Here to share the way I’ve been serving snacks to my kids the past few months, how it works, why we love it, why you should do it too, and a bunch of snack ideas.
My kids love to snack, as any kid their age. So when I saw the muffin tin snack tray idea floating on social media, I ran with it! You mean to tell me I can add fruits and veggies to a muffin tin, call it a snack, and my kids actually eat it without being threatened?! #momwin
Here’s another win- these tins don’t have to be just snack trays! I’ve used them for every other meal of the day too, and my kids loved it! Imagine Oprah’s meme, “you get a car” here. You get a breakfast tin, you get a lunch tin, you get a dinner tin! You get the picture. You can use the muffin tins on a picnic, on a road trip, or on a play date to serve snacks buffet style. ENDLESS OPTIONS!
So what is it?
The general idea of the muffin tin snack tray is to use a muffin tin to serve a variety of snacks and foods. I got my 6 cup muffin tin from Dollar Tree. I love using this one because it is cheap, and I feel like 6 cups is the perfect amount of variety but not overwhelming like it would be if you were to use a traditional 12 cup muffin tin. Using a bigger one is totally an option also, but I won’t be talking about that one in this post.
Reasons to love the muffin tin snack tray:
No rules
The options are endless! There aren’t any recipes to follow and you can use whatever you have on hand in the pantry.
Makes eating fun
One of the many things I love about the muffin tin snack tray is that they make eating fun. My kids faces light up with they see the tins being served. There are hardly ever any trays that they don’t make a “happy plate” of.
It’s quick and easy
These trays can be thrown together in 5 minutes or less with minimal preparation.
Healthy Options
You can sneak in healthier foods such as fruits and veggies or hummus and carrots and your little ones hardly even notice because the muffin tin is such a fun way to eat things.
Options
These trays offer a variety of options to your child, especially those that are picky eaters.
Easy cleanup
Add muffin tin liners to the tin= easiest clean up ever!
Palette broadened
My kids are way more willing to be adventurous in what they eat when the food is served in this creative way thus broadening their palettes.
Creativity
If you’re stuck in a rut and ran out of snack ideas, muffin tin snack tray will help you be more creative.
Muffin tin snack ideas:
- Fruit: Strawberry, apple slices, oranges, banana, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi, cantaloupe
- Vegetables: carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, tomatoes
- Crackers: goldfish, veggie straws, graham crackers, animal crackers, pretzels
- Protein: Trail mix, cheese, ham roll ups, pepperoni
- Other: popcorn, marshmallows, yogurts, jello, pudding, dry cereal, raisins, dried fruit, trail mix
- Dips: Nutella, peanut butter, cool whip, pudding, hummus
Few tips I’ve learned along the way:
- Don’t feel pressured to fill each tray with something different. Sometimes I’ll put their favorite thing in 2 spots that way I don’t have to come up with 6 different options. Keep it simple.
- If you think variety of colors and textures, you’ll have a well-rounded tray!
- Don’t refill any spots until the entire tray is empty. This encourages your child to finish the healthier foods if they want more of the “junk foods”.
Level up?
Here are some themed muffin tin ideas to take the fun a level higher!
- Greens: broccoli, cucumber, kiwi, apple, pear, avocado
- Taste the Rainbow: strawberry, orange, banana, kiwi, blueberry, purple grape
- Book themed: Dr. Seuss, Brown Bear, Hungry Caterpillar
- Letter themed: Letter B- broccoli, banana, bread, bologna, berries
- Use an edible marker to draw faces on food and use edible eyes to create an even more fun tin!
Can you tell that I have way too much fun with this?
This idea isn’t new and I most certainly didn’t come up with it, only a mom who ran with it out of desperation to get her kids to be well-rounded eaters! Have you tried the muffin tin idea yet? What’re you waiting for? It’s grrrrrrrreat!
