A Guide to Packing School Snacks


Elementary aged students are nearly always asked to pack a snack to school. But when it’s early in the morning and you are scrambling to pack a lunchbox, gather their backpacks, get your children dressed, and a water bottle filled and into their pack – it feels like one more challenging task to be creative enough to pack a snack that gives your child variety and still be healthy. Here a guide to help you when planning and packing school snacks.

I received samples of YummySnacks and compensation. All opinions are my own.

To simplify mornings, I started a box of shelf-stable snacks that my kids could easily pick from and help themselves to a mom-approved snack to take to school. I do have a couple o choices in the fridge, as well, pre-packaged and ready to go.

School Snack Guide



Avoid –

  • Soft fruits that are easily to smash like bananas and grapes, they’ll end up squished and unappealing
  • Utensil based snacks like applesauce and fruit cups that require a spoon.
  • Soft granola bars – these are easily smashed as well and end in a crumbly mess
  • Candy – it ends up sticky and it’s not going to give them a long term energy boost

The key is to stay away from foods that tend to make a mess as they are hard to clean-up after in the classroom. You also want to stay away from sticky and difficult snacks.

Instead Choose –

  • Crackers
  • Pretzels
  • String cheese
  • Apple slices
  • Baby carrots
  • Dry cereal
  • Popcorn
  • Raisins
  • Trail Mix (with or without nuts, depending on class allergies)
  • YummySnacks Chips & Bars

If you need an easy to grab-n-go solution, YummySnacks make a healthy snack you can feel good about tossing into your child’s backpack. They are an all natural snack made with real food ingredients!

YummySnacks 08943

Their product line includes YummySnack Bars that are like your favorite candy bar – only loaded to fuel you through the day and made with ingredients like flaxseed, coconut, natural peanut butter and cocoa and other quality ingredients. But, they leave out all the stuff you don’t want to face by being gluten-free and low in sugar! They also are high in fiber and a source of protein an Omega 3s!

YummySnacks 08487

Their YummySnack Chips can let you sneak chips into their backpacks without guilt! They will remind you of a rice cake at first appearance, but they made with real Wisconsin cheese and a touch of natural seasoning. These snacks are gluten-free, grain-free, high in protein and calcium!

YummySnacks 08946

We could all tell that the YummySnacks were a healthier snack from the first bite, but that didn’t keep us from munching away. The bars are my favorite, but the boys are split on which variety they like best.

You can find more info on YummySnacks on their website, yummyhealth.com. They are available for purchase on Amazon.

What’s your favorite back to school snack to pack?


More Posts

87 Comments

  1. i like to pack an apple and some peanut butter, it’s a great tasting snack that is sure to fill you up!

  2. Mmm, we can’t wait to try these! The pizza chips sound delicious!I like that they’re healthy and convenient. My kids pack some strange things for snack time. My youngest likes to take green beans, pea pods, anything from our garden. The older one always tries to get away with candy or chocolate but he knows it’s not allowed at his school. We usually compromise with fig cookies or fruit snacks.

  3. I love the coconut snack bars.I love to pack healthy foods – that are all natural. These bars meet my desire and have Omega 3s.

  4. I bet my kids would love to try the cookie dough bars! I like to pack celery and peanut butter for a back to school snack.

  5. I like that the snacks are low in sugar and have protein and fiber. I usually like to pack a fruit of some sort.

  6. I Love to pack whole wheat crackers and humus in my kid’s school lunches. The YummySnack Chips™ – Cheddar Flavor chips would be great to pack in my kids lunches also! Love that Yummy Health products are gluten free. Thanks for the chance!

  7. Although my son isn’t in school yet, we love to snack on the baby goldfish (mini goldfish)– they’re fun to play with and taste great. I really want to try YummySnack’s Brownie Bar. That sounds delicious!

  8. I like making my own trail mix.I’d love to try the peanut butter bars.These look really good.Thank you for the yummy giveaway 🙂
    I’m not getting your daily email again.I got it one day then it stopped again.

  9. My son would love the peanut butter bar. However, they can’t bring that for snack in the classroom (no nuts allowed) so I would have to save that one for at home!

  10. I think that my son would love the peppermint bars! He also loves things like green peppers in his lunch!

  11. One of the best things to pack are raisins because of the Potassium nutritional value and from their site I like the YummySnack Bar™ – Brownie Bar to pack. I think those would be so yummy!

  12. The YummySnack Bar™ – Coconut would be great to pack for a snack. I also like to pack bags of popcorn or a banana.

  13. Everything needs to be nut free, so we tend to pack a lot of fruit, in hard containers so it doesn’t squish, and popcorn/crackers.

  14. The YummySnackChips in nacho flavor looks good! Best snacks: organic trail mix with no added sugars!

  15. This product line seems just what I was looking for. I need snacks to take on a vacation that will not miss up my healthy choices.
    vmkids3 at msn dot com

  16. LOL Kids aside, I want their Peanut butter Bar with dark chocolate. MUST have chocolate every day. The kids- well, for a snack when they are hungry, they seem to choose crackers or chips. So I have a feeling they would reach for their Pizza flavor chips first of all.

  17. I like that you won’t find gluten, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, artificial flavors or preservatives in any YummySnack products. And I used to like to pack apples or celery sticks with peanut butter!

  18. I’ve never heard of this brand, but it definitely looks like something my kids and I would like. I love that they are healthy snacks and the mommy guilt won’t set in!

  19. Our school doesn’t ask for a snack but I am still going to look for these in town.I’d add them to my son’s lunch 🙂

  20. Raisins and trail mix were always my favorites growing up, those and the Kudos granola bars. These Yummy Snack bars look like they’d provide great fuel!

  21. My kids have to bring a snack daily, it is tough finding a healthy snack to send with them. I will have to check YummySnacks out!!!

  22. Get this – our school just instituted a snack policy where everything must be in its original packaging. Now we have to buy certain brand names and in snack packs!

  23. I’m always looking for snacks to sent to school with the kids; love these.. my kids can’t get enough of them and I love knowing that they are a good choice. Thanks for sharing, glad your little ones enjoy them, too

  24. My kids only take one of two things for their snack at school – goldfish crackers or pretzels. They don’t like to change it up.

  25. I pack the soft squishy fruit in little bento boxes to keep them safe. I can’t believe my girls go back on Wednesday.

  26. Thank you for sharing your tips! My daughter is in high school and too cool to bring her lunch from home, but she hates the school lunches. So we compromise and I pack her lunches in just a regular little plastic storage container, or she puts it in a plastic bag. LOL!

  27. Good ideas! Anything that makes our mornings easier would be awesome. I hadn’t heard of Yummy Snacks before. I’ll have to check them out.

Comments are closed.