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 The
12 Days of Christmas: Healthy Snack
Ideas for Kids During the Holidays
Lance
G. Bryant, Ph.D. and Mikah Felkins,
Arkansas State University
(see addendum
to this article)
As we all know, our students (&
many of us) anxiously look forward to
the holiday season every year. As we
all prepare for the much needed rest
and relaxation that usually occurs throughout
the holidays, we begin to focus our
attention on visiting with family and
friends and the holiday parties that
often take place. Many of our students
that we work so diligently everyday
to physically educate may see this time
as an opportunity for inactivity accompanied
by moments of indulgence in the “sweet
treats” of the holidays.
As physical educators we’re all
aware of the effects of unhealthy eating
and what may occur in our students should
they continue. While this is most certainly
an important issue, this is not intended
to be a “Scrooge” article,
but merely an offering of 12 healthy
snack recipe ideas that you may wish
to share with your students as they
depart for the holidays or even try
in your own home. Enjoy!
 The
12 Days of Christmas:
Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids During
the Holidays
Note: Nutritional analysis may vary
depending on ingredient brands used.
- Day 1: Awesome
Applesauce
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Ingredients:
2 small
red apples
2 tbsp.
lemon juice
2 tsp.
sugar
2 pinches
of cinnamon
- Directions:
1. Peel
the apples and cut them into small
pieces. Throw out the core.
2. Put
the apple pieces and lemon juice
into the blender or food processor.
Blend until the mixture is very
smooth.
3. Pour
the mixture into two small bowls
and stir in the sugar and cinnamon.
4. Enjoy
your awesome applesauce!
- Serves: 2
- Serving size: 1 bowl (half the
recipe)
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
84 calories
0 g protein
0 g fat
22 g carbohydrate
2 g fiber
0 mg cholesterol
3 mg sodium
14 mg
calcium
0.3 mg
iron
- Day
2: Banana
Bread
- Prep time: about 90 minutes
- Ingredients:
2 eggs
1¾
c. sifted flour
2 tsp.
baking powder
¼
tsp. baking soda
½
tsp. salt
1/3 c.
vegetable oil
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. mashed
bananas (about 3 bananas)
- Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°
F (180° C).
- Beat eggs well in a small
bowl.
- In a medium-size bowl,
sift together the flour, baking
powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, add the
vegetable oil. Add the sugar
a little bit at a time, and
continue beating until the
mixture is fluffy.
- Add the eggs to the mixture
in the large bowl and beat
well.
- . Add some of the flour
mixture to the large bowl
and beat well. Then add some
of the mashed bananas and
beat some more. Continue adding
flour, then bananas, then
flour, then bananas, until
everything is mixed in.
- Pour mixture into the baking
pan. Bake for 70 minutes.
- Flip your banana bread
out of the pan, let it cool
for a bit, and cut it into
slices to eat and share!
- Serves: 16
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
145 calories
2 g protein
5 g fat
24 g carbohydrate
1 g fiber
27 mg
cholesterol
155 mg
sodium
37 mg
calcium
0.8 mg
iron
- Day
3: Berry
Muffins
- Prep time: about 40 minutes
- Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1 c. oatmeal
3 tbsp.
sugar
1 tsp.
salt
4 tsp.
baking powder
1 c. blueberries,
washed
1 egg
1 c. milk
¼
c. vegetable oil
nonstick
cooking spray
- Directions:
1. Preheat
oven to 400° F (200° C).
2. In
a large bowl, mix together the
flour, oatmeal, sugar, salt, and
baking powder.
3. Mix
in blueberries.
4. In
another bowl, break the egg and
use a fork to beat it just a little
bit. Then add the milk and vegetable
oil, and mix.
5. Add
egg mixture to the dry ingredients
in the large bowl.
6. Using
a mixing spoon, mix about 25 or
30 times. Don't mix too much!
Your muffin mixture should be
lumpy, not smooth.
7. Line
a muffin tin with paper liners
or lightly spray with nonstick
spray. Spoon in the muffin mix.
Fill each muffin cup about 2/3
of the way up.
8. Bake
for about 20 minutes.
9. When
muffins are finished baking, remove
from muffin tin and cool them
on a wire rack.
10. Enjoy
your berry tasty muffins!
- Serves: 12
- Serving size: 1 muffin
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
136 calories
3 g protein
6 g fat
19 g carbohydrate
1 g fiber
18 mg
cholesterol
344 mg
sodium
86 mg
calcium
0.9 mg
iron
- Day
4: Fun
Fruit Kabobs
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Ingredients:
1 apple
1 banana
1/3 c.
red seedless grapes
1/3 c.
green seedless grapes
2/3 cup
pineapple chunks
1 cup
nonfat yogurt
¼
c. dried coconut, shredded
- Directions:
1. Prepare the fruit by washing
the grapes, washing the apples
and cutting them into small squares,
peeling the bananas and cutting
them into chunks, and cutting
the pineapple into chunks, if
it's fresh. Put the fruit onto
a large plate.
2. Spread coconut onto another
large plate.
3. Slide pieces of fruit onto
the skewer and design your own
kabob by putting as much or as
little of whatever fruit you want!
Do this until the stick is almost
covered from end to end.
4. Hold your kabob at the ends
and roll it in the yogurt, so
the fruit gets covered. Then roll
it in the coconut.
5. Repeat these steps with another
skewer.
- Serves: 4
- Serving size: 1 kabob
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
141 calories
3 g fat
28 g carbohydrate
3 g fat
1 mg cholesterol
2 g saturated
fat
52 mg
sodium
103 mg
calcium
0.5 mg
iron
3 g fiber
- Day
5: Frozen
Yogurt Pops
- Prep time: about 1 to 2 hours
- Ingredients: 1 8-oz. container
of your favorite flavor of yogurt
- Directions:
1. Pour
yogurt into paper cups. Fill them
almost to the top.
2. Stretch
a small piece of plastic wrap
across the top of each cup.
3. Using
the popsicle stick, poke a hole
in the plastic wrap. Stand the
stick straight up in the center
of the cup.
4. Put
the cups in the freezer until
the yogurt is frozen solid.
5. Remove
the plastic wrap, peel away the
paper cup, and eat your pop!
- Serves: 3 to 4
- Serving size: 1 pop
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
127 calories
5 g protein
2 g fat
21 g carbohydrate
0 g fiber
7 mg cholesterol
73 mg
sodium
262 mg
calcium
0 mg iron
- Day
6: Homemade
Pretzels
- Prep time: about 30 minutes
- Ingredients:
1 tbsp.
yeast
½
c. warm water
1 tsp.
honey
1-1/3
c. flour
1 tsp.
salt
- Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325°
Fahrenheit (165° Celsius).
- Put the yeast in a small
bowl with the water and honey.
Stir a little, then let the
mixture sit for 5 minutes.
- Mix the flour and salt
together in a medium bowl.
- After the 5 minutes is
up, check on the yeast mixture.
It should be bigger than before
and a little bubbly. Add this
mixture to the flour and salt
mixture.
- Stir everything together.
Use a spoon to start. Finish
with your hands. The dough
is ready when it's still a
little crumbly and flaky.
- Put the dough on the cutting
board and knead it like you
are playing with clay. Knead
it into one big ball.
- Break off a piece of dough
that's about the size of a
big gumball or superball.
Use your hands to roll it
into a skinny snake.
- Twist the snake into a
medium-size pretzel shape,
and put it on the cookie sheet.
Do this with all the dough,
making 12 pretzels.
- Bake your pretzels for
10 minutes. Let them cool
and take a bite!
- Serves: 12
- Serving size: 1 pretzel
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
56 calories
1 g protein
0 g fat
12 g carbohydrate
0 g fiber
0 mg cholesterol
192 mg
sodium
2 mg calcium
0.7 mg
iron 
- Day
7: Simple
Snack Mix
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Ingredients:
1 cup
whole grain cereal (squares or
Os work best)
¼
cup dried fruit of your choice
¼
cup nuts, such as walnut pieces,
slivered almonds, or pistachios
¼
cup small, whole-grain snack crackers
or pretzels
- Directions:
1. Measure
out ingredients.
2. Combine
in large bowl.
- Makes: Three to four ½-cup
servings
- Day
8: Zucchini
Muffins
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Ingredients:
1½
c. shredded zucchini (about 2
small)
2 c. whole-grain
pancake or biscuit mix
1 tsp.
cinnamon
1 teaspoon
allspice
2 eggs
¾
c. brown sugar
¼
c. unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp.
fresh lemon juice
powdered
sugar (enough to dust the muffins)
- Directions:
- Wash zucchini and remove
ends.
- Shred zucchini using largest
holes on grater.
- Wrap grated zucchini in
a couple of paper towels and
squeeze to remove water.
- Measure 1½ cups
of squeezed-dry zucchini.
- Preheat oven to 375°
Fahrenheit.
- Line a 12-cup muffin tin
with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, mix whole-grain
pancake mix (or biscuit mix)
with spices.
- In a separate bowl, whisk
together eggs, brown sugar,
applesauce, and lemon juice.
- Fold the egg-sugar mixture
and shredded zucchini into
the pancake-spice mixture;
do not overmix.
- Fill each muffin cup 2/3
full with batter.
- Bake 10-15 minutes or until
golden.
- Remove muffins from tin
(with help from your adult
assistant) and cool on a wire
rack.
- Sprinkle muffins with a
dusting of powdered sugar.
- Makes: About a dozen muffins.
- Day
9: Strawberry
Smoothies
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Ingredients:
2 ice
cubes
1 c. milk
1/3 c.
cottage cheese
2/3 c.
frozen strawberries
1½
tsp. sugar
1 tsp.
vanilla extract
- Directions:
1. Pour
all of the ingredients into the
blender.
2. Put
the lid on the blender and blend
for 45 to 60 seconds until smooth.
3. Pour
your smoothie into a glass and
enjoy.
- Serves: 1
- Serving size: 1 large glass
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
289 calories
19 g protein
2 g fat
49 g carbohydrate
3 g fiber
7 mg cholesterol
430 mg
sodium
369 mg
calcium
0.8 mg
iron
- Day
10: Edible
Veggie Bowls
- Prep time: about 10 minutes
- Ingredients:
1 green,
yellow, or red pepper, washed
1 bunch
of celery, washed
1 carrot,
washed and peeled
your favorite
salad dressing
- Directions:
- Cut the pepper in half
(from side to side). Clean
out the seeds and gunk from
the inside. Now you have two
pieces. One will be your pepper-shaped
bowl.
- Cut the other half of the
pepper into skinny slices.
- Cut the carrot into skinny
sticks about 4" long.
- Cut celery into skinny
sticks so each one is about
4" long.
- Put a little salad dressing
in the bottom of your pepper
bowl.
- Put celery sticks, carrot
sticks, and pepper slices
into the pepper bowl.
- Now you've got a portable
veggie treat! You can pull
out the veggies and eat them
with a little dressing. Then
when you're finished with
the veggies, it's time to
eat the bowl!
- Serves: 1
- Serving size: 1 veggie bowl
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
93 calories
3 g protein
1 g fat
22 g carbohydrate
4 g fiber
0 mg cholesterol
98 mg
sodium
71 mg
calcium
0.7 mg
iron
- Day
11: Super
Strawberry Bars
- Prep time: 45 minutes
- Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1 c. rolled
oats
½
c. butter or margarine, softened
1/3 c.
light brown sugar
¼
tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp.
salt
¾
c. strawberry jam
- Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit
(180° Celsius).
- In a large bowl, mix everything
together except the strawberry
jam.
- Measure out 2 cups of this
mixture. Leave the rest in
the bowl, and set it aside.
- Take the 2 cups of the
mixture and press it into
the bottom of the pan. You
can use your hands or a spoon.
Make sure you cover the entire
bottom of the pan!
- Using a large spoon, spread
the strawberry jam on top
of the mixture in the pan.
Spread it evenly all over.
- Take the mixture that was
left in the bowl, and spread
it over the strawberry jam.
Press it down lightly.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Remove
the pan from the oven, and
allow it to cool for at least
15 minutes.
- Cut the bars into 12 squares
to eat and share!
- Serves: 12
- Serving size: 1 square
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
211 calories
2 g protein
9 g fat
32 g carbohydrate
1 g fiber
22 mg cholesterol
126 mg sodium
16 mg calcium
0.9 mg iron
- Day
12: Yogurt
on the Go
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Ingredients:
¾ c.
light fruit-flavored yogurt
1 tbsp. raisins
1 tbsp. sunflower
seeds
1/3 c. strawberries
- Directions: Mix all ingredients
in a plastic cup.
- Serves: 1
- Serving size: approximately
1¼ cup
- Nutritional analysis (per serving):
232 calories
7 g protein
4 g fat
0 g sat. fat
40 g carbohydrate
3 g fiber
3 mg cholesterol
88 mg sodium
222 mg calcium
0.9 mg iron
All recipes listed above for “The
12 Days of Christmas: Healthy Snack
Ideas for Kids During the Holidays”
were obtained from www.KidsHealth.org.
Kids Health provides families with perspective,
advice, and comfort about a wide range
of physical, emotional, and behavioral
issues that affect children and teens
and is part of The Nemours Foundation's
Center for Children's Health Media.
(see addendum
to this article)
Lance
G. Bryant is an Interdisciplinary Section
editor for pelinks4u. He graduated
from the University of Alabama with
a Ph.D. in Sport Pedagogy. Currently
he is an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Health, Physical Education,
and Sport Sciences at Arkansas State
University. His teaching responsibilities
include teaching undergraduate and graduate
students adapted physical education,
secondary school methods, measurement
and evaluation in physical education,
and beginning & intermediate swimming.
His current research interests include
interpreting perceptual and attitude-related
data from pupils of physical education,
as well as general topics related to
physical education teaching and teacher
education programs.
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