If you are a parent of a kindergartener, I’m willing to guess that you hear the words, “mom, can I have a snack?” upwards of 10 (20? 30?) times a day.

Snacks! Sometimes I feel like they’re all I think about- buying snacks, making sure we have a variety of snacks in the pantry, grabbing snacks to throw in my purse for outings, and of course, packing snacks for school. 

And I know that most school campuses these days are also nut-free to protect friends with nut allergies. While this is so important in keeping everyone safe, it does add another layer of thought that has to go into planning snacks for our kids. So I want to help take some of the thought work off your plate!

(Side note: if your campus is not nut-free, nuts can be a great source of nutrition for kids. Kindergarteners are over the age where nuts are classified as choking hazards, but I still sometimes opted for things like cashew pieces instead of whole nuts!)

Snacks can absolutely be an important part of helping our kids meet their nutritional needs. As a dietitian and mom, I like to make sure that my kids’ snacks are good fuel. I usually try to avoid snacks that are just what I call “crunchy air” (think things like potato chips, Goldfish, many crackers, etc- not much going on nutritionally). If things are exceptionally low calorie and not very nutrient dense, they won’t satisfy kids (read also: they’ll just want more snacks) and they won’t really contribute positively to their overall nutrition, which is my main goal with snacking! 

Dozens of Nut Free Snacks For Kindergarteners

Today I’m going to share my favorite nut-free snack ideas for kindergarteners. These snacks are simple, quick, nutritious, and nut-free, so they check all my boxes for school snacks. 

What To Look For On Nutrition Labels When Choosing Nut-Free Snacks For Kindergartners

Here is a quick rundown of what I look for when I’m choosing a snack.

5-7 grams or less of added sugar 

It’s okay if there’s more total sugar or sugar from natural fruit sugars. Many bars are made from fruit, so total sugar might look higher. It’s the added sugar we mostly want to keep an eye on. If sugar (or another word for sugar, like syrup) is the first or second ingredient listed, it’s usually going to be too high in added sugar.

2 grams of protein or fiber for fullness

This is a minimum number for me! Ideally I like to see a bit more! 

More real-food ingredients than not

This speaks for itself. I love when the ingredient label looks like something I could’ve made in my own kitchen (if I had all that extra time and energy, of course!). 

No artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners

Not a hard and fast rule. But in a perfect world, this is what I’m looking for. 

A modest amount of sodium

Not every snack will meet all this criteria- that’s okay! But this is my starting point for selecting snacks, and I’m okay to fudge on a category if the snack has some good nutrition going for it. For example, sometimes I’ll grab a bar that has more than 5-7 g of added sugar if it also has a bit more protein and fiber.

What Are Some Nut-Free Snacks For Kindergarteners

If they can keep their snack cool in their lunch bag, I love these refrigerated options.

Note: this post contains affiliate links. I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Hard boiled eggs

I know not every kid will love a hard boiled egg as a snack, but if you have an egg eater, there’s very few snacks I love more! I make a batch of these air fryer hard boiled eggs almost weekly, but if you don’t want to mess with doing it at home, the Trader Joe’s ones are always reliable! 

String cheese

I love string cheese because it’s an easy 5-7 grams of protein (depending on the brand), plus some fat! I also regularly grab cheese squares and the Babybel cheese wheels. They’re the most packable and kids usually love them. 

Cottage cheese cups

This one has even more protein than string cheese! My kids love cottage cheese, and I like that it’s something a little different for when they get bored of string cheese.

Yogurt cups

Unsweetened or low added sugar yogurt will contribute protein and calcium, just like cheese. We love these nutrients for growing kids! Yogurt pouches work too, especially if they need to eat quickly at snack time.

Veggies and hummus

I love to send some baby carrots, some cucumber sticks, or some snap peas with a few tablespoons of hummus. Protein, fat, and fiber- check! On super busy weeks, I’ll sometimes grab the pre-packaged hummus and pretzel packs at the store, too.

If sesame is an ingredient you need to avoid, make sure to check your hummus label to make sure it’s not in there. 

Snacks that don’t need to be kept cool

Harvest Snaps Pea Crisps

These are a favorite in my house! The first ingredient listed is green peas, which means they ACTUALLY have a good amount of protein and fiber, even though they feel like a “crunchy air” type snack. Any way I can get my kids to eat vegetables is great with me. 

Hippeas

These are another favorite in my household. They’re like a Cheeto puff, but with some actual nutrition. They’re made from chickpeas- so they’ve got protein and fiber! 

Crackers

But not all crackers! My favorites are Simple Mills crackers (just check if you need nut-free to avoid their nut based crackers). I like the pop mmms which have butternut squash, and the original seed crackers. Triscuits and wheat thins work too!

I actually have a whole post on my favorite (and least favorite) crackers. Check it out here! 

Snack bars

Bars are a no-brainer for school, but not all bars are created equal. Here’s a list of a few of my nut-free favorites. 

• Cerebelly Bars
• Skout Bars (certified nut-free flavors include apple pie, blueberry, raspberry) – use affiliate code MAMAKNOWS for 20% off
• Kind Healthy Grains Bars– vanilla blueberry, cinnamon oat
• Kind Kids Chewy Bars
• Made Good Granola Bars
• Made Good Mornings Soft Baked Oat Bars
• Blake’s Breakfast Bars + Protein
• That’s It Fruit Bars
• Once Upon a Farm refrigerated oat bars (these are in the refrigerated section above but I’m still including them down here, too!)

Fruit snacks

I’m adding fruit snacks on this list because they are ever popular with kiddos, and there are some great brands making snacks with JUST fruit and no added sugar. However, my caveat here is that these snacks are pretty light on nutrition. They’re low calorie and don’t provide any protein, so I’d pair them with something else from this list to make a more nutritionally complete snack! I just know they are one of the most requested snacks from kids (makes sense, typical fruit snacks are essentially gummy candy) so I like to find some good alternatives.

• Fresh fruit – my kids happily eat a whole banana at snack time, clementines, or apple slices (if you soak them in cold water with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes, they don’t brown!)
• Solely mango fruit snacks
• Solely mango fruit sticks
• Bear snacks
• Fruit cups (in 100% juice) 
• Bear Fruit leather (no added sugar)
• Dried fruit
• Freeze-dried fruit

Mini blueberry muffins

These nut-free mini blueberry muffins are sure to be your kids’ new favorite snack. They’re bite-sized, delicious, and very low in added sugar. Plus, I made this recipe with a hemp seed streusel on top for a little added nutrient boost.

3 ingredient oatmeal cookies

These oatmeal cookies are such a simple recipe, and I love that they’re made with just a few staple ingredients. And what kid doesn’t want their snack to include a cookie!? For nut-free, use sunflower seed butter.

Chocolate chip banana bread

If you’re in baking mode, whip up a batch of this nut-free banana bread and you’ll have a week’s worth of great snacking.

Happy snacking

I know that being the purveyor of endless snacks and meals can be a hard job! If I can help lighten the load for you in any way, I’m more than happy to. And if you could use some more snack ideas (that don’t need to be nut-free), I’ve got lots more resources for you, too! Check out this healthy snack idea post to give you a head start!

Or, for easy and quick access, grab this PDF:

If you also have a toddler at home, grab this toddler-friendly snack list PDF: