Toddlers are Always Hungry and They Love to Snack! Time to Break out the Toddler Snacks: 10 Snack Ideas to Keep You and Your Toddler Happy

Your little one has started to crawl or started taking baby steps while holding your hand, and now you need to pay more attention to all his activities as this is the time when he starts to eat and drink eatables other than milk. This is also the time to develop his eating habits as good eating habits imbibed at an early age go a long way for his health, wellness and overall development.

Hence, it’s imperative to know about the healthy meals and snacks for your toddler while taking cues from him about his likes and dislikes. There may be few things he wouldn’t like to eat at all, but are full of proteins and vitamins. You can grind such things or mix with other food he likes, and this way he will consume those healthy items. Also, avoid eating fried and junk food in front of them as they are likely to insist on eating the same things.

Offer different foods so that they don’t get bored of eating a particular dish, have a peaceful family meal together and avoid distractions like TV and mobile, let him choose from varieties of the option of healthy meals and enjoy their food, learn simple recipes which are less time consuming and are full of nutrients and choose options which can be cooked and stored for few days.

Don’t allow your child to refuse or skip eating to grab your attention; else it will become a habit sooner or later. Never bribe or force your child to eat and never use the easy method of giving him a mobile to be engaged while he is eating. Don’t extend the meal times for more than half an hour, neither expect your child to finish off every meal. Try not to feed your child when he is asleep as it can lead to weight gain and dental problems. Don’t keep chocolates, sugary snacks, chips etc at home and don’t give up on new food as research says that it takes about eight to fifteen times before a child starts accepting a new food.

It can be a bit challenging to come up with tasty and healthy snack ideas for toddlers every day. There may be times when you are stuck with the same few food items for your toddlers and soon they start nagging about not eating the ‘usual stuff’. The snacks for toddlers listed below will give you ideas for variety as well as nutritious meals for your kids and can be made easily with items available at home.

Fruits are favourite food items for moms (and kids as well) as they are natural and full of essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Fruits like banana, grapes (vertically sliced in half), apple (thinly sliced), avocado, pomegranate, citrus fruits like orange have zero cholesterol and are rich in potassium, vitamin C, folic acid, dietary fibre and are naturally low in fat, calories and sodium.

Fibre is helpful in bowel function and reduces constipation problem, similarly folic acid helps in the growth of red blood cells and vitamin C is imperative for the growth and repair of tissues in the body, thus useful in faster healing of wounds. Apart from these fruits, toddlers also like Berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries), kiwi, melon and pears etc. Never provide fruits after meals to children, but as a snacking option in between meals. Also, if the toddler doesn’t like a particular fruit, you can use them in custard or fruit shake.

Green and leafy vegetables are a good source of iron, calcium, proteins and fibre. Encourage your toddlers to consume 5 – 6 different types of leafy veggies like lettuce, spinach, cabbage etc for different meals.

Toddlers also like boiled peas, cucumbers (diced or sliced), carrots (shredded), boiled sweet corn, cherry tomatoes and shredded beetroot. If they don’t like eating vegetables, you can blend them together and use it as a spread over roti along with some schezwan sauce. You can also pair them with cheese, eggs, yogurt, nut or seed butter for taste and balanced snacking. You can also use different dips, mayonnaise and cream cheese etc. to enhance the taste and kids would love the vegetable snacking. Make sure to cut the vegetable into small pieces or shred them if required so that the little ones can eat them easily.

Grains like rice, wheat, oats, barley, rye, millet, quinoa, and corn can be given to toddlers in the form of roti, paratha or cereal foods like bread, pasta etc. Ready to eat breakfast cereals are also available in the market or you can also give them porridge with milk. Grains are full of protein, carbohydrates/starch (energy), fibre and many vitamins which are essential for toddlers. Additionally, legumes are also a source of protein and high in iron, B-group vitamins, calcium, phosphorous, zinc and magnesium.

Apart from milk, you can provide various milk-based items like curd, yogurt (full of good bacteria), cheese, paneer, butter, shrikhand and sweets made from milk. These items are a good sources of vitamin D, vitamin A, calcium, vitamin B12, protein, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium etc and provide strength and vigour to your toddlers. Also, the calcium present in milk strengthens the bones and teeth of your little ones. Apart from these, flavoured milk available in pouches or bottles and ice-cream (not frozen dessert) are also liked by toddlers but keep the frequency no more than once a week as these are cold or frozen items and excessive intake can harm the teeth and toddlers are prone to catch a cold as well.

Once your toddlers complete around 8 months of age, you can slowly introduce dried fruits in his diet. But, dry fruits are a bit heavy to digest so it’s better to let him get used to other solid foods other than mother’s milk. Also, you need to check for the possibility of any allergies, so it’s better to give one particular dry fruit in a small amount at one time and if his body shows adaptability towards it then you can try other dry fruit. The best way to provide dry fruits to toddlers is to soak few nuts in the night and peel them (for almonds) and blend them along with milk and if the toddler is big enough to chew them, then you can cut them into small pieces and feed him. Dry fruits like almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios and walnuts etc. provide amazing health benefits to the toddlers like preventing anemia, constipation, providing energy, promotes boney and eye health, promotes digestive health and helpful in brain development.

You can make dry fruit powder for toddlers easily at home. You would require almonds, pistachios and cashew nuts (100 gms each), ½ tsp saffron strands, ½ tsp turmeric powder and 1 tsp nutmeg powder. Firstly, dry roast the nuts, almonds and pistachios, then roast the saffron strands till they turn a little darker. Add the roasted dry fruits and saffron strands in a mixer and powder them. Then add the turmeric and nutmeg powder and mix well. Now store this powder in an airtight container in the refrigerator, you can give ½ to 1 tsp of this powder mixed with milk to your kid and this powder can be used for about a month.

Kids love Chikoo because of its natural sweetness, easy to swallow property and mild flavour. Toddlers would love the yummy Chikoo milkshake along with the goodness of calcium and protein derived from milk. To prepare Chikoo milkshake, peel off a thick layer from the skin of chikoo and remove the pith properly, as these parts of the fruit may cause problems with the digestive system of your toddler. Take half cup chopped chikoo and an equal amount of milk and blend them smoothly in a mixer (no need to add sugar as chikoo has natural sweetness). Serve this shake fresh to your toddler, starting with a small quantity and then you can gradually increase the amount. Don’t refrigerate or mix ice, but you can use mild cold milk. Use a sipper or straw and let your toddler enjoy the taste of this healthy chikoo milkshake.

The tasty and healthy Paneer Vegetable Paratha is a nice option for toddlers as it’s soft, nutritious and filling. The ingredients required for making dough are – ¾ cup whole wheat flour, ½ tsp oil, salt as required; for stuffing you would require ¼ cup grated paneer (cottage cheese), 2 tbsp boiled and well mashed green peas, 2 tbsp grated beetroot, ¼ cup grated carrot, 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander and little amount of salt. Other ingredients required are whole wheat flour (for rolling purpose), 2 tbsp ghee for cooking and fresh curd for serving with the paratha. Now for making the dough, mix the ingredients in a deep bowl and knead to make a soft dough.

For the preparation of paratha, divide the stuffing into four equal parts and keep aside. Now divide the dough into four equal portions, take a portion and roll into a 5-inch diameter circle with the help of a rolling pin and dusting little wheat flour while rolling. Place a portion of the stuffing (made by mixing all the ingredients properly) in the centre of this circle, bring all the sides together and seal tightly. Now roll out again into a circle of 6 inches while dusting wheat flour on it. Cook the paratha on a non-stick tava over the medium flame using ½ tsp ghee till you observe golden brown spots on both sides. You can prepare 3 more parathas using the same method and serve fresh with curd.

Made from chapatti, ghee and jaggery; this roti ladoo for kids has a rich texture and flavour as it’s not made from raw flour but with soft Rotis. The ingredients required for roti ladoo are – 3 whole wheat chapatti, 2 tbsp finely chopped jaggery and 1 tbsp melted ghee. To start preparing the laddoo, tear the chapattis into tiny pieces and add the chopped jaggery and ghee into it. Now mix them well so that the mixture binds properly, make 6 equal portions from this mixture and make 6 balls from these portions. You can serve them fresh or store them in an airtight container.

A healthy snacking option for kids aged 1 year or more, mini mixed moong dal chila is made from two different types of grams (dal) and is also known as mixed dal pancake for kids. The ingredients include 2 tbsp yellow moong dal (split yellow gram), 2 tbsp green moong dal, little salt, asafoetida and 1¼ tbsp oil for cooking. To begin with the making process, firstly soak yellow and green moong dal for about an hour. Drain the water from the dals and blend them in a mixer along with 3 tbsp of water, transfer the mixture into a bowl and add salt and asafoetida.

Now pour a spoonful of batter into a heated mini uttapam pan which is greased using ¼ tsp oil (in each cup) and make 3 inch round chillas. Turn the chillas in between and grease with remaining oil till they turn crispy and golden brown from both sides, serve these chillas hot and fresh with tomato ketchup.

For making these easy to cook tikki’s, you need ½ cup boiled and mashed potatoes, ¼ cup boiled and crushed green peas, 2 tbsp grated paneer, 2 tbsp grated processed cheese, 2 tbsp roasted and crushed peanuts, 1 tbsp butter, black pepper powder, oil for greasing and salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients except oil in a deep bowl and mix them well. Divide the mixture into 20 equal parts and make coin-sized tikkis. Heat a non-stick pan and grease using a little oil, place the tikkis on this tava and cook them on both sides while greasing them with till they turn light brown and serve warm with tomato ketchup.