Easy summer break snack Ideas

Those kids are home on break and it’s hard to keep them eating healthy food! Here is one of my favorite quick and easy summer snack ideas for kids.

This also works great as an after school snack or even a simple lunch idea. Kids love a good charcuterie tray just as much as us grown ups do. When I put out a tray like this for my kids they always eat better than they would if I gave them their own little plate of the same food.

Somehow putting the choices out like this just makes them want to eat it more. They love getting to choose what goes on their own plate rather than just being given a plate of food that they didn’t get to choose for themselves.

I usually try to include at least two options each for fruit, vegetables, and protein. And I tell the kids they need to choose at least one of each - they can’t just have crackers and fruit. Beyond that, anything goes. You can add whatever you like. Cut things into little pieces, make them kid friendly sizes and easy finger food.

Serving lunch or snack this way is a win for everyone. It’s quick and easy, you’re not taking individual requests or catering to individual tastes - you can include a little something for everyone. I often don’t even bother using a separate tray or plate - the first two pics above show the food just served on the cutting board that I used to prep it.

Kids love having choices. My kids are much more likely to choose to eat vegetables when they are served like this. And it’s a great way to teach them about choosing to make a balanced plate for themselves.

You can make this easy lunch idea even easier if you do a little weekend fruit & veggie prep ahead of time. Bring home those fruits and vegetables from the store and go ahead and cut them up and store in the fridge. Then you can throw together this kind of snack tray in less than five minutes. I like these green containers for storing cut up fruit & veggies, they have some kind of special magic that makes the fresh produce keep for a really long time. If you’ve ever heard of the famous Green Bags for produce storage - these are the same technology but in a box, which I think is nicer for cut items in the fridge.

Need more ideas for healthy after school or summer break snacks that will make kids and mom happy? I’ve got another whole post here with lots of ideas for what to include.