After School Snack Board

An After School Snack Board is a great way to fill your kids starving bellies with healthy, and fun snacks when they get home. It’s a great customizable option that you can make special just for your kids!

This after school snack board is such a fun and delicious way to get your kids to eat a variety of foods and keep their energy up when they get home from school, sports practice, or any busy day. The best thing about these fun charcuterie boards is they are super customizable, so you can include your kids and their friend’s favorite snacks!

Making a perfect snack board for my whole family is one of my favorite ways to get everyone eating a variety of different foods. It’s a fun way to get my kids to load up on fresh fruit, and other healthy snacks with a few of their favorite sweet treats mixed in there as well.

This recipe is set up as a simple guideline for you to get ideas to create a delicious snack board that you and your kids will love. I have provided the amounts for what I made, but you will need less variety, or less of each option for less people. The purpose is to create a fun, balanced, and abundant snack board that will get gobbled up in no time.

This snack board is not limited to afterschool time. This would be a great solution for birthday parties, sleepovers, movie nights, game day, pool parties, or any get-together with kids!

Ingredients needed:

This is a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this After School Snack Board. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.

• white sandwich bread
• peanut butter
• grape jelly – or pick your favorite jelly or jam
• celery
• raisins
• fruit-flavored yogurt
• ranch dressing
• strawberries
• apples
• grapes – pictured are green grapes, but you can use red grapes, or purple grapes, etc.
• mandarin oranges – peeled and broken into segments
• baby cucumbers
• baby carrots
• cherry tomatoes
• mini rice cakes
• granola balls or energy balls
• mozzarella sticks
• salami
• animal crackers
• alphabet crackers
• goldfish crackers
• yogurt covered raisins
• fruit snacks
• more snack options listed below

How to make a Snack Board?

1. Make the pb & j sandwiches. Cut the bread into your desired shape for your sandwiches. I used round cookie cutters, but stars, or hearts would be cute. Spread jelly on one slice of bread, and peanut butter on the other. Place them together lining up the insides to make sandwiches.
2. Make ants on a log. Fill the celery sticks with peanut butter, and top the peanut butter with 3 to 5 raisins.
3. Assemble the board. Start by placing your dips in small bowls on the board. Next fill in around the yogurt dip with larger fruits such as apples, grape clusters, and strawberries. Fill around the ranch dip with larger vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots, and cherry tomatoes.
4. Continue to fill in the large spaces on the boards with other large items, such as sandwiches, ants on a log, mandarin orange segments, rice cakes, cheese sticks, salami, and granola bites.
5. Fill in any remaining spaces with smaller items like animal crackers, goldfish crackers, alphabet crackers, yogurt covered raisins, and fruit snacks. Serve with small paper plates or bowls, and juice boxes, or cups of water.

Tips and Tricks:

• Select a board that is appropriately sized for the number of kids you are feeding. If you are feeding 2 or 3 kids a smaller board will do. If you are feeding a large group, go big with a larger platter! I used a 13-inch board.
• To keep the apple slices from browning you can rub them in a mixture of lemon juice and water, or you can purchase pre-sliced apples from the produce department at most grocery stores which have already been treated with a fruit preserver to prevent browning.
• If you are cutting sandwiches with a cooking cutter it is easier to cut each of the separate pieces of the sandwich separately. Cut each of the pieces of the bread for the pb&j sandwiches separately, then fill them with the fillings to keep the bread from slipping and ending up with a big mess and a less cute sandwich.
• To make this snack board in a jiffy, prep ahead of time. Cut up the veggies, fruit, etc and store them in the fridge for a few days so you can whip up this tasty snack board in less than 20 minutes.

How to store leftovers?

If your tray has been sitting out for an hour or two, you can store the leftovers for another time. Store the leftover fruit, veggies, cheeses, and meats in separate ziplock bags in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Leftover crackers, cookies, fruit snacks, etc can be stored at room temperature in air-tight containers or ziploc bags for about 5 days, or as long as listed on their packaging.

If your tray has been sitting out for longer than 2 hours then I would dispose of anything that needed to be refrigerated.

Substitution Ideas:

The great thing about this snack board is it’s super customizable to everyone’s favorites. Here are some other great options you could include:

• ham and cheese, or turkey and cheese sandwiches
• deli meat – turkey, ham, pepperoni
• sliced cheese or baby bell cheese – how cute to cut the cheese into cute shapes with a cookie cutter, like stars or hearts or triangles, use your favorite types of cheese
• cream cheese-filled celery sticks
• other vegetables: broccoli florets, bell peppers
• other fruit: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries
• mini cookies, or mini brownies
• animal crackers or frosted animal cookies
• granola bars (try cutting them into squares)
• pretzels
• popcorn
• cheese crackers or cheese cracker sandwiches
• nuts
• dried fruits
• dips: cheese dip, peanut butter dip, hummus, guacamole, caramel dip, or other favorite fruit dips
• mini m&ms or skittles

What should I put on a snack board?

You can load your snack board with a variety of snacks depending on the occasion. Offer a good variety of healthy snacks like fruits, and veggies, meat, and cheeses, mixed with a few favorite treats to give everyone a few options they will love.

You can make a theme for your snack platter, like picking a color to focus on (think orange carrots, bell peppers, mandarin oranges, cheese crackers, goldfish crackers, hummus, etc.) or make the board special for a holiday, like a Christmas party.

What is the purpose of a snack board?

These boards are a great way to get people to gather around an arrangement of delicious food. An afternoon snack board is a great way to stop your kiddos from feeling hangry when they get home from school, and to give them a nice burst of energy from healthy and tasty foods they love.

It’s a great way to invoke conversation around a plate of food, and ask them about their day at school – paired with the ultimate snacking experience.

When to serve a snack board?

A snack board, or grazing platter is a great versatile option for a variety of occasions. Load them with different favorite fruits, veggies, cheeses, and other snacks and appetizers depending on the occasion.

• A fun date night activity – make the board together, or have it already made to enjoy while you play some games or watch a movie
• Book club – this would be a huge hit for everyone to snack on while discussing your recently read book.
• Baby shower, or bridal shower – a perfect way to offer a variety of choices for a lot of different people. Just remember to use a large platter for a big group.
• This is a great option for parties – a kids birthday party where you want to get them to enjoy different foods, and not serve a whole meal.
• Movie Night or Game Night – add a few extra movie themed snacks like popcorn, or a few of your favorite bite sized candies.

This after school snack board is the solution to your starving kids, when they come home from school. It’s stacked with delicious and healthy snacks that they will love!

More snack recipes:

• Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips
• Rainbow Fruit Parfait
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Trail Mix
• Cookies and Cream Muddy Buddies

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