flour (or alternative flour) with grated apple, carrot and cinnamon

-  Chickpea flour pancakes (can be used as pizza bases)

-  Chickpea flour fritters with grated veggies, peas or corn, cooked in extra virgin olive oil

-  Overnight oats made using soaked rolled oats and hemp seeds or chia seeds, served with natural yogurt and berries 

-  Chia pudding made with milk and fruit of choice, alcohol free vanilla extract

-  Cookies made from rolled oats, mashed banana, sultanas, cinnamon and nut butter or tahini 

-  Wholemeal sourdough toast with nut butter and chia jam or smashed berries

-  Avocado, hummus and cheese on toast, rice cakes or buckwheat cakes

-  Homemade sushi

-  Drained and rinsed butter beans straight from the tin/jar

-  Boiled or scrambled eggs

-  Mini frittatas made with roasted veggies

-  Banana bread made with wholemeal flour, almond flour or buckwheat flour with grated carrot or zucchini 

-  Smoothies with your choice of milk, frozen berries, frozen cauliflower, kale or zucchini (goes unnoticed), nut butter, hemp, chia or flax seeds, a date to sweeten 

-  Freeze leftover smoothies into ice lollies

-  Sliced banana, apple and pear with nut butter and cinnamon

-  Baked sweet potato wedges with hummus

-  Guacamole made with avocado, edamame lemon and garlic

-  Homemade bite sized savoury snacks such as: sweet potato tots, falafels, fish cakes

Visit The Whole Bowl Co. blog to find toddler snack recipes. We also love to use the following resources for ideas on toddler mealtimes: Solid Starts, Nourishing Bubs, Baby Food Bible, Boob to Food and more!

Written By Daisy Manson
BHSc + Nutrition, Co-Founder of The Whole Bowl Co., Mother of Toddler