Simple and Healthy School Snack Ideas

Our four-year-old is about to start junior kindergarten and I think I have a handle on most of what this entails. I bought her school clothes, lunch bags, lunch containers and backpack ages ago because I’m just a little bit Type A.

I have to admit to feeling a bit of trepidation when it comes to packing her lunch though as her school follows the Balanced School Day schedule. This means that instead of packing a single lunch for her, I will be packing her two separate “nutrition break” bags.

It is definitely going to take a little bit of creativity in order to keep her happy but satiated with the kind of food that will really fuel her day.

I’ve been preparing by drawing up a list of snack ideas for school lunches just to keep things simple. See, just a little Type A.

Simple and Healthy School Snack Ideas

Fruit such as Apples (cored, sliced and treated with lemon juice), Bananas, blueberries, melon, cherries, grape, kiwi, oranges, and strawberries. Unsweetened Applesauce, dried fruit, and fruit leather are also great ways to get in a serving or two of fruit.

Vegetables can be a hard sell, but try serving raw broccoli, carrot sticks, celery sticks, peppers or cherry tomatoes with guacamole or hummus. Homemade muffins can be a great way to sneak in some vegetables – zucchini muffins are a great example of this.

Whole grain breakfast cereal, crackers and tortillas are a great way to fill them up with grains. Rice cakes, air popped popcorn, baked whole-wheat tortilla chips, and granola are some other great options that are easy to eat.

Cheese is almost always going to be a hit, it’s so kid friendly and pairs well with some of the grain options. 

Last but not least is a healthy product that will definitely see the inside of her lunch bag almost daily throughout the coming year – iÖGO nanö yogurt tubes.

iÖGO nanö yogurt tubes

I recently had the opportunity to sample iÖGO nanö yogurt tubes in both blueberry and strawberry-melon flavours. My kids love yogurt tubes so these were an easy sell flavour-wise. I tried out both flavours myself too though and I was impressed with the freshness of the fruit flavour and the creamy, smooth texture of the yogurt. Personally, I think a lot of that great fresh fruit flavour is because iÖGO nanö is actually made with real fruit with no artificial colours or flavours.

The strawberry-melon flavour is my favourite of the two from the box I sampled. There is just something about the mellow-sweet flavour of melon that goes so well with yogurt. I can’t wait to try out the other flavours though.

What I like most about the iÖGO nanö yogurt tubes is just how convenient and perfect they are for busy Canadian parents like myself. There is no prep work involved, no wrapping up, and best of all they can be stored in the freezer so that the tube thaws just in time for lunch. Forget Pinterest, this is a snack idea that you and the kids can be enthusiastic about from the first day right through to the last day of school.

iÖGO nanö products are also available in a pouch, cup or spill-proof drink format. When shopping at your local supermarket be on the look-out for iÖGO nanö’s new product packaging and line of veggie flavours like blueberry-beet and peach-carrot.

#ReadySetNanö Contest

Starting on September 6th, you can tweet a photo of your first day of school experience for a chance to win 1 of 2 Back-to-School Prize Packs ($250 VISA + iÖGO vouchers). Be sure to follow @sheblogsMedia social media for more information on the #ReadySetNanö Contest!

Disclosure: Although this post has been generously sponsored by iÖGO, the opinions and language are my own.