10 Easy Snacks Your Kids Can Make

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If you are a homeschool mom, you might feel like you live in your kitchen. sometimes it feels like the kitchen is my personal prison, preparing meals and snacks, doing dishes, and cleaning countertops on repeat, ALL DAY LONG. Serving my family is a labor of love and a blessing to me, but my kids also need to chip in. You might also need easy snacks your kids can make!

They know that I don’t love cooking, making snacks, or cleaning. I am also pretty fussy about keeping a clean kitchen. These are not great qualities of mine, since I have 7 hungry, busy kids!

I have taught my kids to make several healthy filling snacks that don’t trash my kitchen. The key to independence in the kitchen is to have the right ingredients and supplies on hand.

Think simple, think easy, think enjoyable.

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Teach the Basics

You have to teach your kids a few basics if you want to escape the kitchen.

Teach them how to pour things.
Teach them to measure.
Teach them to cut- butter, veggies, fruit, cheese, meat, bread.
Teach them to use the microwave.
Teach them to use a blender and a food processor.
Teach them to use the stovetop.
Teach them to use the oven.
Of course, you cannot do this all-in-one day.

How To Teach Children

As homeschool moms, you already know how to teach your children. Remember that life skills are taught in the same way.

Show them.
Help them.
Watch them.

And before you know it, they will be cooking! What a wonderful skill you have taught! I recently wrote a whole post about how to teach your kids cooking skills. Cooking with Kids- 10 Skills Your Kids Should Know will give you more ideas on how to instruct and guide your kids in teaching kitchen skills.

Ten Easy Snacks My Kids Can Make Independently

Apple, peanut butter and chocolate chips.
Chips and Salsa
Oatmeal
Baked Apple for One (Recipe Below)
Cheese, crackers and summer sausage
Trail Mix
Eggs (of course!)
Fancy Sandwiches
Smoothies
Flat Bread

These are all very easy snacks to prepare. My 5 and 7-year-old could make these snacks with minimal help.

Apple, Peanut butter, Chocolate chips

This one is easy and my kindergarten aged children and up can prepare this alone. Slice an apple into pieces (yes, I allow my young kids to use knifes, just teach them to always cut DOWN and on a cutting board). Place the apple in a microwave-safe bowl or mug.

Take a spoonful of peanut butter. Place it on the plate.

Sprinkle the peanut butter with chocolate chips. We keep our chocolate chips in the freezer, so they are easy to reach.

Yum.

Crackers, Cheese, Summer Sausage

To prepare for one person:

Put 5 crackers on a plate.
Cut 5 small slices from blocked cheese.
Remember cutting board and safe knife practices.
Cut 5 small slices of summer sausage.
Stack crackers, cheese, and sausage into 5 stacks.

Enjoy!

My 4 older sons (and husband) eat this every night as their “before bed” snack. They also slice jalapenos to add to their cracker stacks. They love spicy foods!

Oatmeal

Maybe oatmeal is a breakfast food at your house, but when my kids are STARVING at 3:00pm, they eat oatmeal. I would let a 5-year-old prepare this snack, although they might have a little trouble if we had a full gallon of milk (it might be too heavy to pour).

But even if they needed help with the milk, they could do everything else.

Steps:

Put quick oats in a cereal bowl (thank goodness for Corelle dishes), cover with milk. Put a small sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon over oatmeal. Microwave for 1 minute.

Bam! Not hungry until dinner.

Chips and Salsa

Since we eat tacos at least once per week, we almost always have chips and salsa. Corn chips are not the most nutritious but have pretty simple ingredients compared to other processed foods.

This is a very easy and quick snack that kids can prepare themselves when they are “SO HUNGRY.”

Baked Apple for One

This is a sentimental recipe for me because my dear 90-year-old grandma shared it with us. It combines two other favorite snacks- oatmeal and apples!

Ingredients

1 Apple, cored and sliced
2 Tablespoons of Oatmeal (Traditional or Quick Oats)
2 Tablespoons Pecans
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Butter
Sprinkle of Cinnamon

Instructions

Put apple in bottom of bowl or coffee cup. Add other ingredients. Microwave 4-5 minutes. Let stand one minute. Stir and enjoy!

Trail Mix

I don’t buy very many processed foods, but trail mix is cheaper to buy at Costco and Amazon, than it is to make. I only buy this if they promise to eat the nuts and not just the M&Ms!

Simple Smoothies

We make simple smoothies around here. We use frozen fruit and Greek or vanilla yogurt. Combine 2 cups of fruit and 1/2 cup of yogurt in a blender or food processor. When it reaches smoothie consistency, enjoy!

You can make smoothies a lot of different ways, but this is easy, cheap and filling. Costco, Aldi and Walmart all have well-priced frozen fruit and Aldi has great prices on Greek yogurt tubs.

Let them Make Their Own Eggs!

Did you ever notice how everyone likes their eggs cooked differently? To save you time and frustration, please teach your kids how to cook eggs. Most 7-year-olds should be able to make eggs all by themselves, if taught properly. They are healthy and filling and a quick, hot snack or meal.

A couple of tips: when learning to crack eggs, crack over a dish so the shell doesn’t get into the egg pan. A small egg pan is easier to cook in that a large skillet. If they like scrambled eggs, teach them how.

If they like fried eggs, teach them how.

My kids like hard, fried eggs.

How To Make Hard, Fried Eggs

Instructions:

Put the cast iron egg pan on the stove, turn on medium heat. Get a step stool if you cannot reach.
Melt butter or another oil in the egg pan.

Crack eggs into small bowl, throw shells in compost, or throw away.
Pour eggs into pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired.
Cook until you can slide a spatula under the eggs. Use your spatula to cut the eggs apart.
Lift up one egg and flip over. Repeat for other egg.
After a minute, press the spatula on the yellow yolk. If the yolk is still runny, cook longer. If it is hard and not runny, use the spatula to put the egg on your plate.
Push the pan off the burner and turn off the stove.
Eat up!

Obviously, fried eggs can be turned into many other dishes- like egg sandwiches, tortilla wraps, or part of a salad.

Fancy Sandwiches

Like eggs, everyone wants a different type of sandwich at my house. My girls want PB&J, but my growing boys like fancy sandwiches.

However, I am not a fancy mom. I will make a PB&J. I might make an egg sandwich or ham and cheese. But the boys want all the things. So……..because I love them…………..and we aren’t going to Jimmy Johns on a school day…………..I buy the things to make fancy sandwiches at home.

The Grocery List

Hoagie buns (these make my sons SO happy)
Turkey lunchmeat (we like the 3 packs you can get at Costco or the Never Any brand at Aldi)
Lettuce (already washed and cut up)
Mustard
Tomatoes
Pickles
Sliced Cheese (we also like the variety pack you can get at Costco)
Jalapenos or banana peppers (optional)

To Assemble

Turn on broiler (this is an oven setting). Split hoagie bun and layer all the ingredients. Put on a baking sheet. Put under broiler in oven for 1-2 minutes. Clean up the mess so mom doesn’t throw a fit.

Flat Bread

My kids love bread and have a special love for flat bread. They don’t really like the store-bought kind (thankfully- it’s expensive), they like homemade flat bread. It’s so easy and fills the starch craving.

To make flat bread at home you need flour, water and salt.

To Make:

Mix one cup of flour with a ¼ cup of water and a pinch of salt. It should make a simple, firm dough.
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add butter or another cooking oil. The small egg skillet is good for this too.
Flatten the dough with your hand and put patty in the pan. The patty should be about ½ inch thick.
Fry in pan for 1-2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side. The bread should be firm and cooked through. It should take less than 5 minutes.

Put on a plate and sprinkle on more salt or eat with peanut butter, honey, hummus or just plain!

Simple Snacks Help Kids Learn Kitchen Skills

These simple snacks are a great way to get your kids comfortable in the kitchen. Little things like cutting up apples, making sandwiches or cooking eggs, and using the microwave are small skills to master before they tackle a big recipe.

I want all of my kids to embrace cooking as a hobby, but I know they will only enjoy cooking if they are taught basic skills.

I also want my kids to learn self-sufficiency while they are young. Feeding yourself food that is healthy and enjoyable is a wonderful skill to master.

Remember to check out Cooking with Kids- 10 Skills Your Kids Should Know for more culinary inspiration. For an all-things-culinary gift guide: Ultimate Gift Guide for Teens That Like to Cook.

Thank you for reading about our easy snacks! If you try any of our simple snack recipes or if you have one to share, please comment below.

If you are looking for more fun hobbies for your kids to try out, Unique Hobbies for Homeschoolers- 14 New Ideas is a great article to explore.