Snacks. Snacks. Snacks. I’m convinced it’s the universal love language of the children. And, this Toddler Snack Mix for any Season is a perfect thing to keep on hand when the littles are around.
Whether you are a grandma trying to be good with the kiddo snacks you keep at your house, a daycare coordinator, classroom mom, or the fun aunt (like me!) this is a perfect snack to mix and match and keep around for those toddlers, first eaters, and preschoolers looking for something to eat like the big kids but still a healthy snack you are ok with them eating any time.
Basics of the Toddler Snack Mix Formula
- whole grain cereal
- freeze-dried fruit
- melties or yogurt bites
You can mix and match all kinds of flavors. I’ll list a series below that I think would be so good together, but adults who love crunchy treats will find this a satisfying afternoon pick me up as well. Mix it up and store it in an airtight container or jar so it’s easy to grab and go. If you know you’ll be making a car trip or need something easy for your kiddo when you get in the car on the way home, go ahead and make up little baggies for each day so you are ready to grab and go.
One important thing to remember. The point of this is that everything is a similar size, and it’s easy for a little toddler hand to grab. That means you may need to break up your freeze-dried fruit pieces to match the size of the other things in your mix.
Toddler Snack Mix flavor combinations:
- Berry Bliss – strawberry cherries, freeze-dried strawberries, strawberry/blueberry yogurt bites
- Fall for Fall – pumpkin spice cheerios, freeze-dried apples or pears, mango or pumpkin melts
- Sunrise Surprise – honey vanilla cheerios, freeze-dried apples or mango, tropical blend yogurt bites
- Johnny Apple Seed Blend – apple cinnamon Cheerios or oat crunch, freeze-dried apples, apple melts
- Monkey Magic – peanut butter Cheerios, freeze-dried bananas, banana melts
- Forest Food – oat crunch, freeze-dried apples or pears, banana vanilla yogurt bites
- Fruity Freeze – mixed berry cheerios, freeze-dried strawberries or pineapple, peach/mango melts
Part of the early stages of food discovery with toddlers and first eaters is discovering food flavors. As you learn what flavors your kid typically responds to or new flavors you want to introduce, an easy to grab snack mix is a great way to put new flavors in front of them that they may not like on their own, but with a different texture or in what appears to be a treat, they may jump all over trying something else.
I also love that this snack is very healthy. The clean ingredients give you a chance to keep something easy on hand that you can give to your kid over and over.
It’s so frustrating to try and keep giving your kid healthy options even when they push away the food or want the independence to eat on their own. I still have a picky eater, and I tried all the things. My friends of older kids keep telling me that someday it just clicks, I’m still waiting on someday, but for now, I’m staying with the philosophy of continually trying new things in new ways, and the exposure will continue to give them options.
Try these infant and toddler food hacks that I’ve learned over the years.
