Healthy toddler finger food ideas: Fruits

Fruits should be soft (cooked, if needed, or very ripe otherwise) and able to be easily mushed or gummed in your child’s mouth. Remove peels and cut into small pieces or sticks for your child to pick up.

If the fruit is slippery and your child has trouble grasping it, you can roll it in a “dusting” of crushed O cereal.

• Banana
• Peaches
• Pears
• Avocado
• Mango
• Pineapple
• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Blackberries
• Raspberries
• Apples, including no-sugar-added applesauce
• Kiwi
• Watermelon (seedless)
• Cantaloupe and honeydew, if soft enough
• Grapes – cut in fourths to avoid a choking hazard

You can also incorporate fruits into oatmeal, pancakes and muffins.

Healthy toddler finger food ideas: Vegetables

Vegetables should be well-cooked and soft enough that they can be easily mushed or gummed in the mouth. Cut larger vegetables into small pieces or sticks.

• Green peas
• Broccoli
• Sweet potato
• Baked potato
• Carrots
• Zucchini
• Summer squash
• Butternut squash
• Spaghetti squash
• Green beans
• Asparagus

Healthy toddler finger food ideas: Grains

Introduce your baby and toddler to a variety of whole grains and try to limit the amount of processed grains they receive. Cooked grains, once cooled a bit, can be smushed together to create little clumps for your child to pick up. Melting in some cheese helps, too.

• Brown rice
• Oatmeal
• Barley
• Quinoa
• Farro
• Whole wheat pasta, cooked well and cut into small pieces. You can also mix pasta with tomato sauce or cheese or a veggie puree.
• Whole wheat toast pieces – these are great served with a spread of applesauce, smashed avocado, peanut butter, melted cheese, or any fruit or vegetable puree (which is one of my favorite way to use leftover baby food.
  
• O cereal pieces
• Pancakes (oatmeal, pumpkin, blueberry, etc.)
• Healthy muffins (pumpkin, banana bread, zucchini-carrot, spinach banana, blueberry banana, etc.)
• Soft crackers (make sure they don’t have added sugar and aren’t too high in sodium)
• Quesadillas (fill with cheese, chicken, avocado, beans, etc.)
• Baby cookies (like these baby banana cookies)
• Banana bread or other breads (go for naturally sweetened and whole grain as much as possible)

Healthy toddler finger food ideas: Protein

Active, growing toddlers need protein and they’ll get it from many sources (including their milk). Here are some protein ideas you can serve. Make sure everything is well cooked, soft and cut into appropriate sizes.

• Cooked chicken, cut in small pieces or shredded, or small ground chicken pieces
• Cooked turkey, cut into small pieces, or small ground turkey pieces
• Cooked pork, cut into small pieces or shredded, or small ground pork pieces
• Cooked beef, cut into small pieces or shredded, or small ground beef pieces
• Cooked fish, cut into small pieces – tilapia, cod, salmon and tuna are good places to start
• Soft beans, including black beans, cannellini beans, pinto beans, refried beans, edamame, field peas and black-eyed peas
• Scrambled eggs or hard-boiled eggs, cut into small pieces
• Egg muffins or omelets, cut into small pieces
• Tofu
• Hummus (you can spread it on toast or let them dip veggies into it)
• Soft meatballs or burgers, cut into small pieces – chicken, turkey, beef, pork or veggie versions
• Tuna or salmon patties, cut into small pieces

Healthy toddler finger food ideas: Dairy

Toddlers should continue to drink milk. Check with your pediatrician for the amount and type (such as whole versus 2%) for your child. Other dairy ideas are below.

• Cheese including cheddar cheese, mozzarella and other soft cheeses
• Serve cheese as small cubes, small sticks or shredded
• Yogurt bites (make them yourself!)

You can also incorporate cheese into quesadillas, eggs, pasta or make grilled cheese bites.