Healthier Valentine treats for kids. These healthy Valentine treat ideas are perfect for school parties or to enjoy at home.
It's the month of looooove. Hubba hubba. Okay maybe not so much hubba bubba... Valentine's Day takes on a bit of a different feeling when you have kids, but to me it's even more fun. Our kids are excitedly choosing their classroom Valentines to hand out to friends and making their little Valentine's Day mailboxes. A few years ago I hosted a Valentine's Day tea playdate, and it was one of my favorite get-togethers with my mommy friends and little ones. The kids did Valentine's Day crafts and snacked on tea sandwiches, heart shaped pizzas, and scones. Now that our kids are out of the toddler phase and into school, there are class parties with Valentine's Day treats. Thankfully our teachers have already asked that parents do not bring sugary snacks. There are so many creative, fun, tasty and healthy Valentine's Day treats for kids. Candy is not at all necessary. 
Whether you're looking for healthier Valentine's Day treats to make with your kids at home, or ideas for healthier classroom Valentine's Day treats, I've got you covered with 4 new ideas (shown in the video and pictured above) and a few oldies but goodies. For classroom Valentine treats be sure to use sunflower butter instead of nut butters if there are any children with allergies in the class.
Let me know which ideas are your favorite! I'm going to be bringing the watermelon pops into my daughter's class.
From the top:
- Kitty Love: This is a fun recipe for kids to make! Use English muffins or rice cakes spread with sunflower butter for the cat faces. Top with sliced strawberries for ears, bananas and blueberries for eyes, strawberry cut into a little heart for the nose, and pipe chocolate for whiskers. Use gluten-free English muffins or rice cakes if needed.
- Watermelon Pops: Kids can help make these too! Slice Watermelon crosswise and then use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts. Insert popsicles sticks and sprinkle with natural sprinkles if desired.
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothies: This one works better for an at-home treat, but could be made in a classroom or frozen in mini paper cups and brought in. Recipe at the end of this post.
- Heart Shaped Antipasto Skewers: You'll need grape tomatoes, whole pitted black olives, cucumber, skewers, and a heart-shaped cookie cutter that is smaller than the diameter of the cucumber. Here's a visual to show how to make these tomato and olive hearts. Thread onto skewers and cut off sharp points as shown in the video.
From the top:
A big beautiful smoothie bowl for sharing. This one happens to be a banana cacao smoothie topped with dragon fruit hearts, raspberries, figs, peaches, and edible flowers. I just love making pretty smoothie bowls, as it's art and food (my favorite things) in one! These tend to end up on my Instagram more than blog.
More ideas for healthier Valentine's Day treats for kids:
- Chocolate dipped strawberries. The healthier chocolate chip options make these so easy. Enjoy Life brand makes gluten free, dairy free, nut free chips and Lily's Sweets makes stevia sweetened vegan chips!
- Chocolate dipped pretzels
- Love Bug Fruit Cups from I Heart Naptime
- "You're A Cutie" orange Valentines from It's Always Autumn
A Note About Allergies:
It's important to consider food allergies when serving other children. Nut, gluten, and dairy allergies are all very common. Please use sunflower butter in place of any nut butters in these recipes, and use gluten free and dairy free ingredients.
Strawberry Banana Smoothie
Published 02/05/2017
Easy plant based strawberry banana smoothie.
Ingredients
- 1 banana, peeled
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (or other favorite milk)
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth, adding more liquid if needed to turn the blender.
Prep Time: 2 mins.
Tags: smoothies, vegan, vegetarian, food for kids, fruit