After-School Snack Ideas for Kindergarteners

This post was sponsored by a2 Milk® as part of an Ambassador Program for Influence Central.  I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.

Family Fun Magazine


Do you remember coming home from school as a kid feeling absolutely starved?  I remember just being mentally exhausted and so hungry after school, as if I hadn’t eaten all day.  There’s something about learning and playing all day that just takes it out of you.

Now that my daughter is starting Kindergarten (which I still can’t believe), I’ve been trying to get as prepared as possible.  I even started a Pinterest board featuring food for kids because I am struggling to come up with new snack ideas for after school.

After-School Snack Ideas

Frozen Blueberry Yogurt Kabobs

Faux Cookie Dough Dip (made with chickpeas)

Snack Baggies or Bento Boxes


I also really love the idea of creating a dedicated spot for snacks.  Create a bin in the fridge just for snacks or make a snack drawer like I did.  Pre-package snacks with baggies or little Gladware containers.

Some examples of foods you can pre-package are:

Dried Fruit
Pretzels
Gold Fish
Trail Mix
Yogurt-Covered Raisins
Craisins

I also love the idea of doing snack Bento boxes with things like apples, peanut butter and cheese.

After-School Drink Ideas

After-School Smoothie


My girls love smoothies as long as they don’t know they are good for them, so by offering smoothies loaded with healthy ingredients that are equally as filling as they are nutritious, I feel like I’m winning!  Here is one of our go-to smoothie recipes:

Ingredients:
2 Cups of a2 Milk® Whole Milk
Two Handfuls of Fresh or Frozen Strawberries
1 Ripe Banana (I like to freeze mine)

(Optional) 2 T Chia Seeds or Flax Seed
(Optional) 1 Handful of Spinach
(Optional) 1/2 Avocado

Toss your favorite ingredients into a blender and serve ice cold (with a fancy straw, of course).

A Glass of Milk (with cookies)

Milk and cookies are always an easy go-to snack for hungry families.  The milk is packed with protein and calcium and it’s easy to grab in a hurry.  What’s milk without cookies, though?  There are a ton of healthy cookies on the market these days, so you don’t have to go with sugar-loaded junk.

Lots of families avoid dairy products because of a sensitivity, but we have found that we don’t have any tummy troubles with the a2 Milk® products.  Their milk comes from specially selected cows whose milk is free of the a1 protein, which is the root of many’s milk-related issues.  If you have milk-related tummy problems, this might be a good option for you.

About a2 Milk®

Milk contains different forms of beta-casein in the milk solids, which makes up about 30% of the protein content of milk. Thousands of years ago in Europe upon the domestication of cows, the a2 variety of beta-casein mutated to what is now known as the a1 protein. Nowadays, cows are producing a mixture of a1 and a2 beta casein, which is not the way nature intended it to be. The a1 protein has been known to be the cause of lactose intolerance issues in many people. The a2 Milk® Company™has figured out a way to produce milk only containing the a2 protein from carefully selected cows. This is the way milk was supposed to be – pure, chemical-free, and naturally fresh tasting.

Studies show that one in four Americans experience some level of abdominal discomfort after drinking milk. Most of these cases are self diagnosed, with only 5-7% being clinically diagnosed as lactose intolerant.

Where to Buy

The a2 Milk Company™ has partnered with US family dairy farmers to produce and offer consumers milk – the way is was meant to be.  I have found a2 Milk® at my local Sprouts market.  You can visit a2milk.com/find to find a retailer near you.

a2 Mil® is a real milk product and is a replacement to overly processed alternatives on the market these days.  Rather than cutting milk out of your diet, I encourage you to give their products a try.  Visit www.trya2milk.com to learn how a2 Milk® is giving you the chance to try their milk for free.  You can also enter to win a trip to Australia!

Infused Water

A fun, fancy alternative to juice boxes is flavor-infused water.  Some tasty flavors that we have tried are:

Basil and Strawberries

Lemon and Strawberries

Pineapple

Watermelon

Watermelon, Basil and Strawberries

Lemon and Lime

Orange

You can find water bottles that have a little cage in them to store your fruits on Amazon pretty cheap.  You can also make a pitcher of infused water by simply filling the pitcher up with cold, filtered water, and dropping your favorite ingredients inside.  Be sure to dump any leftovers at the end of the day as the fruit will begin to rot.