To ensure that your children remain healthy, happy, and energized, it’s important to find a healthy snack for kids to serve them. By choosing a snack that’s both tasty and appealing, you won’t make your children feel like they’re being forced to eat healthy food. Here are 5 ways to encourage healthy snacking in your family.

1. Stash a healthy snack for kids in your children’s backpacks

Your children are probably busy with school and extracurricular activities, which means they’re bound to get hungry throughout the day. Rather than allowing them to buy unhealthy, processed snack foods from vending machines, stash a healthy snack for kids in their backpacks, so they always have access to a nutritious snack when they get the munchies.

2. Provide a variety of healthy snacks

Your children will get tired of eating healthy snacks if you don’t keep things interesting. To prevent healthy snacking from getting boring for your kids, provide a variety of snacks. Some options include low-fat yogurt with honey, ants on a log (i.e. celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins), whole-grain crackers with low-fat cheese-slices, and dried fruit.

3. Substitute unhealthy products with healthier ones

Substitute unhealthy snack foods with healthier alternatives. For example, if your kids love ice cream, give them low-fat frozen yogurt instead of full-fat ice cream. If your kids love gummy bears and other fruit-flavored snacks, give them squeezable fruit pouches and pure fruit bites made with real fruit instead.

4. Prepare a healthy snack for kids in advance

The reason why many children eat unhealthy snack foods is because they are quick and convenient. To encourage your kids to snack healthily, prepare healthy snacks in advance so they’re always available. For example, you could chop fruits and vegetables and store them in the fridge in Ziploc bags, so your kids can just grab them and go. You can also stock up your cupboards with a variety of healthy snacks, such as squeezable fruit pouches, pure fruit bites, dried fruit, and yogurt.

5. Allow for occasional indulgences

Don’t make your children feel like they’re being deprived. If you don’t let your kids indulge in their favorite junk food occasionally, they might start indulging in it behind your back. So, rather than banning junk food from their diet completely, allow for occasional indulgences. Letting your kids eat unhealthy snacks like chips, cookies, and candy bars won’t hurt if you only allow it every once in a while. Eventually, your children will learn to appreciate healthy snacks so much that they’ll choose them over junk foods without having to be told to do so.