Kids love new and exciting snacks, and even better, snacks that are already prepared! It’s time to move on from ordinary foods and make snack time fun with these 27 ideas for lunch box or after school bites. These can fit in most standard-sized lunch boxes, and they use basic ingredients you likely already buy on your shopping runs. So why not take advantage of our adorable snacks and make your kids a treat they’ll be smiling about?
How to Make Your Snacks
All of the snacks took no more than 20 minutes to make, with ingredients you can find at any major grocery store. For more personalization, customize school supplies to match your child’s unique snacks, by adding their name to a lunch box or pair of utensils.
Superhero Pita
Using a circular cookie cutter, cut pita into two or three smaller circles. Then spread hummus on each piece. Using one thin pretzel cracker, place on each pita as the superhero’s mask. Then add shredded celery slices or shredded carrots for the hair. Top with half of an olive slice as the mouth.
Teddy Bear Toast
Toast wheat or white bread and spread with nut butter. Then, cut banana into slices for the ears and nose. Next, place raisins for the eyes and in the center of the banana for a nose. For the smile, add two halves of a cashew below the nose.
Penguin Cucumber
Cut thin slices of cucumber for the bodies and heads of the penguins. Then, cut slices of black olives for the eyes. Cut small triangles from the outer skins of the cucumbers for the arms. Then, cut triangular pieces of carrot for the beaks. Finish by cutting a whole carrot into rectangles, with triangle bottoms for each of the feet.
Peanut Butter Critters
Cut apples into thin half circles. Slice the whole celery stalk in half lengthwise. Then, chop into smaller pieces. Spread peanut butter in the center of each celery stick. Grab raisins and place as the eyes on one end of the celery stick.
For the snail, take an apple slice and place it into the peanut butter. Add small pieces of pretzel to the peanut butter for antennae. For an additional design, use a toothpick and peanut butter to create swirls on the snail’s “shell.”
For the butterfly, place three dried fruits along its back. We used a dried cranberry, blueberry and golden raisin. Add small pieces of pretzel to either end for the antennae. Then, take two thin pretzel crackers and place along the sides of the celery for the wings. The peanut butter should keep the wings in place.
Frog Avocado English Muffin
Keep one side of your english muffin, and spread with mashed avocado. Then take two thin hard boiled egg slices and place over the avocado for eyes. Top with two olive slices for pupils. Finally, add a shredded carrot for the mouth.
Fruit Friends
For the kiwi, use a vegetable peeler to remove some of the kiwi’s fuzzy skin. Once you get toward the top third of the kiwi, pull skin away to resemble the kiwi’s hair. Add blueberries for the eyes with two toothpicks. Break off a straight piece of a bite-sized pretzel and stick it in your kiwi for the mouth.
For the clementine, peel off the skin, leaving the top unpeeled as its hair. Add blueberries for the eyes with two toothpicks. Then break off the u-shape part of a pretzel and stick into your clementine as the mouth.
Veggie Train
Place the bell peppers on their side, then slice off the top of each. Take out seeds and inside lining, and attach cucumbers to outside with toothpicks. Place chopped veggies likes cucumbers and carrots inside the train, and you’re ready to choo choo! Optional tip: create a “caboose” with an additional pepper full of dip or plain yogurt to dip veggies.
More Delicious and Adorable Snacks
For more unique recipes, check out this list of delicious snacks you can make for your little ones:
- A butterfly quesadilla from Creative Kids Snacks
- Apple turtles from B-Inspired Mama
- Cheese monsters from Danya Banya
- Fruit fish from Canadian Family
- Grape kabob caterpillars from A Spotted Pony
- Turkey sandwich from Be Different Act Normal
- DIY frushi from Kids Activities Blog
- Bumble bee pineapple treats from Meaningful Mama
- Kiwi fruit dinosaur eggs from Eats Amazing
- Apple Owl from Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons
- Blackberry butterfly from Crafty Morning
- Baa baa black sheep from Creative Kids Snacks
- Boiled egg mouse from Eats Amazing
- Little leprechaun from Pick Ease
- House lunch from Le Baby Bakery
- Dino sandwich bento from Bento Lunch
- String cheese octopus from Parenting
- Peanut butter banana caterpillar from Babble
- Fun kids plates by Oh Happy Day
- Veggie faces from It’s a Fabulous Life
Make snack time fun with these creative snack ideas for your little ones. Create an apple snail for after school, or pack a pita worthy of a superhero! All of our homemade recipes are healthy alternatives to ordinary snacks, and include vegan and vegetarian recipes as well. And the best part? Parents can eat these too!