Self-yourself snacks for preschooler?

[jenfl]

I've managed to clear our pantry enough to set aside a shelf to hold self-serve snacks for my 3 year old. I currently have a picnic drink container (spout at the bottom) filled with water for her to get, and two plastic containers that she can help herself from.

Right now one is filled with Cheerios, one with peanuts and raisins.

What other ideas do you have for things I could put in there for her to have fairly free access to? I'd like them to be relatively healthy and they can't need to be refrigerated.

Thanks!

[artemis33]

For my DD, I stock some combo of:

Late July mini PB crackers (they have cheese ones too) - not perfectly healthy (still processed), but organic and no HFCS or hydrogenated oils - good for car snacks too. I like that they have a bit of fat/protein so it isn't just the crackers.

http://www.latejuly.com/late_july_or.../our_products/

Plantain chips (from TJs)

fresh apples, pears, bananas, plums, apricots, etc in a bowl on the counter she can reach with her stool - maybe a basket on the shelf for a few of these?

dried cherries, apricots, raisins....also freeze dried blueberries, strawberries, peaches from Just Tomatoes

other nuts? My DD likes salted macadamias, almonds and pumpkin seeds the most.

My older DD is 4.5 now and can open the refrigerator so she usually has mini yogurts, string cheese, strawberries, blueberries, baby carrots in there where she can reach them. **OH just re-read and saw that won't work, sorry!**

[Rhannie]

Originally Posted by jenfl

What other ideas do you have for things I could put in there for her to have fairly free access to? I'd like them to be relatively healthy and they can't need to be refrigerated.

On another thread I saw one person would put pictures of refrigerated snacks on the snack shelf, so the child could bring that and ask you to get it.

Fresh fruit is usually a good one. My daughter loved seaweed sheets, dried baby fish, jerkeys, nuts, dried fruit (dried bananas and apples are easy to make yourself), fruit leathers if I have time to make them, veggie sticks are fine for the day without refrigeration (if she doesn't eat them cook them up for dinner or soak in ice water and they'll bounce back), granolas, rice crackers, fermented pickles (this was a favorite when we were kids--we'd snag them straight from the brine before the were completely fermented).