After-School Snacking 101
Snacks are a great way to end the school day! After learning and playing all day, snacking can give you an energy boost and help you get your day’s worth of nutrients. Choose tasty, yet nutritious snacks that won’t ruin your dinner.
Use fun tools: MyPlate (http://www.choosemyplate.gov) is a fun tool that helps you choose the right foods for snacks and meals. You will learn how much of each food group to eat. Remember that all meals and snacks should be half fruits or vegetables.
Think healthy: Snacking is an opportunity to eat healthy, not to eat junk food and drink calorie-loaded beverages.
Get snacks ready: Help mom or dad keep healthy foods available. After a trip to the grocery store, help wash fresh produce, cut up vegetables and put trail mix or whole-grain crackers in snack-size baggies. That way snack options will be ready when you get home from school! 
Need some good snack ideas? Here are three ideas from Hy-Vee dietitians:
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Lite or fat-free Greek yogurt paired with sliced bananas or berries and a dash of granola
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2% string cheese sticks paired with grapes or baby carrots
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Peanut butter on a whole wheat tortilla with apple slices
