Snack Tray Trick

I've recently started using a trick that our good friend Casey mentioned on her blog a few months back, and I wanted to share it. If you have a child who snacks a lot or is picky about snacks, and you want to get some good options in front of them, run (don't walk) to your baking supplies and pull out a muffin tin. Then, in the morning, put an array of fruits, veggies, proteins and carbs in the cups and watch your child's eyes light up. During the day, whenever they ask for a snack, pull out the tray.

A few great things are accomplished with the snack tray. First, you can see that your child is eating a variety of foods, and getting in their daily quota of fruits and veggies. Second, even if you put something in there that they don't eat, you are still exposing them to that item (without trying to force them to eat it) and raising the chances of them eating it in the future. And, third, these are snacks that you don't mind your child filling up on. I can't tell you how many times Wesley wants to eat a snack 15 minutes before a meal. Now, instead of telling him to wait, I just pull out the tray because these are foods I would serve with his meal anyway.

Some ideas for your snack tray:

Fruits:

Strawberries

Grapes

Orange sections

Banana pieces

Dried fruit

Blueberries

Veggies:

Carrot sticks

Grape tomatoes

Celery sticks

Frozen peas

Protein:

Deli meat

Cheese cubes

Hardboiled egg

Edemame

Nuts & trail mix

Carbs:

Cereal

Crackers

Pirate Booty

Popcorn

What other items would you put in a snack tray? How do you make sure your child eats a variety of snacks throughout the day?