Finger Food Ideas for Toddler at Daycare?

My daughter really liked when I made her a trailmix---varied cereal like cheerios, multigrain cheerios, fruity cheerios, raisins, yogurt covered raisins, Craisins (cranberry or cherry), dried fruit, etc.

She also seemed to like chicken salad sandwich that I would make---canned white breast meat chicken mixed with sour cream or mayo on bread cut into strips. You can add in little bits of carrot or use a vegetable spread.

If she likes cheese try mixing shredded carrot into shredded cheese.

Apple&Eve just started juice boxes called Fruitables that are a mix of fruit and vegetable and very light in taste (unlike V8Fusion)--my tot loves them!

It is an ongoing process with the veggies--I find myself adding veggies to soup and sneaking stuff in that way, too. good luck

Well it looks like you have some variety. Sounds like you are doing great if she likes all those things!! I would keep offering the veggies, perhaps let her try a dip -- ranch, yogurt, hummus. Usually carrots will win them over, I still softened the carrots then because of not enough teeth. You could try some beans -- canned or cook the dry ones, black beans, chick peas, kidney beans. Keep changing up the fruit. Try like a quesadilla with cheese and perhaps spinach -- cut it in small triangles, you can make mini pizzas and try to through in a few veggies with cheese on top or make a spinach puree and mix it with the pizza sauce, with cut up bits of chicken.. With *pizza* you have so many varieties, I have used whole wheat pita bread, bagels, english muffin, any kind of bread. My boys really like sausage, so I use turkey or veggie sausage.

I just recommended this to someone else, but if you don't have this book you should borrow it from the library and try it -- Deceptively Delicious, it gives ideas on how to incorporate veggies and such when kids are not so interested in eating them -- basically puree and mix. I love the mac and cheese with chickpeas and the pumpkin pancakes!

Hope that helps some and that I answered your question right, I wasn't sure if you wanted ideas for the things she does like or ways to include the foods she doesn't..

Best of Luck!

Have you tried chick peas? My kids love them right out of the can. Just rinse, pack & go - it's a great snack & very easy for little fingers to pick up. My kids have been eating them since they were tiny & still love them at almost 5. I've found that Goya & Progresso brands are much better than the store brands.

Babies are funny. I routinely keep offering stuff our 15 mo old daughter didn't seem to like at first. Gradually she began eating it! I think she needed to get used to the different textures and flavors.

Some things we send w/ our little one to daycare; I cut everything up into little bite-sized pieces -- pierogies (you can buy refrigerated prepared ones at Stop & Shop), salmon, meatballs (she loves those swedish meatballs from Ikea), macaroni & cheese, ravioli, squash, carrots, peas, pears, honeydew or canteloupe, chicken (tender center of the breast or thigh - ours won't eat it if it's too chewy or tough), sweet potato, mashed potato.

Until recently our daughter was picky too (took her a while to take to the solid foods) and always has been on the petite side -- it's tough, but try not to worry too much; they won't starve themselves! Just a side note - we also decreased the # of bottles to approx. 18 oz. dairy/day so this forces her to be "hungry" to eat more.

HOpe that helps!

Try turkey wrapped cheese, thick fruit like melon wrapped iin thin pancakes. or pankcake she can dip in fruit puree or scoop.

Hi L.,

I have a 15 month old daughter as well and it's a challenge to keep things interesting and add variety to her diet. I recently discovered these little mini pita pockets at Trader Joes. They're bite size and perfect for stuffing with different things. We've done cheese, hummus, lentils, taboule, and just about anything I can find in the fridge. I'll often toast them too and the cheese melts throughout, yum! You could probably sneak some shredded veggies in there too :)

My daughter loves boiled eggs, especially the whites.

will she eat sandwiches?? If so a fun way is to cut the crusts off and then cut them into bite size squares so they are fun to eat.You can make cheese ones or any type of spread with this. MY 4 yr old still likes her sandwiches that way.
Also maybe some little maccoronis to pick up????
Granola bars are also good, with or without the yoghurt top.
Also bagel bites are a good one. You could cut them into bite sizes as she's only little.They dont have to be hot. My son takes these to school everyday :)

My son loves black beans, and they are one of the foods highest in iron. I just rinse them--you don't have to heat them. He eats them with his hands, which can be a little messy. He also loves the honey wheat rold gold pretzel sticks (I do too). He loves to dip those into hummus. Lastly, I sandwich some peanut butter between two graham crackers--I've also done the same thing with yogurt, and then frozen it--this seems to be the only way I can get him to eat yogurt! Good luck.

I saw someone else said black beans and yes my daughter(22 months) loves that and kidney beans:-) I warm up the Morning Star Farms veggie chicken nuggets or veggie burgers and just cut them into bite size pieces and she loves it! She is a big fan of dip (graham cracker dipped in apple sauce, pizza, nuggets, in ketchup or blue cheese) she also loves whole grain cracker and hummus dip. One other thing she eats several times a week is a scrambled egg with shredded cheese and veggie crumbles, I pour it into a sprayed pan and let it cook on one side before flipping it over, then when finished I slice it like a pizza. Any egg she doesn't eat for breakfast she is more than happy to snack on for lunch even when it's cold and again she sometimes dips it in ketchup and hot sauce(I know!)

Roll some meats and veggies into crescent rolls with a little cheese (like a mini stromboli), bake, slice and serve! She won't realize what is in there, but anything wrapped in cheese and a crescent roll is going to be a hit!