Do you have any gluten-free members in your family? It can be tough to find quick, easy gluten-free snacks for kids, and they can be expensive if you buy premade ones. We’ve got you covered with our favorite gluten-free snack for kids that are easy for you to make at home.
Importance of Time Spent in the Kitchen
Instead of coming up with lots of kid activities throughout the day, involve them in everyday activities like food prep! For younger kids, add a toddler tower so they can easily reach the counter and be involved!
There are many benefits to involving kids in food prep:
- builds healthy eating habits
- kids are more likely to try foods they helped to make
- builds fine motor skills
- involves math concepts like size, weight, measurements, and fractions
- involves science concepts like cause and effect and temperature
- teaches knife skills
- kids learn about following instructions and recipes
- hands-on and engaging
- builds confidence
- great family time
Make sure to plan for a bit more time and more mess when cooking with kids. Find unhurried times of the day to help reduce stress, and remember to have kids help with the cleanup.
- Looking for more gluten-free inspo? Check out these gluten-free lunch ideas!
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Gluten-Free Snacks for Kids
Here are 11 of our favorite gluten-free snacks for kids that you can make together! Including fats and proteins in snacks can help kids stay full longer. We often add yogurt, beans, or nut butters to our fruit and veggie snacks.
1. Rice Cracker Pizza
These are a tasty favorite in our house! Kids enjoy getting their own pizza and picking their own toppings.
Use rice crackers for the crust, and let kids spread the sauce and add whatever toppings they like. Kids can help grate cheese and chop toppings. We enjoy cheese, olives, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and pineapple.
The pizzas only take a few minutes to bake. We usually place ours in the toaster oven for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Note: Too much sauce can make thinner rice crackers a bit mushy in the middle and make them harder to pick up and eat. Limiting the sauce spreading or thicker rice crackers can help with this.
2. Ants on a Log
Ants on a log are a childhood classic and are already gluten-free without any modifications. You’ll need celery, nut butter, and some raisins. Give kids a butter knife and allow them to spread and smear away.
We like to place some peanut butter in a small bowl so that kids can lick the knife and dip it back in as many times as they’d like.
3. Banana Popsicles
We love that even the youngest kiddos can help make this snack, as bananas are soft and easy to cut! All you need are bananas and nut butter. Kids can begin by cutting bananas and placing them on a plate. They can then spread some nut butter on each piece of banana.
Place the plate in the freezer to turn them into popsicles.
You can add a few chocolate chips to turn them into a dessert.
4. Hummus
Do you know that you can easily make hummus at home? We love this hummus recipe from Inspired Taste. You’ll need chickpeas, lemon, garlic, cumin, olive oil, salt, and some things to dip in the hummus. We dip carrots, celery, cucumbers, and rice crackers.
We use a little food processor that costs under $20. It’s the perfect size for making one batch of hummus and has more than enough power.
Did you know that you can also make chocolate hummus? Weird, we know, but it is surprisingly delicious and easy to make! Like traditional hummus, chickpeas are used for the creamy base. Coco powder and sweetener are added to make it into a tasty dessert. We use this simple chocolate hummus recipe from Don’t Waste the Crumbs.
We like to eat it with apple slices and rice crackers.
5. Fruit Pizza
Rice crackers strike again with the fruit pizza! All you need are rice crackers, cream cheese, and some fruit. Let kids spread and chop away. We like to begin by chopping fruit, then placing out the rice crackers and cream cheese.
We’ve seen kids engrossed in this for long periods. No recipe or adult direction is needed!
6. Smoothies
Who doesn’t enjoy a good smoothie? We love that you can use whatever fruit, veggies, and milk you have around. Kids can help chop, but it doesn’t matter how small they get the pieces because the blender does the actual work. You can freeze prechopped fruit or add a few ice cubes if you’re looking for a cold smoothie.
A popsicle mold can be used to make popsicles with any extra smoothie. This is a great way to keep from wasting any or overeating.
We use this simple Oster blender, and it has been going strong for years!
Our favorite smoothie ingredients: bananas, strawberries, blueberries, almond milk, cocoa powder, nut butter, cinnamon, chia seeds, hemp hearts, spinach, apples, and ice.
7. Energy Balls
Energy balls are a tasty, high-calorie, and high-protein snack. They’re made from a base of nut butter, oats, and a liquid sweetener. You can then use a variety of add-ins to create different types.
We follow this energy ball recipe from Well Plated and usually add mini chocolate chips, chia seeds, chopped nuts, and unsweetened coconut.
Kids can help to measure ingredients, pick add-ins, and mix. It becomes pretty tough to mix with a spoon because it’s so thick, so we let our kids use their hands to mash it all together. They can then help to roll the mix into balls.
A batch can be stored in the freezer and defrosted as needed. We wrap each ball in wax paper and twist the ends like a taffy wrapper. This makes it easy to grab balls and pack them as a snack when you head out of the house.
8. Popcorn
Popcorn is a quick and easy snack that we make at home all the time! We love using an air popper because it’s healthy, inexpensive, and kids enjoy watching the popcorn pop. All you have to do is add the kernels and plug it in. You can add melted butter and salt once all the kernels are popped or eat it plain. Kids seem pretty excited either way.
Note: Popcorn isn’t recommended for kids under the age of 4.
9. Yogurt Cones
Yogurt cones tend to get a bit messy and do require that you buy gluten-free ice cream cones, but they’re a kid favorite!
Kids can help to scoop some yogurt into an ice cream cone, add some sprinkles, and just like that, you have a yogurt cone! We have seen more than a kid or two bite a chunk out of the side of the cone, so make sure to eat them over a plate. Kids quickly get the hang of eating them from the top down.
10. Rice Crispy Treats
This one is a bit more of a dessert than a snack, but it is another favorite among gluten-free snacks for kids. Rice crispy treats are fun for kids to make and give them practice following a simple recipe.
All you need is butter, marshmallows, and Rice Krispies. We follow the Kelloggs recipe.
We enjoy making a batch and packaging up small squares for school lunches. Kids can help cut and wrap the treats.
11. Quesadilla
Quesadillas are a tasty, simple gluten-free snack for kids, made with corn tortillas. Kids can help to shred the cheese and place it on the tortilla. As they get older, kids can practice using the stove by helping to flip the quesadilla.
In addition to cheese, you can add black beans, shredded chicken, or peppers.
Best Kitchen Knives for Kids
Having kid-specific knives is essential when including kids in cooking.
When the size and sharpness are appropriate for them, kids can happily cut away and begin preparing their own food. When in doubt, a butter knife is always a great option. Kids can also practice with pocketknives to build their knife skills.
Wooden Knife for Kids
We love this wooden knife from Bee9 and use it in our classrooms with toddlers and preschoolers. It fits nicely in tiny hands, and its shape lets kids apply a lot of pressure to the top of the blade.
It isn’t sharp and works best for soft foods like bananas and strawberries (though our students also use it for celery and apples) – this makes it a great first knife as kids begin to build their knife skills.
Its ability to cut is similar to that of a butter knife (which is also a great option!).
Plastic Knives for Kids
This is an excellent set of plastic knives from Tovla. We also use these with a classroom of preschoolers. They are kid-safe and allow kids to build their knife skills, making them an excellent step up from a wooden knife.
Kids can cut most foods with these knives, though they’ll need to use quite a bit of force to cut extra-firm foods like carrots.
Crinkle Cutter
This Joie crinkle cutter is easy for kids to use and sharp enough to cut vegetables. The knife’s shape allows kids to press directly down on the blade, helping them chop through firm foods. Kids like the fun waves it makes.
A crinkle cutter can be quite sharp and should be used with care. Kids will need some instruction and supervision when using this knife. They must keep their helping hand out of the way of the blade.
Sharp Kitchen Knife for Kids
This Opinel knife is the perfect first sharp kitchen knife for kids. They can transition to this knife once they’ve mastered basic knife skills with plastic knives.
It comes with a rounded tip and a finger guard to help prevent cuts while chopping. Its small size makes it very manageable for kids. Opinel recommends it for kids ages 5 to 10.
What are your favorite gluten-free snacks for kids?
Let us know what you try!
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