20 Tasty After School Snack Ideas for Kids

Kids are often starving when they return home from school, especially if they’ve eaten lunch early. Try to plan some creative after-school snack ideas, so they aren’t bored with the same options every day.

How to choose after school snack ideas

Sometimes it’s difficult to decide between nutritious and filling snacks or after-school treats. Try to mix them up throughout the week. Kids love snacks they can dip, filling wrap sandwiches, fruity snack ideas, and more. It’s easy to find ingredients for all of these after-school snack ideas via Instacart.

After school snack ideas with dips

For a different after-school snack idea, offer these fun dip ideas with lots of fun dippers. Snack time will become an event with fun conversations:

1. Nutella platter

If your children love the taste of chocolate hazelnut spread, offer them a bowl of it with some fun dippers. Strawberries, apple slices, banana slices, and pretzel sticks all work.

2. Ranch dip and vegetables

Trying to get your kids to eat more vegetables? Offer baby carrots and other cut-up vegetables with ranch dip and watch the vegetables disappear.

3. Hummus with vegetables and pita chips

Buy some hummus and serve it to your children with baby carrots and warm pita bread squares. They’ll appreciate the filling treat.

Sweet after school snack ideas

Some children prefer sweet after-school snack ideas.  All of these may be prepared ahead of time, making it easy for kids to quickly grab something before studying or meeting friends:

1. Blueberry yogurt muffins

Blueberry muffins are buttery, sweet, and moist. Adding full-fat Greek yogurt to the batter adds protein and moisture to these delicious muffins.

2. Almond Cranberry Chocolate Granola Bars

Homemade granola bars are easy to make. Mix the ingredients you like, such as old-fashioned rolled oats, maple syrup, sliced almonds, dried cranberries, and chocolate chips. Layer it in a baking dish.

3. Crunchy Chocolate Caramel Corn

Skip paying movie theater prices for popcorn and make some sweet and salty caramel corn right at home. The fun begins with plain popcorn and making your own caramel or chocolate sauce. Let the kids add nuts or other fixings as a treat.

Fruity after school snack ideas

Make after-school nutrition fun with these fruity snack ideas using bananas, berries, and apples:

1. Frozen banana yogurt pops

These are easy to make with your children ahead of time. Dip each banana in vanilla yogurt, drizzle with sprinkles and freeze for at least two hours.

2. Mini fruit pizzas

Create mini fruit pizzas with sugar cookies. Use vanilla frosting or pudding as the base. Top with whatever fruit you have on hand. Berries, apple slices, and cut-up mango are popular.

3. Chocolate banana smoothie

This smoothie tastes like a chocolate milkshake, but it is healthier since it combines unsweetened almond milk, nonfat vanilla yogurt, Nutella, and bananas.

4. Crockpot applesauce

Fall screams homemade applesauce. McIntosh and Gala apples make the best applesauce, and you can add cinnamon sticks and a touch of brown sugar. The kids will love it.

5. Apple nachos

For a fun take on nachos, prepare some apple nachos. Slice some apples and drizzle them with maple syrup and almond butter. Add toppings like cacao nibs, coconut, and raisins

Sandwich after school snack Ideas

Kids of all ages will appreciate some sandwiches after school, especially if they eat lunch early. Mix it up with some classic ideas and some newer after-school sandwich snack ideas:

1. Grilled cheese

Grilled cheese is a classic since there is nothing better than ooey-gooey cheese on toasted bread.

2. Open-faced tuna melt

Your kids will love these open-face tuna melt sandwiches. English muffins are loaded with homemade tuna salad, sliced tomatoes, and cheese and then broiled for a few minutes. It’s a protein-filled snack.

3. Buffalo chicken roll-ups

These fun roll-ups feature a burst of flavor and are easy to prepare, even for kids. Just fill a tortilla with roast chicken, wing sauce, and tangy bleu cheese.

4. Broccoli and cheddar roll-ups

Instead of serving store-bought hot pockets, prepare a huge batch of these broccoli and cheddar roll-ups and freeze them. All you need is crescent dough, broccoli crowns, and shredded cheddar.

More savory after school snack ideas

As your kids get older and the school day becomes longer, they become hungrier by the end of the day. A small snack may not work, so prepare a tray of these savory ideas:

1. Pigs in a blanket

Make hot dogs more fun by wrapping them and a slice of cheese in the refrigerated crescent dough. These crispy baked pigs in a blanket will be a hit.

2. Meat and cheese skewers

Eating food on a skewer makes kids feel like they’re at a party. Try different combinations, such as salami, cubed mozzarella, and black olives or turkey, cheddar, and cherry tomatoes.

3. Mini pizzas

Mini pizzas are easy to prepare using plain mini bagels or English muffins. Add sauce, mozzarella cheese, and your kids’ favorite toppings like pepperoni or sliced mushrooms.

4. Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a satisfying and nutritious after-school snack. Older children can prepare it themselves by placing diced chicken and cheese inside a tortilla and grilling it in a frying pan.

5. Soft pretzels

Instead of driving to the busy mall for a soft pretzel, surprise your kids by making a batch of these over the weekend for their snacks. It takes some effort, but it only calls for basic ingredients like all-purpose flour, yeast, and salt. Use your kid’s favorite toppings.

Final thoughts when planning after school snack ideas

When planning your kids’ back-to-school snack ideas, consider their daily schedules. Do they eat lunch really early? If so, they may need a more substantial snack to hold them over until dinner. Is their schedule overloaded with after-school activities? In that case, they may prefer a handheld snack versus an item they need to sit down at the table to eat. Once you decide which snacks are best, you can decide which ones to prepare ahead and which ones to make fresh before shopping via Instacart.

Instacart

Author

Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.