Healthier alternatives to your kids’ usual Easter treats

If you want to treat your little ones in a healthier way, check out these tasty, nutritious alternatives.

Berries instead of candy

It’s no wonder kids love little candies. They’re colourful, sweet and easy to pop into your mouth while you’re focusing on other things. But sugary mints and gummies aren’t the only things that have those qualities. Berries are vibrant, flavourful and fun to snack on at any time of the day. What else do they have going for them? They’re low in calories and high in many vitamins and minerals. Chances are they aren’t a part of your child’s typical meal plan, so they can still feel like a special treat. Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and even grapes will make welcome additions to your Easter gift list.

Healthy snack bars rather than chocolate bars

Adults and kids alike are happy to receive chocolate bars this time of year, but chocolate bars and many “healthy” granola bars are loaded with sugar and artificial ingredients that aren’t great for our bodies. Don’t lose hope! You can find products that are both nutritious and tasty and that you can feel good about giving little ones, who will be excited to chow down on them on Easter and for as long as they can make them last. If you know your kids are going to want their chocolate fix, check out KIND’s peanut butter and dark chocolate bar or Kashi’s dark chocolate and coconut layered bar. It is possible to give treats that are both holiday worthy and healthy.

Real fruit juice boxes to replace pop

It isn’t just the Easter treats that’s exciting for kids; the anticipation of when they’re going to enjoy their finds is also a lot of fun. Knowing they have new items to pack for lunch or to take to their extracurricular activities can make snack time a lot more exciting. Just because an item in their Easter hunt is healthy doesn’t mean it can’t be every bit as enticing as the sugary sweets they were expecting. If you tend to send them to school and to their activities with the same beverages every day, shake things up by offering them fresh, new flavours. Juicy Juice’s products are made of 100 per cent juice, with no added sugars, and they come in fun flavours, such as berry, grape and orange-tangerine, so kids can get excited about trying something new even if it isn’t chocolate covered.

Nutritious alternatives to potato chips

If your kids love potato chips, but you’d rather not indulge that habit this Easter, you have several fun routes choose from. Although potatoes aren’t necessarily bad for kids, eating a whole bag of deep-fried taters isn’t advisable. Check out Terra’s Exotic Vegetable Chips, which are made with a variety of colourful root vegetables your kids might come to love. Or if you think they can handle moving away from deep-fried products, try Newman’s Own 100-calorie mini popcorn bags, which are minimally dressed with a bit of palm oil, salt and flavouring. Plenty of healthier options to satisfy your kids’ taste for crunchy textures and salty flavours can be found, so don’t think you have to settle for chips.