Snacks for Toddlers - Rye,NY

Revolution foods make applesauce type fruit blends in little squeeze bags that you can close (they do need to be refrigerated if they aren't finished but my daughter (2 /12 also) just about always finished them). They also make mini PBJ sandwiches that are individually wrapped.

Also try granola bars - Kashi makes a Roasted Almond bar that my daughter loves - it has healthy fats, and a lot of protien.

And finally - thy Earth Best brand if it - they have an alternative to gold fish that had added viatamins / minerals - as well as a number of differnt types of cookies and snakc bars which also have viatmins adn minerals.

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my little one loves mini carrot sticks. And believe me, she doesn't get that trait from me! She also loves string cheese and that's easily portable as well. Good luck.

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Sometimes the things we think are healthiest are actually some of the worst foods for our kids.

You can't go wrong with fresh fruits and vegetables. An apple, banana, a bag of grapes, blueberries, etc. Yes, they're perishable, but they're easy for toddlers and healthy in moderation. Cut some celery (if they're able to chew it), carrots, or cucumbers, put in a bag with an ice cube or two, and the water will keep them fresher longer.

Raisins, etc. are highly concentrated in sugar in the drying process. Once you read the nutritional information, you may rethink them and just do grapes instead.

We do a lot of string cheese for our kids. Depending on how long we'll be away and where we're going, it's usually something easy to throw into the Diaper bag. Part skin is always best to save on fat.

Clif makes some kids' items which are good. Our kids like the chewy granola bars. We also do the Quaker 90 calorie or reduced sugar chewy granola bars. We always keep those, NutraGrain bars, etc. in the diaper bag as well.

Our kids do love Kirkland's Trail Mix (again moderation needed) as well as any kind of cheese rice cakes.
Lately, they've gotten into GoGurt. I'm not such a fan, but it's better than Fruit Roll-ups.

Hope that helps.

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Nuts are great! I always pack raw almonds and cashews.

If there is no peanut allergy, you can buy snack pack peanut butters. Not the overprocessed kind, but look for the organic, peanuts only kind at the healthier stores.....ugh, can't think of the brand, but if you are interested, PM me and I will look through my diaper bag later.

Also I always take grapes, blueberries, apple slices, any fruit that is fairly non messy. I also take raisins or dried cranberries.

I mix up "trail mix" too with O's, raisins, sliced almonds, and then put like 4 chocolate chips in the whole thing. My son will eat it all just looking for the chocolate.

I try to take well balanced snacks so that if we get stuck with no lunch or he falls asleep in the car, I know he's had a bit of protein to keep him going.

Good luck!

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Fruit - bananas, apples (you can do slices in a little bit of pineapple juice and they won't brown) grapes, peaches etc. Veggie sticks - sliced up celery, carrots, sweet peppers, chopped broccoli, cauliflower. Cheese sticks or cubes. I like to make my own "mix" with tons of different options, also good when you have just a little bit of stuff left in the bag and just throw it all together. Many regular old breakfast cereals are pretty healthy, cheap and super convenient. Cereal tends to be cheeper by volume than snack crackers and healthier than most. My kids will snack on a baggie of Mini Wheats - HoneyCombs and Fruit loops are their favorite!!

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animal crackers, cheerios, chex/chex mix, pretzels, fruit snacks, yogurt bites, yogurt tubes (frozen for less mess), graham crackers/sticks, grapes

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Besides the standard grain/starch foods that travel well, maybe try these:

Sliced apples - You can slice your own and then toss them with a tablespoon of lemon juice or lime juice or diet sprite (the citric acid, the stuff that makes the lemon/lime juice naturally tart, will prevent browning). Or you can buy pre-sliced apples.

Dried fruit like apricots or prunes (not raisins or very small things like that if he's little--they are a choking hazard). These are semi-soft, so if he has teeth, he can easily tear them into bite size portions.

Apple sauce cups - either buy the indiv. servings multi-packs, or make your own with reusable containers and a large jar of applesauce. The multi-packs offer lots of variety of blends (we buy Musselman's natural, w/o any added sugar, and I think there is another brand that also does that).

Carrots - either baby carrots or the pre-sliced or pre-shredded ones (the shredded ones are messier bec. the kids drop them, but they might be easier to eat).

We also still sometimes buy the freeze-dried fruit snacks in the baby food section, or order it online, since it keeps a long time.

If you have access to a small cooler and can throw in an ice pack, your options can expand to include:
cheese (we like the portability of string cheese)
yogurt
lunch meat
mini-sandwiches
hummus and crackers or pita to dip
frozen apple sauce (good for if it's hot! :) A lot like a popsicle, but has the fiber of the apple pulp)

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My son loves snacking on cheerios, Earth's Best Smiley Faces in Vanilla, Archer Farms Fruit Strips, Annie's Naturals Bunny Crackers in Sour Cream and Onion and Cheddar, raisons, craisons. That's our regular rotation.

I bought him a little Toy Story lunch bag and throw an ice pack in there when I want to bring something cold with me. He likes the little milk boxes from Horizon Organics and also the yogurt smoothies from Stonyfield.

Good luck!

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Kashi Cereal bars. There are many flavors but my picky eater loves the Apple and Strawberry flavors. They have lower sugar than most of the other brands and natural ingredients.

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Another mom suggested this site and I love it: weelicious.com

I also make a cherrios bar that my son loves that I got off of their site.

Clif Bars make the "Zone Bar" for kids. An organic soft bar that is so yummy my DH and I also snack on from. What's great is that they don't get super hard once the package has been opened.

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Health food markets (Trader Joe's, Wild by Nature, Whole Foods) carry Applesauce on the go. They are super practical, I love them. Trader Joe's carries two flavors, Applesauce and Carrot-Applesauce. No mess, non-perishable and delicious.
You can also find dried crunchy fruits that are also very good with no additives. Just fruit.
Grapes are always easy to carry and not too messy.
Hope that helps!

rice chex (it's whole grain and very low sugar); Barbara's Puffins cereal (very low sugar); whole wheat crackers, e.g. whole wheat Ritz crackers; pirate's booty; raisins; other dried fruit. I often bring grapes, cut-up apples and bananas along, no need to keep cold unless you're out for many hours.

My daughter is the same age and loves the Archer Farms (Target) organic fruit strips. They come in a variety of flavors, are individually packed and are good for her. I haven't found one yet that she doesn't like and I love that I don't have to worry about them getting squished or going bad.

I see that lots of people responded already, but I also vote for the Applesauce crushers from Trader Joe's. May daughter loves them cold, no spoon is involved, and they don't have to be refrigerated unless opened.

We also get the Mintzes Blintzes from Trader Joe's. These are little tofutti blintzes. They come frozen and if you don't want to carry a cold pack, you can put one in a snack bag and by the time they are ready to eat it is just right.

Other than that, grapes, bananas and other fruit. For something bigger, like a lunch supplement, we throw an avacodo in the bag.

Thanks for asking, I'm going to try some of the ideas below!

i buy these great little snack bags of shelled edamame (in the freezer section) which make great snacks. Also, grapes cut in half, freeze-dried fruit (you can buy it at most health food stores), whole bananas, baby carrots, cut up cucumbers...most non-mushy fruits and veggies can last in the diaper bag for a good part of the day.

Thin baby carrots, celery sticks, zucchini squash sticks and cucumbers are good and healthy. Try letting him dip it into a low fat dressing like a ranch.
Fruits are also good Apples sliced thin, pears, pineapple chunks drained from the juice again are all healthy.

For the summer try frozen grapes. I pack the diaper bag in the morning and by the time snack-time comes they are just right! My daughter is the same age and she loves the Weight Watchers chocolate muffins (crazy). They are pretty big so we usually end up sharing. Beware: they are packed with fiber so eating them on a regular basis will create more poop.

There are some great suggestions here, but please know that some experts are recommending that children under 4 or 5 *never* eat peanuts, raw carrots, uncut grapes, popcorn and other foods that seem healthy, because they can be choking hazards. This ran in the New York Times on May 25:

The 10 Biggest Choking Hazards
By LAURIE TARKAN
According to a 2008 study, the 10 foods that pose the highest choking hazards for young children are hot dogs, peanuts, carrots, boned chicken, candy, meat, popcorn, fish with bones, sunflower seeds and apples.
Dr. Gary Smith, the lead author of American Academy of Pediatrics’ policy statement on food hazards, says some foods should simply not be given to children under 4 or 5: he mentioned raw carrots, marshmallows, peanuts, popcorn, hard candies and gumballs.
If feeding a young child a hot dog, he said, cut it lengthwise before slicing it. (Simply slicing it into nickel-size chunks makes it more dangerous than not slicing it at all.) Cut grapes into quarters. Flat lollipops are safer than ball-shaped suckers.
If a child is choking, call 911 — time is of the essence.
“It’s important that all caregivers are CPR-certified,” said Erika Bleiberg, an emergency medical technician in Glen Ridge, N.J., who is a certified CPR instructor. “Even if the E.M.T. is there within three minutes, that’s a lot of time for a little brain to not have oxygen.”

Some of the snacks I pack are dried fruits, carrots, celery, raw green beans, edamame, clementine, bananas, grapes, blue berries, grape tomatoes, cereal, and nuts.

I make this little "trail mix" for my 2 1/2 year old daughter. I just put in a container Cheerios, Craisins, and Peanuts. If your child can't have nuts, substitute anything else. The nice thing about homemade trail mix is you can add whatever your family has around. Sometimes we put Chex in it, sometimes a few marshmallows. You can add a few M&Ms, but I prefer not to give my daughter candy, and she digs through to find those.

You need to start thinking "out of the box" literally! Try foods that don't come in a pre-packaged box or bag:
-Oranges
-Apples with Peanut Butter (you pack whole apples and put natural peanut butter in a tiny container with lid and pack a knife). Kids love peanut butter slathered on apple slices.
-Pears (peanut butter is good on these too!)
-Bananas
-GORP (good old fashioned raisins and nuts, I often would mix raisins and walnuts) I was always careful though, to ensure my child had drinks (water) readily available to drink while eating nuts)
-dried apples (unsulphered) you can find in health food stores
-applesauce cups (preferably organic) any supermarket has these

Happy Snacking!
N.

I suggest Cheerios. These are great especially if your son eats them in the car while you are driving. They are not messy, will not make him sticky and are small enough that you don't have to worry about him choking. And they are good for him.

It summer - YAY! Fruit fruit fruit! Melons, strawberries, blueberries, only use black/raspberries if you are willing to do a big clean up lol! Also carrot slices (or the bigger baby carrots), grape tomatoes, and even broccoli flowers if he is adventurous. Other good ones are dried fruit/veg, applesauce (homemade is REALLY easy) (oh, this isn't so non-perishable...but would certainly last for a few hrs, esp. if it's in a little lunch bag), cheese sticks or string cheese (same as/applesauce here). My kids will eat almost anything when they're hungry, and if they just peckish an apple or cut orange slices or watermelon are their faves.

Gerber makes dried mini-fruit pieces and yogurt melts that my daughter likes.

Cheerios, cereal bars (the soft ones)

Hi J.,

I think dried fruit, trail mix, nuts, sunflower seeds, unsweetened apple sauce cups, mini rice cakes, Veggie Booty and granola are all good portable, healthy snacks.