by Leigh Goessl

Created on: July 02, 2008   Last Updated: November 02, 2009

Growing bodies need nourishment and many kids prefer to eat frequent smaller meals during the day as opposed to adults who may approach eating with traditional three square meals. If your kids are like most, you probably are very familiar with hearing the phrase "I'm hungry!" multiple times throughout the course of a day and these times typically may not fall at breakfast, lunch or dinner time but during those in between hours.

After a while kids may get bored of the same healthy snacks that aren't laden in sugar or sweetness, and you may be at a loss of what to give your kids to make snacking fun, yet still keep it nutritious. Unfortunately many of the "fun" food ideas marketed towards children nowadays are not very healthy for them.

The good news is you can effectively combat those colorful and eye alluring commercials and attractive grocery displays laced with sugar, salt and fat, and replace those foods with healthier and more exciting alternatives.

A good trick is to start introducing healthy snacks to their taste buds when kids are young and before their impressionable eyes are led right to the unhealthy stuff. However, even if they've reached the age where they are more attracted to boxed and bagged junk foods, there are many great ways to make even the healthiest foods look and taste good. The best part is many of them are just as appealing as sugar, salt and fat laden snacks.

Home Baked Goods
Cookies and brownies are a big hit with kids. Unfortunately when packaged, these snacks are usually loaded with sugar, preservatives, dyes or other unhealthy ingredients. If you have the time to make these at home, you can ensure only the best ingredients reach their tiny bellies.

You can create delicious snacks such as cookies, muffins, brownies and cupcakes using whole grain flours and lesser amounts of sugar. Additionally you can vary it up by trying substitutions for sugar with other sweeteners, such as applesauce, and still keep the great taste of these perennial favorites.

Oatmeal cookies are easy to make using all natural ingredients (and you can even throw in some raisins for additional sweetness). Muffins are a terrific option because you can add healthy ingredients such as blueberries, bananas, and nuts to name a few. Muffins and cookies are great because you can experiment and try different flavors.

Another advantage to baking your own snacks is the kids can participate, help choose the ingredients and engage in a fun family activity. The younger kids

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