It worked for me: Tried and tested healthy snacks for kids

Do you feel like a 24-hour snack vending machine? If you have young kids, your answer is most probably a big fat YES.

I can sympathise. In any run-of-the-mill day at home with my brood, I can make, what seems like dozens of snacks for my spirited little threenager and even pickier 5-year-old. "I'm hungry!" Does any parent hear a phrase said more often? Naturally, to avoid 'hungry' turning to 'hangry' we don't waste much time rustling up a little crowd-pleaser to deliver to our offsprings. It's kind of like a being a Butler, I imagine. They click their fingers; we deliver. How I would love to be one of those parents who has strict snack times in their house, but in an effort to avoid "hangry" at ALL costs, a Butler, I have become. And it doesn't help that my lot are akin to puppies; scavenging or sniffing around the kitchen to see what scraps they can be thrown. In an effort not to spoil their appetites for lunch or dinner, I try and keep snacks satisfying yet healthy. Not an easy task. The snack, according to a toddler, must be exciting enough to feel like a treat yet light enough not to fill them up. The variety, according to the 5-year-old must be something she hasn't already had that day, perhaps week, and be accompanied by a refreshing drink to cleanse the palette. Ahem. I've pretty much sampled every cracker texture, type of fruit and easy-to-spread topping going, but these 5 are the ones that work for us. Plus they're healthy, keeping everyone, including the Butler happy all day (until the next day when tell you they no longer like it, of course). 1. Cinnamon caramel apple energy balls These are so easy and so delicious. Make extra for yourself to have with a cuppa and keep them in the fridge all week. 

• ½ cup pitted dates
• 1 cup dried apples (not freeze dried, these are the chewy ones)
• ½ cup oats
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor (or Nutribullet) and blend until it forms a thick paste. Using about a tablespoon of the mixture, roll into balls. If you want the little bites, use about ¼ teaspoon. Pop them in the freezer or the fridge. via cupcakesandkalechips.com   2. Apple snacks Get the kids to help with the toppings, getting them involved will boost their confidence, and being included in the process adds to the excitement. 1 apple 2 tablespoons almond butter Sprinkle of crushed nuts/coconut shreds/raisins/ carob chips Slice apples into round pieces, smear with almond butter, topped with nuts, coconut or raisins or for a treat, carob chips.   3. Fruit cones Anything that helps them their five-a-day into them has to be good, right? Either fruit kebabs cut into little hearts or stars or try these fruit cones for a bit of novelty factor.  Choose a rainbow of fruits cut in different ways with lots of small berries, and just pile up the cone. Watch them devour their five-a-day in seconds. Via funcheaporfree.com   4. Frozen yoghurt dots Snip the corner of a plastic sandwich bag and pour yoghurt in, you can add pureed fruit to get different coloured dots. Squeeze the dots out on to a tray lined with grease proof for easy removal. Pop them in a freezer for an hour. So easy. via smallfryblog.com   5. The sneaky green smoothie (yes, it looks red) This is the best way to disguise greens and get a vitamin and mineral punch into a snack. Getting spinach into your little ones will give a high dose of vitamin A as well as a good boost of Vitamin C and Calcium. Combining it with the nonfat, high protein yogurt or dairy-free almond or rice milk provides a great boost of both protein and calcium – perfect for little growing bodies The trick? Choose a fruit that's colour-saturated. You could even try some juiced beetroot in here too as it's sweet and bold in colour.

• 1/2 cup orange juice or coconut water
• 2 large handfuls raw baby spinach (preferably organic)
• 1 cup natural yoghurt or almond/rice milk
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/2 frozen banana

My advice, pick up a Nutribullet blender and experiment with all sorts of greens blended and hidden with fruits. It's a pure pleasure to see them drinking things like spinach, kale, beetroot and cucumber with a smile on their faces.