Healthy Snacks For School (A Dietitians List!)
Having healthy snacks for school are essential to fuel your children through all of their learning and play throughout the school day. Here are my dietitian picks for healthy schools snacks that are lunchbox friendly and easy to grab and go!
While we spend plenty of time worrying about healthy meals for students, healthy school snacks are just as essential to fueling our kids throughout their school days as main meals.
As an extra opportunity to nourish, hydrate, and stave off distracting hunger, packing school snacks that are healthy is an easy way to help your child thrive at school. With so many snack options and recipes on the market, you may be feeling overwhelmed with which healthy snacks to try!
That’s where I come in! As a registered dietitian and mom of two, I constantly walk the fine line between the dietitian mom who wants healthy snacks and the real-life mom who realizes some healthy snacks won’t actually be eaten. I gathered a few of my healthy snack ideas that I regularly send with my son to school and put them in a list for you to have.
Let’s get to the list and happy snacking!
Healthy Snacks For School
Why are snacks for kids important?
It’s important to fuel your children throughout the school day and serving school snacks for kids play a key role in that fueling. As a registered dietitian and mom, snacks for kids are important because they can:
1) Manage hunger levels and increase attention in class!
School days are long and with long time gaps between main meals, snacks can help bridge the gap to avoid your children getting over hungry and losing focus during class. Because when your stomach is grumbling, how are you supposed to focus on multiplication?!
Offering healthy snacks between breakfast and school lunch has plenty of health benefits but most importantly, they manage hunger and blood sugar levels. By avoiding low blood sugar, you can also stave off any feelings of hanger that may become distracting during school.
2) School snacks provide essential calories, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
With a full day of learning, school activities, and even after school sports or commitments, meeting your children’s high nutritional needs can be really difficult when you rely solely on breakfast and lunch! Healthy snacks at school can an additional opportunity to nourish your child.
Healthy snacks provide nutrients like protein, fiber, and micronutrients that support your children’s growth and development while also fueling them as they learn and play!
4) School snacks can be hydrating.
In the ongoing attempt to avoid needing to leave class to use the restroom, dehydration can actually be very common among students. Especially if they are not using a portable water bottle throughout their school day!
Luckily, our hydration comes from both what we drink AND what we eat so offering hydrating school snacks that have a higher water content or hydrating electrolytes such as fruit, vegetables, and dairy products can actually help keep your children hydrated throughout they day.
5) Healthy school snacks can remove the “perfect” mealtime pressure.
Nutrient dense snacks can help your kids increase their calories, vitamin, and mineral intake by providing extra eating opportunities throughout the day. Essential when they are spending over 8 hours on school grounds!
While this is helpful on a physical front, it can also help reduce the mental load of needing to create perfectly balanced, calorically sufficient meals when you are hurrying your kids out the door in the morning or are married to a brown bag lunch that your children may or may not eat.
Toddler Snack Ideas
Need daycare snack ideas? Here are a few toddler snack ideas!
What are good snacks for school?
There are lots of different ways that you can go with a healthy school snack... many options are backpack friendly while other healthy school snacks will require a cold pack in a lunch box! Generally, the snack should provide healthful calories, key nutrients, and be balanced in macros to sustain energy levels.
For this healthy school snack list, I separated them into backpack friendly snack ideas as well as some healthy lunchbox recipes that can be kept cool with a coolpack and enjoyed throughout the day. There are also some school snack idea recipes for you to prep beforehand to keep things easy for you.
School snacks for kids (backpack friendly!)
Trail-mix, nuts, and seeds
For older children, trail mix made up primarily of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit is a healthy snack idea for school that is easy to pack into lunch boxes or sold in individual snack packs that can be kept in a backpack. Nuts are a great example of dairy free snacks for kids but also check the box on diabetic snacks for kids because they are low carb, high in fat, and higher in plant based protein.
You can make your own trail-mix by blending your favorite nuts, seeds, and fruit or buy a packaged option. Some of my dietitian favorites are:
Freeze dried fruit
Some fresh fruits are school friendly, freeze dried and baked fruit options are one of my go-to healthy school snacks that I know my son will always eat. They are full of fiber, micronutrients, and antioxidants and is easy to pair with a protein containing food for a balanced school snack.
You can buy freeze fried or baked fruit from just about any grocery store or try some of these ones:
Freeze Dried Fruit Crisps Variety Pack
Freeze Dried Strawberry and Bananas
Bare Baked Variety Pack (a great chip alternative!)
Dried fruit
If your student doesnt love freeze dried fruit then you can try dried fruit instead. Dried apricots, prunes, raisins, or other dried fruit options are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber making them perfect for a mess free school snack.
When choosing a dried fruit, be sure to choose one that is unsweetened with no added sugar! Here are a few of my favorites for my kids:
Unsweetened dried mango (my sons favorite!)
Roasted chickpeas
If you want a healthy crunchy snack then roasted chickpeas should be added to your backpack. Full of plant based protein and fiber, roasted chickpeas can be found in a variety of flavors and are a good alternative to the classic corn nut. Plus, they are a great vegan school snack idea and also a dairy free protein options if you needed dairy free school snacks for kids.
Here are my favorites:
Whole grain cereal
If you want something with a little bit more sustenance, especially if you student is going to be at school for a long time, then pack a bag or box of whole grain cereal that is higher in fiber. Pair your cereal selection with a protein containing food like jerky or a cheese stick for a balanced snack.
Greek yogurt pouches or drinkable yogurts
While these will require a cold pack in your lunch box, greek yogurt pouches are a protein school snack idea that I reach for time and time again. No spoon required! I like to look for a no sugar added greek yogurt pouch to cut back on sugar for kids.
Roasted edamame beans
Similar to the roasted chickpeas, roasted edamame beans are one of my dietitian go-to crunchy snacks for my kids. Edamame is full of high quality, complete protein and these roasted snack bags make it backpack friendly and an easy high protein low carb school snack.
Please note that edamame and chickpeas are both small in size so make sure you are offering them to a child who is developmentally ready to eat them safely!
Crunchy corn
Another great school snack idea with simple ingredients and a tasty crunch are crunchy corn snacks. This can take the place of a chip, nut, or cracker and has a corn nut like feel making it great for snacking! Here are a few of me and my sons favorites:
Harvest snaps
As a registered dietitian, one of my all time favorite snacks for my son are harvest snaps. Made from baked pea pods, harvest snacs contain plant protein and make you feel just like you are eating a chip! They also come in delicious flavors that my son loves… which is an added bonus.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Dried Fruit Bars
Dried fruit is one healthy school snack options but sometimes the small size of dried fruits like prunes and raisins feels like it could be a mess in a lunchox or backpack. To avoid any mess and make them easy to back on busy school mornings, I recommend bringing dried fruit bars instead:
Low Sugar Granola Bars
Granola bars are classic school snack idea that are easy to put in your backpack or eat as after school snacks for kids. While their marketing can be deceptive, some granola bars are loaded with sugar so it’s important to find low sugar granola bars that won’t lead to a blood sugar crash.
A few low sugar granola bar options are:
Lara Bars
80 Acres Bars
Oatmeal energy bites
When I want a hearty school snack for my son I pack him oatmeal energy bites. They are incredibly easy to make (try this recipe or this recipe), can be a great source of nutrition, and can be filled with different mix ins like dried fruit, seeds, or flax seeds. Plus, they can be fully customized it you need a nut free school snack idea.
When I’m making energy bites for my son, I like to fill my oatmeal energy bites with nut butter, nuts, and seeds as the protein source instead of using protein powder but you can also boost the protein content by choosing a recipe with protein powder in it.
Fruit slices or a hard exterior fruit
Apple slices and fresh berries are always healthy idea for school snacks but you can also pack whole fruits like apples or easy peel mandarins, which are perfect for kids to peel on their own!
Fruit: Apples, citrus like oranges or easy peel mandarins, grapes, pears.
Vegetables: Celery, carrot sticks, sugar snap peas, radishes, jicama, and cauliflower or broccoli florets.
Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are one of my favorite dietitian snacks for me and my kids. While brands vary, one serving of raw pumpkin seeds has about 4 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein!
They are high protein and gluten free plus they are allergen friendly so a great allergen friendly school snack idea if you have a child with allergens or a classroom restriction. You can try them flavored or unflavored (my personal favorite!)
Popcorn
Popcorn is a fantastic chip alternative that is a whole grain snack and easy to pack for a healthy school snack You can bring bags of popcorn or make your own snack mix at home that is blended with popcorn, nuts, seeds, and seasonings for flavors.
As with the roasted edamame, popcorn can be a choking hazard so be sure to offer it to children you are developmentally ready to safely eat it at school.
Beef jerky (or meat stick)
Meat sticks are a convenient, protein packed, and an easy school snack idea to toss into your backpack. Here are a few of my favorite brands:
100% baked vegetable chips
If your kids love to snack on chips but you want to offer a chip alternative then try out some 100% vegetable chips. Similar to freeze dried or baked fruits, there are baked vegetable chips that are lightly salted or unsalted and offer more nutrition than a regular chip.
A few of my favorites are:
Fresh Vegetables
Celery, carrot sticks, cucumber slices, and sugar snap peas are popular fresh vegetables to send as a school snack idea that’s healthy, mess free, and perfect to dunk into a ranch dip, hummus, or simple guacamole like my 4 ingredient guacamole recipe.
Want to add some flavor? Try sending this marinated cucumber snack and you can choose to add the spice level depending on what your student loves.
Roasted seaweed
Delicious? Yes. A little stinky? Also yes. Roasted seaweed is a unique healthy school snack that is loaded with nutrients like healthy fats and iodine. Iodine is essential for a childs brain development, so try out some seaweed in their backpack!
Dried cheese crisps
A high protein alternative to chips are these baked parmesan crisps. With 9 grams of protein per serving, these baked crisps are the perfect high protein school snack to fuel your growing children’s muscles.
Whole grain crackers
Whole grain crackers are always a great snack for school and pair well with nut butters, dried cheese crisps, or a packed string cheese that you have in your backpack. I like to pack a high fiber, whole grain cracker that has at least one gram of fiber per 10 grams of carbohydrates.
Nut butter packs
Individual nut butter packs are a great way to include heart healthy fats in your childs school snacks but without the large peanut butter container. These grab and go packs pair well with fresh bananas, fruits crisps, whole grain crackers, or on whole grain bread for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
String cheese
Similar to the greek yogurt pouch, a string cheese is my other go-to protein snack to send to school. I recommend keeping a string cheese cold for about 2 hours to ensure its safety or packing it with a small cooler bag for longer school days.
Fruit Pouches
100% fruit pouches are another great way to offer fruit at school and are perfect for both toddlers and students! Be sure to choose a fruit pouch that has no added sugar and is made with 100% fruit like
Individual hummus cups with veggies
While this will require a cool pack in a lunchbox, individual hummus cups are a healthy school snack idea that offers more fiber than other options.
Easy School Snack Recipes:
Sometimes finding snacks for kids requires a little prep work on your Sunday to have healthy kids snacks ready to go throughout the week. Here are a few recipes or blogs from my website that you could make and send to school as a healthy school snack idea!
Peanut Butter and Banana Roll Ups
Use a whole grain tortilla, spread on an even layer of peanut butter then top it with a thin layer of sliced banana. Roll your tortilla into a tight roll up and slice it into 5-6 pieces. This is perfect for a healthy school snack that features fruit, fiber, and healthy fats.
Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Energy Bites
These oatmeal energy bites are made with just three ingredients and have some fat, protein, and fiber in them to help keep your kids energized throughout the school day. Feel free to add some chocolate chips or other mix in’s that will make them more enticing to your kids!
Celery and Peanut Butter
Celery and peanut butter was a staple healthy snack for school when I was growing up and its still
Blueberry Cottage Cheese Muffins
These blueberry cottage cheese muffins are a fun snack to pack in your childs lunchbox or backpack. Made with creamy cottage cheese, this blueberry muffin recipe is slightly higher in protein and slightly lower in added sugar than your traditional blueberry muffin recipe. Your kids will love them!
4 Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Use up your spotted bananas to prep these easy 4 ingredient banana oatmeal cookies. They are a toddler friendly snack, easy to prepare ahead of time, and are the perfect thing to put into a lunchbox for daycare snack ideas or to serve to your older kids for a healthy breakfast cookie.
Apple and Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates
These easy caramel apple stuffed dates are a healthy school snack idea that satisfies a sweet tooth and nourishes a growing body. Medjool dates stuffed with peanut butter, tart green apples, and topped with crunchy granola or chopped nuts are the perfect sweet treat or addition to any snack board!
High Fiber Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
If you want a hearty snack, especially for a healthy after school snack idea then I would recommend packing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole grain bread. Make a high fiber jam with this easy raspberry jam recipe with chia seeds to sneak some extra color and fiber into your students diet!
Veggies and Cottage Cheese Ranch Dip
This 2 ingredient cottage cheese ranch dip is the perfect high protein dip recipe to prep on a sunday and serve your kids throughout the week. You can easily scoop some healthy ranch dip into a metal bento box, serve it with fresh veggies like carrots and celery, and serve it as a healthy lunchbox idea.
Apple Slices with Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Dip
Mixing peanut butter in greek yogurt is an easy high protein fruit dip option that you can put into a metal bento box, pair with apple slices, and serve as a high protein school snack idea.
High Protein Granola
I love to prep this high protein granola recipe on a sunday and serve clumps of it as a high protein snack for my son. It has no protein powder making it kids friendly and features protein and microutrients of nuts and seeds. Its a great vegan school snack idea, is a dairy free snack, and blood sugar friendly for those who need a diabetic snack idea for kids.
The takeaway:
Offering snacks for kids can nourish your children and keep them growing and learning throughout their school day. From grab and go options to ones that you can prep at home, there are plenty of healthy school snacks ideas to choose from!
Liked this review? Check out some of my other deep dives:
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Hey! I’m Lauren
I’m a Registered Dietitian and busy toddler mom committed to bringing you delicious, nutritious, and easy-to-make recipes!