Winter Preschool Snacks

Finding a healthy variety of preschool snacks during the cold winter months can be tough. Winter isn’t known for its bountiful harvest of fresh produce - the berries, peaches and tomatoes of summer are long gone. But winter does have it’s own seasonal food - potatoes, certain nuts, and root vegetables to name a few. With a little imagination, you can create homemade snacks to warm up your preschooler this winter.

Five Winter Preschool Snack Ideas

1. Winter fruit and vegetable dipping plate – Prepare celery, cauliflower, grapes, orange segments, apple slices and pear slices and serve with sweet and savory dips.

2. Nuts
Take advantage of the nutrient density of nuts in your preschool winter snacks. Some nuts are in season in the late fall and winter. Try hazelnuts and pecans this season, or enjoy your preschooler's favorites nuts. Most can be stored for several months, so eating in season is less important.

Nuts are great as is, or try something new:

Warmed nuts - Start with your preschooler's favorite nut, or use a mixture of nuts. Break or chop the nuts, place in a skillet with a dash of salt, and heat over medium heat, stirring or shaking frequently, until you smell the aroma of the nuts. Cool slightly and serve!

Sugared nuts - Break or chop the nuts, lay out on a baking sheet, sprinkle with a 1- 2 Tbsp of a sugar-water mixture, then bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, turning once or twice. Let cool and enjoy!

Apple-nut salad - This is a simple version of the Waldorf salad for preschoolers.

3. Soup
Soup as a snack? Preschoolers who enjoy soup can warm up with a mug of soup and a few crackers as an easy and nutritious snack. Prepare a batch of potato leek soup, chicken noodle soup or broccoli cheese soup over the weekend and you'll have a meal and lots of snacks for the rest of the week!

4. Sweet potato muffins
Muffins are a perfect way to add the goodness of fruits and vegetables to preschool snacks. For this recipe, microwave a large sweet potato, mash it well, and add to a simple muffin batter with winter spices. You'll be rewarded with a warm, moist, healthy treat you preschooler will love.

5. Warm apple sandwich
Like a warm pie fresh from the oven, these apple sandwiches are delicious and just the right size for a preschool snack. All you need is a whole wheat pizza dough, an apple, and some cinnamon-sugar. In fifteen minutes, you'll have a warm winter treat!

For more information about healthy preschool snacks, visit our Healthy Preschool Snacks Resource Page.