This Olympic Snacks for Kids is both fun and nutritious. We can capitalize on the interest of what our bodies can do to encourage healthy snacking.
What shape are the gold, silver, and bronze medals? They are circles. The Olympic Rings are round too. To make this snack start with some round crackers. Cover the crackers with some hummus to make gold. An alternative to hummus that still uses chickpeas is chocolate chip cookie dough dip. Combine mashed chickpeas with a couple of spoonfuls of some kind of nut butter, add a bit of vanilla, and a sprinkle of chocolate chips. This is a gold medal with a bonus.
Silver is a bit tricky. Instead of using chickpeas, white peas are lighter in color. Mash them up as you would for hummus with a bit of lemon juice and tahini. Another option is to mix thick yogurt and cream cheese and spread these. Kids can add fruit around the edge to make Olympic rings. Black berries are in season to make the black one. Blueberries are more purple than blue but do tastily. For red, kids can snack as they go on raspberries, slices of red grapes or strawberries, or dried cranberries. We tried red plums. Banana or mango make yellow, and green could be slices of green grape or kiwi.
For a bronze medal, black beans are a darker color. We’ve spooned this dip into a bowl for a garden and dipped in carrots, but it’s good spread on crackers too. Instead of mashing the blackbeans, use a tin of refired ones. They are already smooth. Squeeze in a bit of lime juice and maybe a spoon of salsa.
Cooking with kids is more than fun. Involving them in food preparation has been shown to encourage them to be more aware of what they are eating. Kids become part of the team to prepare food and not just the consumer of the end product. There are lots of math, science, and language skills as extra ingredients. Do you have some other suggestions for Olympic Snacks for kids?