Well, I’m not sure about you and your kids, but all 3 of my school aged boys get to take snacks this year. (And by get to, I mean ‘have to’…because they eat a very early breakfast (6:30 am!) and have a late lunch (11:45 am!)…that’s a long time to go without food for little people!
I understand that as many as 90% of schools in the US are nut-free, so when Stacy asked me for some nut-free snack ideas for her Kindergartener, I thought I’d drop a few ideas here for you (and her!) on the blog. Before we get to the list, I highly recommend trying out the Sunbutter sunflower seed butter as a peanut butter replacement. When Cuatro was a newborn, I suspected a peanut allergy when I was eating nightly PBJs (nursing mom craving!) and he would get violently sick. It stopped as soon as I switched to the Sunbutter. You can find it in most grocery stores, or on Amazon too.
These ideas are all fairly convenient, don’t require an ice pack and can be handled easily by young children!
- Easy to grab fruits such as bananas, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, orange slices
- Easy to grab veggies such as carrot sticks, bell pepper chunks, sugar snap peas
- Apple slices (with a little lime juice drizzled into baggie or onto apples to prevent browning)
- Banana-Sunbutter sandwich
- Homemade muffin like these Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
- Tortilla chips with salsa (salsa packed in one of the little dippers!)
- Wheat Thins or Triscuit Crackers
- Pretzels
- Goldfish
- Cereal bars (read labels carefully!)
- Pita chips with homemade hummus (hummus packed in one of the little dippers!)
- Trail mix with dried fruit, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips (You could also add in some homemade granola!)
- Popcorn (read labels carefully!)
- Bagel or English muffin with sunbutter or cream cheese
- Gluten-Free, No Bake Energy Bites (use Sunbutter in place of the peanut butter!)
I’d love to hear what your kiddos take for a nut-free snack, let me know down below!
(P.S. Read labels carefully…don’t send anything to a nut free school that has been manufactured in a facility that contains nuts. And thank you for being diligent with the food you send for your children, if you don’t deal with allergies. It’s a blessing to those who do have to worry about every speck of food put into their child’s mouth!)
Looking for more lunch/snack ideas for the kids? Check out our 31 Days of School Lunchbox Ideas series!
Can’t wait to try
We are nut free because of peanut (and almond) allergies too. I pack most of the above but I also pack string cheese (must use ice pack), raisins, homemade granola, fruit strips, nut-free Dick & Jane educational snacks (whole grain shortbread style cookies with states pictures on the front), or small container of Sunbutter with either baby carrots, carrot chips, or Apple wedges. Once I sent a boxed organic unflavored milk and about 6 Avengers shaped Graham crackers. The protein in the milk is very filling and he gets just enough cookies for a taste without too much sugar
I also pack my kindergartner’ s snack in with his lunch box so it stays cold.
Just a suggestion for next time, maybe you should include a little bit less text to make it less long. But anyways it’s a great idea to have nut-free snacks to prevent spreading alergies.