During the warmest months of the year, easy, no-bake recipes that use just a few ingredients offer a refreshing option for you and the kiddos in your care. Helping you prepare the recipes is fun for children, as well as an opportunity for them to develop foundational math and social skills. Measuring and counting ingredients helps reinforce basic math concepts, as children learn that ingredients build upon each other in the step-by-step process of following a recipe. Helping prepare a tasty treat also encourages team-building skills such as listening, taking turns, and working together.
Below are some of our favorite no-bake recipes for refreshing summer snacks. They’re simple to prepare and feature healthy fruit ingredients!
Lemonade is one of the most popular summer recipes. It’s quick and easy, requires very few ingredients, and can be enjoyed immediately. Lemonade is also a great option for cooking with larger groups of children, as it requires many lemons, giving every child an opportunity to try squeezing out the lemon juice. And, freshly squeezed lemons have a beautiful, fresh fragrance that will make your classroom or center smell wonderful! Click here for a recipe from The New Children’s Museum.
With a simple combination of yogurt and fresh fruit, you can make a delicious, healthy snack. It’s best to do this cooking activity in the morning so that the popsicles can freeze during lunch and nap time and be ready for children to enjoy at the end of the day! Click here for the recipe from No Time for Flash Cards.
A homemade icee can be made quickly by simply combining fruit juice and ice in a blender. You might even consider making multiple flavors so that more children can take part in the process of adding ingredients. Click here to find the recipe. The author recommends pomegranate juice but this recipe can be made by using almost any juice you have available.
Summer features many fresh, seasonal fruits, including berries, grapes, and pears. Making fruit pizzas is a great way to incorporate 2 or 3 different fruits into a recipe. Use a whole wheat tortilla for the crust, and Greek yogurt as the sauce, and invite the children to place fresh fruit toppings on their individual pizzas to make a filling and healthy snack. Click here for the full recipe from Super Healthy Kids.
To make a delicious and healthy frozen snack, cut bananas in half, add a popsicle stick, and dip the bananas in yogurt. By adding toppings (such as sprinkles, cereal, or mini chocolate chips) before freezing, you can have a healthy and delicious frozen snack that children will love on a hot day. You can find a recipe here that uses yogurt pouches and sprinkles, or you can get creative and use almost any kind of yogurt and any toppings that you have on hand.
We also invite you to check out this healthy muffin recipe. It can be prepared on cooler summer days, or any other time throughout the year: Easy Recipe for Green Blender Muffins.
