Healthy, Fun Summer Snacks For Kids

(CBS)  Kids playing outside in summer sure can work up quite an appetite.

And what better way to satisfy it between meals than with snacks that are not only healthy, but that you and they can enjoy creating -- and having -- together?!

On The Early Show Monday, registered dietician Keri Glassman suggested several such snacks.

FROZEN

Frozen Orange

Ingredients: Oranges and orange juice

Final Product: Frozen orange in orange

Cut tops off oranges and remove insides. Place insides with orange juice into blender and pour mixture into empty orange shells. Freeze.

Kids love a refreshing snack in summer, and this one adds fluid to help meet hydration needs!

Push Pops

Ingredients: Nonfat plain yogurt, frozen blueberries, push-up pop molds

Final Product: Push Pop

Mix 1 cup of yogurt with 2 cups of frozen blueberries in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into molds and freeze until solid.

Anything out of the freezer is a treat! Kids love the push-up form, and here they're getting calcium, protein and antioxidants!

Banana Ice Cream

Ingredients: Bananas, crushed peanuts in bowls, dark chocolate chips in bowls

Final Product: Banana ice cream in container with toppings

Peel bananas and freeze. Remove from freezer and blend. Place in containers and add your favorite topping.

This is the "un-ice cream ice cream"! Also, if kids have any dairy issues, this is a fun way for them to participate in an ice cream sundae.

Of course, bananas are excellent source of potassium.

REAL FOOD FOR SNACKS

Turkey Sliders

Ingredients: Turkey slices, whole wheat pitas

Final Product: Turkey Slider

Eat food for snacks! Kids often don't eat enough at meals, then go for chips or cookies for snacks. Give them food in snack size!

Kids love stuffing their own sandwiches.

Pinwheels

Ingredients: Flax wraps, spinach wraps, turkey, ham, cheese, toothpicks

Final Product: Pinwheels

Make a sandwich with your child's favorite fillings on a flax wrap (make sure to use different colors such as cheese, ham, spinach wraps). Roll up and slice into four-to-five pieces. You can stab it with a decorative toothpick to keep it rolled.

Healthy Pasta Salad

Ingredients: Fortified pasta, such as Ronzoni Smart Taste or whole wheat pasta, edamame, olive oil, vinegar, salt/pepper, Dixie cups with characters

Final Product: Portioned pasta salad in Dixie cup

Cook the pasta and defrost the edamame (green soybeans). Mix them together and toss with dressing made from olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

Serve in a Dixie cup. Sometimes, it's just the way the food is presented that makes kids want to eat!

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[tofkt]

We have a new product called a Healthy Snack Rack which is perfect for this segment. It helps to encourage people to eat healthier by making it easy and quick to serve nutritious snacks. Our web site is www.healthysnackrack.com. We have experimented with our own children and grandchildren and it really works.