29 healthy packaged snacks for lunches and after school - Today's Parent (2024)

Photo: Carmen Cheung

With the school year kicking into high gear once again, you’re going to be pretty busy rushing to pick-up and chauffeuring your kid to all their extracurricular activities. If you don’t have time to prepare all the cute Pinterest-worthy snacks you envisioned for your little ones, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered with these healthy snacks for kids that are easy to toss in a backpack or nibble in the car when your kid’s on the go.

Our make-life-easier suggestion: keep an extra lunch bag stocked with delicious packaged goodies so that you can grab it on your way out the door. (You can even direct kids to help themselves to the “snack bag” and build up their independence when you’re working from home.) Many of these healthy snacks come individually wrapped, and the ones that are sold in larger packages are easy to dole out into reusable containers.

Having an on-hand supply of easy snacks will help you ward off after-school meltdowns, reducing your own stress and giving you more time to connect with your kid.

MadeGood Soft Baked Mini Cookies

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These yummy cookies are perfect for when you want a treat that’s got an extra dose of veggies in the form of vegetable extracts. They’re also lower in sugar, free of common allergens and come in seven flavours.

Once Upon A Farm Refrigerated Oat Bars

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Truly one of our most beloved healthy packaged snack options, this bar offers the goodness of organic fruits and veggies in a granola bar-like format that surprisingly tastes good. It's sweet, but not too sweet. It's made with toddlers and little kids in mind, but our older children (ages nine and 11) were thrilled to have these packed in their school lunch bags.

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If your kids love Chewy bars, switch 'em out for these and you'll both feel better about the ingredients upgrade.

Sabra Snackers Hummus with Pretzels

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Salt, crunch and vegan protein all in one portable package? Yes, and it's incredibly tasty for kids, teens and adults of all ages and stages, too. We're buying these hummus snack cups in bulk—they're ideal for lunch bags, playground adventures and taking to work.

Mary's Gone Crackers Organic Everything Crackers

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These vegan, gluten-free crunch machines are everything you could ask for in a cracker. They're perfectly sized for a small slice of cheese or dipping in a hearty bowl of hummus. They've got the intense, rich flavor of an everything bagel, only without the blood sugar spike of all-white flour.

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Get your seeds, grains and fiber on with these delicious crisps!

Good To Go Soft Baked Bars

Perfect for when you’re craving something sweet, these cake-like bars have only 2 grams of sugar or less.

Clif Kid Zbar Organic Energy Bar

This protein-packed bar with a soft and chewy texture is sure to keep kids energized during their after-school activities. The bar comes in three tasty flavours: Iced Oatmeal Cookie, Chocolate Brownie & Chocolate Chip.

Nature’s Bakery Whole Wheat Fig Bars

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These fig bars are packed with fibre and healthy whole grains. Your kids are sure to love the texture of the fruity filling, bursting with blueberry or raspberry.

Kind Healthy Grains bars

KIND’s gluten-free bars contain some super whole grains, including oats, millet, buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa. If your kid is active this will give them enough energy to power through playtime or after-school sports.

LesserEvil Berry Blast Cosmic Rings

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These slightly sweet, crunchy O's hit all the right flavor notes without any added junk. They're made with better-for-you avocado oil, and offer a melt-on-your-tongue texture that's safer for toddlers and younger kids to enjoy. Our kids enjoyed them so much they heartily asked for, "more, please!"

The Good Bean, Sea Salt chickpeas

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Crunchy roasted chickpeas are lots of fun to eat. But better yet, they’re high in protein and fibre, making them a filling afternoon snack. Pack a few extra in a lunchbox for your kid to sprinkle over his salad like croutons.

Bumble Bee Snack On The Run

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Protein-rich packaged snacks are often hard to find, but this Bumble Bee Snack on the Run option is the exception. It's a just-right portion of protein-packed tuna and wheat crackers for belly-filling bites between meals.

Dave's Killer Oat-rageous Honey Almond Snack Bars

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These scrumptious snack bars are made with organic ingredients and absolutely no artificial gnarlies. Each bar is brimming with 22 grams of whole grains. Chunks of real almonds make this an ideal healthy packaged snack for older kids who have grown molars. The chewy, filling texture is satisfying enough for teens and adults, too.

Seasnax Chomperz crunchy seaweed chips

Seaweed snacks aren’t just trendy—they’re nutritious, too. Beyond the salty crunch, these organic ones are full of nutrients like B vitamins—essential for boosting energy and easing stress—and bone-building calcium.

Jackson's Sweet Potato Chips

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The perfect mashup of sweet, savory and crunchy exists in each bag of Jackson's kettle-cooked sweet potato chips. They're made with avocado oil, gluten-free, allergen-friendly and school-safe. We also love how easy they are to throw in a lunch bag or take in the car for road trips. Choose from plain (our fave) or oodles of jazzed-up specialty flavors.

Crispy Apple Chips

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There’s only one ingredient: apples. Slices are dried in a way that makes them light and crispy—so they feel and taste like sweet chips.

Did you know? Dried fruit is a good source of fibre and a nutritious snack (one serving equals ¼ cup). Just be sure fruit is the only ingredient (no added sugar!).

Annie’s Bunny Grahams

When your cookie monster needs a treat, consider animal crackers. They’re lower in sugar than most other biscuits. Bonus: These cute ones are made with whole grains.

Triscuit, Low Sodium

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Kids love these crispy crackers because they’re delicious; parents can love ’em because they’re nutritious—low in salt and high in whole grains.

Organic Fruit Sauce Pouches

This squeezable snack is fun to eat, tasty and nutritious. Filled with wholesome ingredients, each pouch serves up fruit, squash and yogurt. Bonus: They don’t need to be refrigerated, so they’re super lunch box friendly.

Solely Organic Mango Guava Gummies

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If they're absolutely insisting on candy, make the switch to these better-for-you Soley gummies made with organic mango and guava fruit. They have no added sugars, artificial colors or flavorings—and we love that. Be sure to load up on the best kids toothpaste though, these are definitely sticky.

Little Bellies Organic Sweet Potato Sticks

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Crunchy, mildly sweet and just a touch savory in one package? Sign us up, because these baby and toddler-friendly healthy packaged snacks are a total dream. Our older children called these "super good" and asked for large reusable bags of them in their lunch bags three days in a row.

Harvest Snaps Snapea Crisps

These pea-based treats will satisfy your sweetie, because each serving contains four grams of fibre and five grams of protein. Baked not fried, they’re also lower in fat than many other munchies and have a light puffed texture. (And if you can find them, the lightly salted variety is a great option.)

GoGo Squeez Tropicalz

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Mess-free pouches are particularly handy healthy snacks for on the go. These ones come in three tropical flavours that are kosher, vegan and gluten-free, with no added sugar or artificial flavours or colours.

Maxine’s Heavenly Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Soft-Baked Cookies

These chewy treats are like energy balls and replace traditional cookie ingredients with options like oat flour, organic coconut sugar, dates and flaxseed.

This article was originally published on

Aug 16, 2022

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