No Fridge Necessary Summer Camp Snacks + Our Favorite Brands!

by | Jun 10, 2021 | Family Nutrition, Food, Healthy Eating, Recipes, Wellness

boy eating a popsicle

Summer camp. First of all, I’m just glad they’re here. But, with camps taking smaller numbers of campers this year, our three boys are attending 3 different camps at various points all summer. And, it kind of makes my head spin trying to keep it all straight.  Between different start and end times, who needs lunches and who doesn’t and mask rules, it’s a lot! But, the one consistent? The need to keep summer snacks cold in the St. Lous heat. So, we’re sharing our top 10 list for no fridge necessary summer camp snacks. We’ve also included a list for our favorite cereals + energy bar brands to make shopping simpler.
no fridge summer snacks list
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#3 Energy Bites

energy bites in a clear container
Energy bites are a wrapper-free way for kids to summer snack. Plus, it’s easy to personalize the ingredients to your kiddo’s taste preferences! Here are a few of our favorites:
Pistachio & Dried Cherry Energy Bites
No Bake Cocoa Powder and Hemp Seed Energy Bites
Vanilla Cookie Bliss Bites

#5 Top 12 Nutritious Kid-Friendly Cereals: no more than 8 g of sugar per serving

  1. Barbara’s Bakery Puffins (original) – contains 6 g total sugars, 6 g fiber, 3 g protein per serving (1 c)
  2. Kashi Organic Honey Toasted Oat Cereal (note: great alternative to Honey Nut Cheerios)– contains 7 g sugars, 5 g fiber, 4 g protein per serving (1 c)
  3. Kashi Whole Wheat Biscuits, Autumn Wheat – contains 7 g sugars, 7 g fiber, 7 g protein per serving of 32 biscuits (60 g)
  4. Kashi Cinnamon French Toast Cereal (note: great alternative to cinnamon toast crunch) – contains 7 g sugar, 6 g fiber, 2 g protein per serving (1 c)
  5. General Mills Rice Checks – contains 3 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein per serving of 1 1/3 c (40 g)
  6. Trader Joe’s Almond Butter Puffs cereal (note: great alternative to Reese’s peanut butter puffs)– contains 6 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 6 g protein per serving (1 c)
  7. Cascadian Farm Purely O’s cereal – contains 1 g sugars, 4 g fiber, 4 g protein per serving (1.5 c)
  8. Full Circle Market Organic Crispy Cinnamon Crunch cereal (note: great alternative to cinnamon toast crunch) – contains 8 g sugars, 3 g fiber, 2 g protein per serving (3/4 c)
  9. Full Circle Market Organic Wheat Squares cereal – contains 5 g sugars, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein per serving (3/4 c)
  10. Quaker Life Cereal – contains 8 g sugar, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein per serving (1 c)
  11. General Mills Kix cereal – contains 4 g sugars, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein per serving (1.5 c)
  12. General Mills Cheerios cereal – contains 2 g sugar, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein per serving (1.5 c)

Summary: The cereal with the least amount of sugar per serving is Cascadian Farm Purely O’s cereal (1 g). The most fiber comes from Kashi Whole Wheat Biscuits, Autumn Wheat (7 g/serving).

#6 Top 10 Nutritious Kid-Friendly Bars: no more than 11 g of sugar per serving

3 energy bars

  1. Trader Joe’s Chewy Chocolate & Peanut Butter Protein Bars – contains 7 g sugars, 4 g fiber, 10 g protein per serving (1 bar)
  2. RX Kids, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip – contains 10 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein per serving (1 bar/33 g)
  3. Bobo’s Oat Bars, Almond Butter – contains 11 g sugars, 5 g fiber, 10 g protein per serving (1 bar/62 g)
  4. Clif Kid ‘Z Bar’, Chocolate Chip – contains 10 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein per serving (1 bar/36 g)
  5. Clif Kid ‘Z Bar Protein’, Cookies ‘n Crème – contains 9 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein per serving (1 bar/36 g)
  6. Bobo’s Bites, Original with Chocolate Chips Oat Bites – contains 8 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein per serving (1 packet/37 g)
  7. GoMacro Kids MacroBar, Peanut Butter Cup Kids Bar – contains 5 g sugars, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein per serving (1 bar/25 g)
  8. Kind Kids, Chewy Honey Oat – contains 5 g sugars, 1 g fiber, 1 g protein per serving (1 bar/23 g)
  9. Think! Kids bar, Vanilla Cupcake – contains 4 g sugars, 3 g fiber, 7 g protein per serving (1 bar/28 g)
  10. Perfect Kids, Chocolate Chip (note: refrigerate any bars not being eaten that day) – contains 7 g sugars, 2 g fiber, 7 g protein per serving (1 bar/30 g)

Summary: The bar with the least amount of sugar is Think! Kids bar, Vanilla Cupcake (4 g). The bar with the most fiber (5 g) is Bobo’s Oat Bars, Almond Butter. The bar with the most protein (10 g) is both Trader Joe’s Chewy Chocolate & Peanut Butter Protein Bars and Bobo’s Oat Bars, Almond Butter.

Mama’s Muffin Recipes

banana muffin with hemp seeds on top
Your summer campers will feel mama’s love when they enjoy one of these easy, go-to muffin recipes.
Blender Banana Muffins
Sweet Potato Muffins with Dried Figs & Chocolate Chips
We hope these ideas provide you with a mixture of convenience and DIY!
Love, the moms from McDaniel Nutrition!