Snacks help you feel energetic throughout the day, but choosing the right foods is crucial. By eating light and healthy meals, you can avoid industrially produced junk food, usually full of salt, sugar and fat. To get started, ask an adult for permission and ask them to show you how to use the devices or food processors you need to prepare the snack. Before touching food, remember to put on an apron and wash your hands thoroughly. To make this time of day even more enjoyable, let yourself be helped by friends or family. Choose snacks that have a certain shape or are inspired by a theme you are passionate about. Use your imagination to explore the wonderful world of healthy eating.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Have Fun Cooking
Step 1. Experiment with different shapes
You can choose simple ones, like squares, triangles and circles, or more complex ones, like an owl. For example, if you are fed up with the usual square or rectangular shaped sandwiches, take a knife and make a cut from the bottom left corner to the center of the top edge. Make an identical cut from the bottom right corner to the same spot. You will have three delicious triangular shaped sandwiches.
- You can also try circular snacks. Take a flatbread or a wholemeal tortilla and stuff it with the ingredients you prefer to use when making sandwiches. You could use mayonnaise, cheese, meat, lettuce, tomato, and / or gherkins. Roll up the piadina from the edge closest to you to the central part. Now, continue to roll up to the outer edge, trying to compact the contents of the pastry well. With a knife, cut the flatbread or tortilla lengthwise making incisions every two centimeters. This way you will get mini round buns.
- For a bit of a change, try using various cookie cutters. For example, take a star mold and press it onto the center of a bun to cut it.
- What shape should a snack be? The options are practically limitless! Think of your favorite shapes and let them materialize (with the help of an adult).
Step 2. Cook with your friends
It's always nice to have a nice snack with friends, so invite your friends to prepare a healthy snack with you. Among other things, this experience helps to consolidate their friendships.
- To invite a friend, just ask him: "Would you like to come and have a snack with me? We could prepare a healthy snack together."
- If necessary, help them prepare. They probably don't know the kitchen in your house, so they don't know where to find dishes and utensils.
- If you prepare several snacks, share them. It will be a wonderful show of affection.
Step 3. Cook with your family
Whichever snack you decide to make, invite a family member (for example your mother, father, brother or sister) to help you. You could also call grandparents or uncles. Sharing this experience with your family is always fun.
- To invite a family member to cook with you, just say, "I'd like to have a healthy snack later. Would you like to help me out?"
- If you need help preparing, don't hesitate to ask.
Method 2 of 3: Choose a Theme
Step 1. Get inspired by the Christmas tree
Cut the pita bread into eight triangles. Take a breadstick pretzel (which will act as a log) and pierce the central part of each slice of bread.
- To make it look even more like a Christmas tree, spread some guacamole on the surface of the bread.
- Ask an adult to cut one red and one green pepper into cubes, then sprinkle them on the surface of the tree.
- The pepper cubes should be reminiscent of balls or lights.
Step 2. Create a Halloween-inspired snack
For this occasion, one of the healthiest and tastiest snacks to try is the "ghost banana" (or "bù-nana"). Peel a banana, carefully cut it in half and place it on a plate. Thread the flat end of each half with a lollipop stick. At the top, place two chocolate chips, about an inch away from the tip of the banana. The chocolate chips will represent the eyes, so they should be close enough together. They must also form a straight line well related to the pointed part of the banana (which represents the head of the ghost).
- Grab the stick and eat the banana.
- Try to eat on a plate, as the banana may slip off the stick.
Step 3. Make a Thanksgiving-inspired snack
Ask an adult to slice an apple and core it with a device (you will need 16 slices of similar size, but most slicers only allow you to get eight). Discard the core and ask an adult again to cut each wedge in half (vertically).
- If you don't have a slicer, you can cut the apple into eight similarly sized wedges. At this point, cut the inside of each wedge to remove the seeds and debris from the core.
- Make an apple dip sauce. In a bowl, mix one cup of plain yogurt, one tablespoon of honey, and one tablespoon of peanut butter. With the help of a spoon, pour the sauce into a dipping bowl and place it in the center of a plate.
- Arrange the apple wedges around the bowl in a semicircle. Start from the left of the bowl and work your way to the right until you get an arch. The wedges must rest on their respective edges, not on the flat side. Arrange the wedges so that those with the skin (red) facing outwards alternate with those with the pulp (white) facing outwards. In this way the final result will be aesthetically more beautiful. Seen from above, the wedges will resemble the feathers of a turkey.
- The bowl will represent the head and torso of the turkey, so place two chocolate chips on top of the sauce to create the eyes. The drops should be placed in a symmetrical position along an imaginary horizontal line.
- Under the chocolate chips, place a cone-shaped yellow candy to create the turkey's beak.
- Now you can eat the apple wedges and dip them in the peanut butter sauce.
Step 4. Create a car race using apples
For this snack you will need apple wedges, grapes and toothpicks. Cut an apple vertically to get five or six wedges. At this point, cut each wedge vertically, calculating about one centimeter, in order to eliminate the internal curvature and obtain a smooth surface. Place the wedges on a plate or cutting board with the skin side up. This way they will be firmly on the surface and will not tip over.
- Stick the base of each wedge with two toothpicks. The length of the toothpicks should be fair.
- Place the toothpicks about an inch apart. The height should instead be equal to the width of your little finger.
- With the part of the toothpick sticking out of the apple wedge, skewer a grape.
- The snack is ready! Eat the grapes first, then remove the toothpicks and eat the apple wedges.
- Be careful not to prick your hand when touching the toothpick.
Method 3 of 3: Enjoy the Snack
Step 1. Ask mom or dad for permission
Your parents may be preventing you from having a (albeit healthy) snack for a number of reasons. For example, they may want you to have dinner early and fear that you will not be hungry when you sit down at the table. You may have food allergies and need close supervision to avoid certain foods or ingredients.
- Asking for permission is easy: "Can I have a healthy snack?".
- If they say no at first, ask, "Can I do it later?".
Step 2. Ask an adult to help you out
Even experienced cooks need help. When you want to prepare a snack, always ask an adult for help, be it mom, dad, another family member or the parents of a friend, this will make it easier. In addition, you will be able to spend time with these people and get to know them better.
- The help of an adult is particularly important if you need to use a knife, go to the stove or use special appliances.
- Asking an adult to help out is easy. Just say, "Will you help me prepare a healthy snack?".
- You will get better and better over time, so the adult in question may start giving you more responsibilities in the kitchen, including allowing you to prepare certain snacks on your own.
Step 3. Dress right
It's easy to get dirty in the kitchen. Before you begin, put on an apron. If you don't have it or the ones you found in the kitchen are too big for you, use an old shirt that you can get dirty without a problem.
Don't wear loose clothes to cook. If the sleeves are bulky, you risk making more messes
Step 4. Wash your hands
To avoid having problems, you need to eat only clean, well-washed foods. If you have dirty hands, you will take a lot more risks. Before starting, wash your hands with warm water and a mild soap. Scrub the front and back up to your wrists. Do not neglect the area between the fingers and under the nails.
The wash must last at least 20 seconds
Step 5. Look for new ideas
If you want to try other recipes, go to the library or search online. At the library, ask the manager for help in browsing the cookbook section so that you can find books that fit your needs. On the internet you can find more ideas by typing "healthy snacks for children" or "healthy and delicious snacks for children" into your favorite search engine. Review the results and open the links that seem interesting to you.
- If you have many recipes available, you will hardly get bored, because you can vary very often.
- On this site you can find numerous simple and healthy baby recipes.
- This site presents various alternatives to the usual packaged snacks.
Step 6. Try to be responsible
Eat only when you are hungry. A snack is perfect when you need to recharge, for example at the end of a long day at school or an intense workout. However, you should not overdo it, otherwise you will be inappetent when you sit at the table with your family and you will not be able to eat a balanced diet. Don't eat just because you get bored or are used to eating while watching television.
Step 7. Clean up
Once the snack has been prepared, put all the remaining ingredients back in the fridge or in the cupboard. This way both you and the rest of the family can find them without problems when you need them.
- If crumbs have fallen on the floor, sweep the floor. If you left bits of food or sticky residue on the counter, wipe it off with a damp sponge.
- Don't forget to put all leftovers in an airtight container. Keep them in the fridge and consume them within two or three days.
- If necessary, rewash your hands when you finish making the snack.
