Top 5 Cheap Snacks for Kids over Summer Vacation

The kids may be home for summer vacation and hungry all the time, but that doesn’t mean you should wreck your grocery budget by buying expensive snacks and drinks! 

Brand name cookies, crackers, chips, sodas and juice boxes might be what your children would like to munch on during summer vacation.  Who can blame them?  If they spend one hour watching Saturday morning cartoons they’ll come running to you asking for junk foods you haven’t even heard of yet! Let’s face it - those goodies are not all that healthy and are horribly overpriced.  The factor of convenience is one you have to weigh hard… is the low nutritional value and high price worth the five minutes of snack preparation you will save? 

We all splurge on snack foods from time to time, and it’s hard to resist if you happen upon a really good sale or coupon opportunity.  In the meantime, we can come up with healthier, less expensive snacks to satisfy their munchies while keeping your grocery spending under control this summer.

Top 5 Inexpensive (and Healthy) Snacks for Kids

1.  Popcorn.  It’s a cheap healthy food that’s fun to eat - what more can you ask for?  Buy REAL popcorn (not the microwavable kind) in large bags.  You’ll pay next to nothing for this great snack if you go for a generic brand in a large size and pop your own.

2.  Homemade Popsicles (made from real juice).  There are so many different ways, shapes and sizes to make them.  Just have fun and make sure to use 100% juice that you buy on sale!

3.  Frozen Grapes.  Watch for the abundant grape sales this summer at a supermarket near you.  Your kids will have fun with this cross between fruit snacks and popsicles.  Frozen grapes are a fun treat that you won’t mind saying yes to!

4.  Homemade Oatmeal Cookies.  Get the kids involved - have them help you bake this snack as a fun summer vacation time-passing project! I don’t need to remind you of the natural goodness of oatmeal and its  heart-health properties.  For added health boost, try cutting the sugar in the recipe down by substituting applesauce. 

5.  Fruit kabobs.  Eating healthy food has never been more fun.  Catch your grocer’s sales on in-season summer fruits.  Cut the fruit pieces up into bite-sized chunks, then spear them into fruit kabobs.  Quick, portable, healthy and cheap!

For more Works for Me Wednesday, check out Rocks in my Dryer.

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