Summer Snacks: How to Feed Kids Who Are Always Hungry

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The Constant Kd Hunger

What s t about summer that makes kds so ravenous? Over the years I have concocted a number of (totally not based on scence) theores rangng from addtonal physcal actvty to ncreased Vtamn D to boredom, but none of these pan out to be consstently connected to the nsatable hunger that causes the constant clamorng for snacks and meals. No matter the reason, the challenge as parents of these ever-ravenous beasts remans: how to feed kds who are always hungry.

And even more specfcally, how to make snacks avalable n such a way that we don’t spend all of our tme n the ktchen and they (mostly) eat healthy optons.

The Struggle s Real

Just the other day, I took my younger son to hs gutar lesson only to return an hour later to dscover that my older son had eaten a bowl of leftover pasta, a quarter of a watermelon, a bowl of cheese puffs, two rce crackers wth peanut butter, and was askng when dnner would be ready! Where does t all go?!

The frustraton for me wth feedng the bottomless pts that seem to be my chldren s that f I’m not organzed and ready for the ncessant call for snacks, they wll resort to pre-packaged optons whch do lttle to keep them full or help ther growng bodes.

But my desre to spend more tme n the ktchen preparng non-stop snacks s low, so I have done two thngs: establshed some gudelnes that I ask the boys to follow as best they can and come up wth smple trcks that make provdng healther optons snacks easer.

The Snack Battles n My House

Ths change n approach came after I realzed that I had successfully managed to eradcate the dnnertme battles, but that the fghts over snacks contnued. Before changng my approach, here’s what thngs often looked lke n our house:

Son: “Can I have a snack?”

Me: “Absolutely, you can get somethng from the ktchen.”

{tme passes as son looks for a snack}

Me upon seeng hs snack of choce: “Wow. That s a really bg bowl of chps/crackers…” (Note: can you hear the judgment here? Mstake #1.)

Son: “It’s not that bg!”

{two mnutes later, after frst bowl has been nhaled, son s back n the ktchen}

Me: “What are you gettng now?” (Note: here I’m tryng to control thngs. Mstake #2.)

Son: “More chps.”

Me: “That was enough! Can’t you get somethng else that has some more substance to t?” (Note: lots of judgment mpled here as well. Mstake #3.)

Son: “But I want more chppppssss.”

Me: “No. No more. That’s enough! Fnd somethng else!” {Ths often resulted n a meltdown, thereby provng that beng rgd about food and/or fghtng over food s never a good dea.}

OR 

“Why don’t you try somethng else frst. If that doesn’t work, then we can talk about the chps agan.” {Ths often resulted n an eye roll, but usually also led to some fruts, vegetables, and/or whole grans gettng eaten.} (Note: wth both of these responses I was stll beng judgmental and controllng. Mstake #4.)

So after repeatng ths exhaustng and tense pattern for many years I came up wth a new approach, a smple set of gudelnes for my kds to follow when t comes to snacks as well as some ways to make the healther optons more accessble.

By dong ths, I was able to provde structure that made healther optons easer, but also flexblty so that they have the freedom to choose what s rght for them.

Thoughts on “Junk” food

For years, I had a runnng battle both wth myself and my kds about “junk” food. Whle I have always beleved n enjoyng chps, cookes, and other “junk” food n moderaton, and therefore have always allowed those tems nto our house, they were always a source of contenton.

Ths s because I would try to lmt everyone’s (ncludng my own) ntake of these foods.

I would worry that everyone would just fll up on “junk” and then meals would be runed. And I worred about sodum and sugar ntake.

But after becomng well-versed n both the Dvson of Responsblty approach to feedng kds and the Intutve Eatng approach to feedng myself and my famly, I realzed that by lmtng and controllng these foods, I was creatng a sense of scarcty and, therefore, a premum on these foods. I was, n effect, makng them more desrable, rather than just one of many types of foods we enjoy.

So when I began the work to change the dynamcs around snacks and fgure out how to feed kds who are always hungry wthout too much effort on my part, I decded to change the way “junk” foods were offered.

Specfcally, I stopped restrctng them. Chps, cookes, etc. were all now just part of what was avalable, just lke fruts, vegetables, protens, and whole grans.

I’m gonna be honest, for a few weeks I had to just hold my breath and watch as my kds went crazy. Full bags of chps would be gone n a day, whle other, healther, snack optons were largely gnored.

But then somethng amazng happened. A bag of Dortos sat n my cupboard, unopened, for over two weeks. After the ntal exctement wore off, ths prevously hghly valued food tem became routne and the kds started to seek out healther optons on ther own. Rce cakes, tomatoes, and watermelon were suddenly appealng agan.

And the truth s, these sorts of foods are popular because they taste good, but they are also popular because they are convenent. And when you’ve got kds who are always hungry, sometmes the convenence of these pre-packaged foods s just worth t.

Snack Gudelnes

So after learnng my lesson about the battles over snacks and “junk” food, I came up wth fve smple snack gudelnes that I have set up for my kds:

Only fruts or vegges n the hour and a half before dnner. Ths s for two reasons: 1) I want them to eat a good dnner and 2) f they fll up on produce, then at least I know they have nutrtous food already n ther belles. How hungry are you? I ask my kds to assess ther hunger level to determne whether they need a more robust snack or just a lttle somethng to tde themselves over untl the next man meal. Ths helps them both to learn to lsten to ther bodes more and to plan ther snack better. Is your prevous meal fnshed? If not, fnshng anythng that can be fnshed from that meal comes frst. Ths s especally relevant for packed school/camp lunches, whch sometmes come home wth the man tem fnshed, but fruts and vegges left. (Note: I don’t force my kds to fnsh ther lunches, but f there s some stll-ok-lookng frut or vegetable that they pcked out for themselves n the mornng stll n there, I do encourage them to eat t as I beleve t s mportant to try not to waste that food.) Please consder fruts and vegetables as part of your snack. (Note: I don’t nsst on any specfc food group as I want them to buld ther own, healthy relatonshp wth food, but I do want to remnd them of the value of certan foods.) Stll hungry? Assess what you need. If after a snack they are stll hungry, I ask them to consder whether they need just a lttle more snack or whether ther growng bodes need somethng more substantal.

How to Make Healthy Snacks Easy

The other pece of ths puzzle that I have found to be mportant s to make the healther optons readly accessble, obvous, and appealng—the low-hangng frut, f you wll. I do ths n a few ways:

The frut bowl. I try my best to make sure that there are fruts readly avalable on the counter. For most of the year that ncludes frut n a frut bowl such as oranges and kws n the wnter and stone frut n the summer. In the early summer, when berres are at ther peak, I also try to have berres out on the counter ready to go. My boys also love grapes and Campar tomatoes, so I try to leave a contaner of those out as well. Vegges at eye level. I try to store cut up vegetables that are ready for the takng rght at eye level n the frdge. Bell peppers, cucumbers, snap peas, and baby carrots are often kept n a contaner, so that when the boys amlessly open the frdge, t s one of the frst thngs they see. Offer to make a dp. I often have a yogurt dp or hummus pre-made and ready to go, but f I don’t, I wll happly whp up a quck yogurt dp (the smplest, savory verson s just plan yogurt, a drzzle of olve ol, a squeeze of lemon juce, some garlc powder, herbs, and salt and pepper) to make vegges more appealng. Whole gran crunchy snacks are always avalable. I make sure to always have popcorn and brown rce cakes avalable, and at eye level, n the pantry. Healthy baked goods are always n the freezer. I have wrtten before about how I lke to make a double (or these days trple) batch of baked goods over the weekends. Made wth whole grans and often fruts or vegetables, these can make breakfasts easer, but they also serve as a great nutrtous snack source. Recently, my boys have been super nto rhubarb muffns and these scones. Leftovers are always an opton. My kds aren’t usually fans of takng leftovers to school or camp for lunch, but they often enjoy them as part of snack. Snce I am confdent that these dshes are fllng and nutrtous, they know they are always welcome to them.

Want more snack deas? Check out our lst of smple snack deas.

Between the gudelnes and makng the healther optons avalable, I have found that my kds are both more lkely to seek out optons that truly sustan them and that the tenson and frustraton around snacks has dsspated hugely.

Do you have trcks on how to feed kds who are already hungry? I’d love to hear them n the comments!

If you’d lke to make feedng your famly easer, try a free tral of our onlne meal plannng servce to see how smple plannng, easy cookng, and joyful eatng can be!