For kids, a snack is more than a quick bite between meals- it's a meal in itself, and it's vitally important to keep their young minds alert. But you probably know that it can be a challenge to find healthy snacks that your kids will actually eat, and that don't take as long to prepare as an actual meal!

Most kids are a lot more likely to eat the snack you've prepared if it's:

A) on a stick</break>
B) cut into a fun shape
C) interactive


We'd like to share a few of our favorite healthy, fun, easy-to-prepare snacks. Try them out, and let us know what you think!

On a Stick

Banana Pops

For this you'll need:

* 3 bananas
* 6 popsicle sticks
*cup peanut butter (softened)
*cup chopped peanuts, walnuts, granola, or sunflower seeds

Peel the bananas and cut them in half width-wise. Push a popsicle stick through the cut end of each banana. Spread peanut butter onto the bananas, and roll them in the nuts, granola, or seeds. Wrap them in wax paper and freeze for 3 hours.

Fun and Festive Yogurt Pops

For this you'll need:

* 2 cups plain or vanilla yogurt
*cup granola
* 1 cup fresh berries
* Pretzel sticks

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Then, pour the mixture into a popsicle mold (juice cups can substitute just fine if you don't have a popsicle mold). Put the mold in the freezer and let harden for 30 minutes. Insert a pretzel stick into each popsicle to serve as the handle, and freeze for 3 hours.

Fun Shapes

Fruit and Cheese Kabobs

For this you'll need:

* Fruit such as grapes, strawberries, bananas, or kiwis
* Cheese, in whatever variety your kids like
* Small Cookie Cutters

Cut the cheese into slicesinch thick, and use your cookie cutters to cut fun shapes into the slices. You can save the odd leftover bits to throw into some mac-and-cheese, or you can snack on them yourself! Kiwis or cucumbers can be cut into shapes as well. You get bonus fun points for this snack by skewering everything onto kabobs.

Silly Sandwiches

For this you'll need:

* Whole wheat bread or tortillas
* Peanut butter
* Honey
* Granola
* Large Cookie Cutters

Spread honey and peanut butter over a tortilla or piece of bread, and sprinkle with granola. You could also use peanut butter and jelly, cream cheese and salsa, or any other healthy filling your kids would enjoy. Cover with another tortilla or piece of bread. Cut into shapes, and serve.

From: familyfun.go.com

Interactive

Fish in a Pond

For this you'll need:

*cup cream cheese
* Blue food coloring
* Goldfish
* Celery sticks

Mix one or two drops of food coloring into the cream cheese in a small bowl, and place the goldfish in another bowl or a shallow plate. Then, let the kids dip the celery sticks into the cream cheese, then into the crackers to "catch" a fish.

Snack Art

From: wondertime.go.com

Let your kids play with their food! You'll need:

* The Main Elements Celery, carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, bananas, apples, melon balls, orange sections, sliced deli meat
* The Cement Peanut butter, cream cheese, yogurt, ranch dressing, hummus
* The Decorations Seeds, nuts, grapes, raisins, olives

Give your kids a plate to use as a canvas along with utensils. Lay out the ingredients, and let them get creative. Make suggestions to encourage their creativity: robots, flowers, letters, animals, and cars are all fun ideas.

Do you have a favorite healthy snack that your kids love? Share it below in the comments!