9 Healthy Snack Bars for Kids
These healthy snack bar picks, agreed upon by nutritionists and kids, go easy on the sugar. Plus, they supply whole grains, protein, or both to help satisfy tummies until the next meal.
Nut-free: This Bar Saves Lives Kids
This chewy bar made with oats and brown rice comes in three kid-friendly flavors. Much like ready-to-eat cereal, it’s fortified with 14 vitamins and minerals, including calcium, vitamin D, and iron. Plus, the company, cofounded by actress Kristen Bell, donates a portion of proceeds to providing food to malnourished children around the globe.
RELATED: Nut-Free Snacks and Desserts for Bake Sales, School Parties, and More
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KIND Kids Chewy Chocolate Chip
Our kid tasters had no idea, but these small bars contain four kinds of whole grains: oats, quinoa, brown rice, and sorghum!
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RXBAR Kids Apple Cinnamon Raisin
The bar that’s beloved by adults now has a kid-size version. It’s made with enough egg whites to supply 7 grams of protein, making it a great snack before a soccer game or a swim lesson.
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Kashi Peanut Peanut Butter Bar
PB for the Win! Oats are mixed with whole roasted nuts and peanut butter in this chewy bar that’s been recently reformulated. Our nutrition experts liked that the bars have a healthy balance of fat, protein, and whole grains to help kids feel full.
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Jif Power Ups Banana With Peanut Butter
Kid tasters went nuts over the soft, chewy texture of this bar that’s packed with 6 grams of protein. And while many of them had never tried peanut butter and banana together, they liked the flavor mash-up.
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Nut-Free: MadeGood Apple Cinnamon
These small, gluten-free bars (just 90 calories each) are the ideal size for kids ages 4 and under. They contain extracts of spinach, broccoli, and shiitake mushrooms in addition to oats and rice, and little ones still gobbled them right up.
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Perfect Kids Chocolate Chip Snack Bar
These new bars, sold in the refrigerated section, contain a freshly ground organic peanut-butter base (to boost protein to 7 grams) and fair-trade dark chocolate. They don’t need to remain chilled if eaten within a week, but testers really liked them straight from the fridge.
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LÄRABAR Apple Pie and Cashew Cookie Minis
Don’t sweat the 8 or 9 grams of sugar in each bar. It’s mainly from antioxidant-packed dates, and cashews contribute a little too. The gluten-free bars are sold together in boxes. Judging from our kid testers, we expect your little one to prefer the Apple Pie variety.
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Or Just Bake These!
Who has time to make their own bars for snacks or lunches? You do. Because you can buy Nestlé Toll House Simply Delicious Snack Bar Dough and bake it for ten minutes.
Families loved the Cranberry Walnut With Dark Chocolate flavor, which also contains barley, quinoa, and sunflower seeds. The melty chocolate is delish!