12 Healthy Christmas Snacks for Kids

Why We Love These Kids’ Christmas Snacks

• Healthier options: These Christmas snacks are not only super cute and fun to make, they’re nutritious as well since many of them are made up of fruits, veggies, protein, healthy fats and whole grains!

• Great to make with the kids: These healthy holiday treats are really easy to assemble so they’re perfect to make with toddlers, preschoolers or to serve up for a school snack or children’s holiday party! The kids can help choose which snacks to make, assemble them and do some taste testing along the way.

• Encourages more adventurous eaters: As an added bonus, if your kids are hesitant to try new things, this is a great activity since getting them involved in meal prep can help encourage them to try new foods.

• Fun and memorable: Making these fun themed snacks is like doing an edible craft and it can create so many amazing memories! After you’re all done your creations, take a fun picture with the kids to remember all of those fun foods that you made.

Banana Snowmen

Ingredients:

• Wooden Skewers (we tried popsicle sticks but they were a little too short. Be very careful if handling these skewers with little ones or use ones safe for children)
• Banana
• Green grapes
• Strawberries
• Mini chocolate chips (we used Enjoy Life chocolate chips)
• Small slices of carrot

Directions:

• Slice the banana into 1/2 inch pieces. Place three of the slices on the skewer.
• Cut the stem off the strawberry and add it to the skewer as the “hat.”
• Skewer half a green grape on top of the strawberry.
• Poke two mini chocolate chips into the top banana slice for the eyes, and two or three into the second banana slice for the buttons.
• Cut a small triangle out of the carrot slice and poke into the snowman’s head as the nose.

Pita Christmas Trees

Ingredients:

• Whole-grain mini pitas (you can also use regular-sized pitas as well)
• Pretzel sticks
• Avocado
• Lime juice
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Cheese slices
• Assorted veggies to decorate

Directions:

• Cut the pitas into wedges. We used the whole-grain Ozery Bakery Mini Pitas and cut them into six triangles. They were the perfect size for the Christmas trees!
• Break the pretzel sticks in half and poke one into the bottom of each pita (the non-pointy end).
• Mash the avocado with the lime juice, garlic powder and salt, to taste. I didn’t really measure the ingredients; I just put in a little of each.
• Use a small star cookie cutter to cut out stars out from the cheese. We used provolone cheese slices, but you can sub in any cheese you prefer.
• Decorate the Christmas trees using assorted veggies! We used red, orange and yellow pepper and tiny pieces of broccoli, but you can use any that you have on hand. Finely diced tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots would also work well!

Apple Christmas Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• Apples
• Peanut butter or almond butter
• Mini Christmas cookie cutters

Directions:

• Cut the apples into 1/4 inch circular slices. Spread the nut butter over the apple slice.
• Place another circular apple slice on top to form a sandwich.
• Using a small Christmas cookie cutter, press down and cut out the centre of the apple slices. Repeat for desired number of apple “sandwiches.”

Kiwi Christmas Wreaths

Ingredients:

• Kiwis
• Strawberries
• Circular cookie cutter with rippled edge

Directions:

• Cut the peel off the kiwis. Cut them into 1/4 inch circular slices. Use a circular cookie cutter with a rippled edge and press around the edges of each kiwi slice so that it resembles a wreath.
• Next, cut thin slices of strawberry and place little pieces on top of each kiwi slice to form what looks like a bow.

Holiday Toast

Ingredients:

• Whole-grain bread, toasted
• Holiday-themed cookie cutters (i.e. snowflake, gingerbread man, Christmas tree, candy cane, ornament etc.)
• Assorted spreads (i.e. peanut butter, cream cheese, mashed avocado or guacamole)
• Assorted decorations (i.e. diced veggies, fruit, mini chocolate chips, etc.)

Here are some ideas!

Ginger Bread Man: Peanut butter + diced strawberries for mouth + mini chocolate chips for eyes and buttons

Candy Cane: Cream cheese or laughing cow spreadable cheese + diced strawberries for stripes

Christmas tree: Mashed Avocado + diced veggies for decorations (i.e. peppers, cucumbers, broccoli) + cheese for star

Ornament: Cream cheese + assorted veggies for decor + chunk of cucumber for top of ornament

Snowflake: Cream cheese + mini chocolate chips + coconut

Reindeer Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 cup cashews
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup dates (soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes to soften)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1-2 tablespoons water

To decorate:

• Pretzels
• Pomegranate arils
• Puffed quinoa or white chocolate chips (or use candy eyeballs)

Directions:

• Combine almonds, cashews, cocoa, cinnamon and salt in food processor. Process until crumbly.
• Add dates, vanilla and coconut oil. Process until mixture is combined. If mixture is still dry, add one tablespoon of water at a time until mixture adheres together.
• Remove mixture from processor and form into approximately 1 1/2 inch balls. Place the balls on a large plate or piece of parchment paper.
• Break the pretzels into pieces that resemble antlers and poke into the top of the energy ball. Poke two brown rice puffs into the face of the reindeer for eyes and the pomegranate aril underneath for the nose.
• Place balls in fridge to allow chocolate to harden. Store in fridge for one week or freezer for up to 3 months.

For more tips for making these bites, check out the full Pretzel Reindeer recipe post.

Frosty Yogurt Cups

Ingredients:

• Clear plastic cups
• Black permanent marker
• Orange permanent marker (or use orange construction paper)
• Plain yogurt or cottage cheese
• Honey or maple syrup

Directions:

• Take a plastic cup and draw two black eyes, black dots for the mouth and buttons. Draw the nose on with an orange permanent marker or cut a small triangle out of construction paper and glue onto cup underneath eyes.
• Place yogurt or cottage cheese in cup, filling almost to the top. Mix with a bit of honey or maple syrup to sweeten, if desired. You can also top with fruit to form the snowman’s hat, if desired (i.e. strawberries or blueberries would work well).

Penguin Crackers

Ingredients:

• Whole-grain circular crackers (we used Breton)
• Cream cheese or laughing cow wedges
• Black olives, cut in half lengthwise
• Baby carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
• Black peppercorns

Directions:

• Place the crackers on a flat surface. Spread the cream cheese over the surface so that the whole cracker is covered.
• Place the olive halves on either side of the cracker for wings.
• Cut a little triangle out of each of the carrot slices and place two on the bottom of the cracker for feet. Stick the little triangle on the cracker for the nose and two peppercorns for the eyes. Serve immediately.

Grinch Fruit Kabobs

Ingredients:

• Green grapes
• Banana slices
• Strawberries, green stem removed
• Mini marshmallows (optional)
• Toothpicks

Directions:

• Start by poking a grape onto a toothpick.
• Next slide on a slice of banana for the bottom of Santa’s hat.
• Add the strawberry with the stem removed so that the flat side is on top of the banana slice.
• Add a mini marshmallow on top of the Santa hats, if desired.

Celery Reindeer

Ingredients:

• Celery sticks (use wide ones if possible)
• Natural peanut butter
• Pretzels
• Candy eyes
• Fresh raspberries

Directions:

• Cut the celery into sticks about 4-5 inches long. Next, cut a thin strip off the back of the celery stick so that it lies flat.
• Fill each celery stick with peanut butter.
• Break pretzels into shapes that resemble small antlers.
• Place the candy eyes side by side just below the antlers.
• Close to the bottom of the celery stick, add a raspberry for Rudolf’s nose.

Christmas Tree Fruit Platter

Ingredients:

• Fresh raspberries
• Pretzel sticks
• Mozzarella cheese slice
• Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

• Arrange the raspberries on a plate in the shape of a Christmas tree, starting at the top and working your way down.
• Add three pretzel sticks to the bottom of the raspberry tree to resembles a tree trunk (you can also use these as “toothpicks” to eat the berries).
• Use a small star shaped cookie cutter to cut a star shape out of the cheese slice. Place at the top of the tree.
• To further jazz it up, you can add some festive sprinkles to the tree to act as decorations, if desired.

Christmas Pancakes

Ingredients:

• Pancakes (I used these 3-Ingredient Banana Pancakes)
• Peanut butter
• Cream cheese or yogurt
• Fresh blueberries
• Fresh strawberries
• Pretzels (curly and sticks)
• Green grapes
• Kiwi
• Banana
• Carrot

Directions:

• Prepare your favourite pancake recipe. Decorate with different spreads, fruit and pretzels to create holiday-themed pancakes.

For the Christmas tree pancakes: Spread pancakes with yogurt or cream cheese. Cut kiwi into circular slices, and then cut each slice into halves. Arrange the kiwi slice halves in the shape of a Christmas tree. Use a small star cookie cutter to cut a star shape out of a banana slice. Use a pretzel stick for the “trunk” of the tree.

For the Rudolf pancakes: Spread pancakes with a layer of peanut butter. Break curly pretzels so that they form two antlers and stick to the top of each pancake. Add banana slices topped with two blueberries under the antlers to form the eyes. Add a raspberry under the eyes for the nose.

For the Snowman pancakes: Spread pancakes with yogurt or cream cheese. Use two blueberries for the eyes. Cut a small triangle wedge out of a carrot slice and stick under the eyes to form the nose. Cut strawberries into very small pieces and form in the shape of a smile under the nose. Cut a green grape in half and place one half on each side of the snowman’s head. Join the grapes with thin strips of cut strawberries at the top of the snowman’s head to form ear muffs.

Did you make any of these healthy Christmas treats? Scroll down to leave a star rating and review!