Choosing a snack for your preschooler may be a challenge for you to complete. Your preschooler is picky and will only eat certain items. The items that you give to your preschooler need to be full of nutrients and will need to help your preschooler focus while at school. You do not want to load your preschooler full of sugar and fast food before they attend preschool. These types of food will only slow them down and may create drowsiness. This will cause them to lose focus on what they are accomplishing and learning. If they do not learn the proper skills at a young age, they will not know how to use the skills later in life.
A preschooler is in a body that is growing daily. Without the proper nutrients and vitamins, their little body will not grow and their brain will have a harder time developing the proper way. A preschooler will typically eat and have snacks 4-6 times throughout one day. They need the three basic meals, along with a snack in mid-morning, mid-afternoon and sometimes after dinner. The snacks you provide don’t need to be large snacks, but they need to be a snack that will fill them up. Some of the snacks that you can give to your preschooler before they attend preschool are:
· Cereal with a cup of milk
· A banana and a cup of milk
· Whole grain crackers
· Small muffins or half a large muffin
· Fruit slices or vegetable slices, such as an apple, banana or cucumber
· Celery sticks with peanut butter or cream cheese
· Cheese slices or cheese sticks
· Healthy cookies
· Apple sauce
Find the snack that is appealing to your preschooler, but one that you know will fill their small tummy up and will give them the proper amount of energy. Peanut butter is a good source of fiber and protein that can be put on just about anything that a preschooler will eat. Peanut butter placed on bread, waffles, crackers or cereals are a few ways that you can use peanut butter. A small glass of milk to accompany the peanut butter will give your preschooler the extra calcium that they will need to help their bones grow.
There are many different websites that you can use to help you find healthy snacks that you can create that your preschooler will eat. Try the different recipes that are listed. You will find some will work for your preschooler, where others do not. Have your preschooler help you make the snack they are going to eat. Many times when the preschooler is involved with the creation they are going to eat, they will show a larger desire to consume the snack. As you do this, create snacks they have never had before. You and the child will never know if they like the new snack until they try it. As the parent, you can also try the snack. The snack will help your body going also and will leave you with more energy for the day. Lead your child by example.One snack that more and more parents are starting to create is smoothies. All you need is some milk or yogurt and fruit. You blend the mixture together to create a smoothie that preschoolers love to drink and will be a filling snack that will leave them energized and ready for their day at preschool. You can create different flavors with the different types of fruit that you include in the smoothies. Add a banana and a handful of strawberries to create a banana strawberry flavor that your preschooler will love.