We all know Christmas can be a time of year when we all indulge on extra snacks and treats that are higher in sugar and fat. If you are worried about the amount of unhealthy snacks your child is eating and want some inspiration, then this blog is perfect for you! These snacks are fun, simple, and tasty ideas of how to make this Christmas a healthier one by including some vegetable snacks for kids! This is also a great way to help combat fussy eaters and food refusal by making food fun!
Get your kids involved!
Getting your kids involved in helping make meals and snacks has many benefits including bonding time, greater awareness of food, and help with food security. Furthermore, it boosts confidence and helps enhance fine motor skills, maths skills, and reading skills. So, if you don’t already why not try to make these together this December using these ideas from the blog. If your child doesn’t want to help with the food prep or cooking just yet they can still get involved by setting the table, washing food such as fruit and vegetables, or serving up food!
You may be wondering what constitutes a healthy snack?
Nutritious snacks are those with high amounts of:
- Fruit and vegetables
Fruit and vegetables are rich sources of vitamins and minerals needed for your child’s growth and development. Think rainbow when it comes to selecting fruit and vegetables- different colours have different levels of vitamins & minerals so this helps optimise your intake. If your child doesn’t eat many fruit and vegetables at meal times, making fun snacks can help!
We’ve included 5 fun, nutritious fruit snacks within this blog to try with the little ones over this festive period. They are all super affordable and easy to make. To get started you will need a range of utensils but these should be readily available in your house already or you can use something similar to avoid you having to buy anything new. These include:
- Cocktail sticks
- Kid safe and friendly knives
- Cutters such as star /christmas tree/gingerbread men/snowmen
- Vegetable peeler
- Chopping boards
- Plates
- Novelty cups/bowls
Did you know you can purchase lots of kid’s utensils like safety knives, I have created a list on amazon to help (not an ad and you can purchase these items anywhere!) click here.
5 Creative Vegetable Snack Ideas:
1. Cucumber Christmas Tree
Delicious, tasty, and healthy. You can switch this up by using either cheese or carrots! Great party appetiser idea or add salad/sandwich to give it that festive look.
Ingredients:
- 1 small cherry tomato/carrot
- 1/3 cucumber
- ¼ slice of cheese
- 1 cocktail stick
Method:
- Cut cheese/carrots into a star shape using a cutter.
- If using carrot as the base cut into 1 thick circular ring.
- Slice cucumber using a vegetable peeler.
- Slide on cheese/carrot, cucumber, and tomato/carrot onto a cocktail stick.
- Serve and enjoy!
2. Pepper Christmas Tree
These Christmas Trees are stunning. Another incredible and simple idea. Perfect for an after school healthy snack.
Ingredients:
- ½ red pepper
- ½ green pepper
- ¼ slice of cheese
- 1 cocktail stick
Method:
- Cut cheese into a star shape using a cutter
- Cut red pepper and green pepper into 2 rectangular shapes (4 rectangular shapes in total)
- Slide on cheese and pepper slices onto a cocktail stick, alternating the peppers
- Serve up and enjoy!
3. Rudolf Celery
This Rudolf is so cute and would go down as a great after school snack for your little one.
Ingredients:
- ¼ Celery
- 1/3 Carrot
- 1 teaspoon Peanut butter
- 1-2 Pretzels
Method:
- Chop celery in four and use 1 slice of this.
- Spread peanut butter on top of the celery.
- Chop 1 slice of carrot and cut it in half to become the mouth. Place the mouth at the bottom, on top of the peanut butter.
- Place 1-2 pretzels at the top of peanut butter on each side as ears.
- Add novelty eyes if you wish to or add for example blueberries.
- Serve up and enjoy!
4. Avocado Christmas Tree
Try this healthy snack. Simple, yet effective and most of all – delicious! Great breakfast idea or tasty snack before bed!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Tortilla wrap (any other form of bread could be used)
- 1 Avocado
- 1 Cherry tomato
- ¼ Carrot
- ¼ Cheese slice
Method:
- Cut cheese and carrot into star shape using cutter.
- Chop cherry tomato and avocado in half.
- Scope out the avocado and spread onto tortilla wrap.
- Place tomato halves, star shaped cheese, and carrot on top of avocado.
- Serve and enjoy!
5. Christmas Crackers
Crackers are another healthy idea to give your kids this Christmas. A fun, tasty appetiser to have over the festive period.
Ingredients:
- 1-2 Crackers
- Cream cheese e.g., 1 triangle
- 1-2 slices of red/green Pepper
- 1-2 slices of Cucumber and Tomato
Method:
- Place 2 crackers on a side plate and add cream cheese.
- Cut all the vegetables into slices or you can use the Christmas cutters!
- Serve and enjoy!
You can also create festive vegetable pots which are great as a snack too. Using cups/bowls with favourite cartoon characters is a great way to change things up. You can also draw these on plastic cups/bowls!
If you have tried any of the healthy snack ideas within this blog, please do tag us, we’d love to see them!
Check out our Christmas article in Belfast Live here
Want more support?
Check out the Nutrition 4 Kids services to support parents with their kids eating with the aim to make them happy and healthy eaters. This includes 1:1 consultations, workshops, and online courses for babies, toddlers, and fussy eating. More information about all of these services is available on the website here.
Make sure to follow @Nutrition4kidsni on Instagram and Facebook where we regularly post lots of free content with recipes, advice, and nutrition information. We love to hear from our followers so if you’ve made any of our recipes or seen success from following our tips please tag or DM us!
Written by Dr Kirsty Porter