Cereal bars

These are quick to rustle up in advance at the weekend. Oats are a great source of fibre and long-lasting energy, and you get protein from the seeds, and vitamins from the dried fruit.

Makes 16

100ml sunflower oil

30g light soft brown sugar

150ml golden syrup

250g rolled oats

100g mixture of seeds (eg sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)

60g dried fruits (eg raisins, cranberries or chopped apricots)

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F, gas 4). Put the oil, sugar and syrup into a pan and heat very gently to dissolve the sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Tip into a greased, 20cm-square tin and bake for 15–18 minutes until set and golden. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then score into 16 bars.

Leave to cool completely in the tin, turn out and cut along the marks into 16 bars. Store in an airtight container.

Cheese and seed biscuits

These make a great snack on their own, or serve with vegetable sticks or a piece of cheese and some fruit.

Makes approximately 20

100g cheddar, grated

100g butter, softened

125g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

25g puffed rice (breakfast cereal)

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F, gas 4). Line two baking trays with baking paper. Put the cheese and butter in a mixing bowl. Add the flour, baking powder and seeds. Put the puffed rice into a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to bash the bag and break up the rice. Add to the bowl and mix everything together. This will take some time and you will need to use your hands.

Squeeze the mixture into small balls, about the size of cherry tomatoes. Put onto the baking trays and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake for 10–15 minutes, until light golden. Carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Leave to cool completely, then store in an airtight container or freeze.

Pick'n'mix fruit

Give your children a few different fruits and let them make up their own pick'n'mix. Kiwis, satsumas, grapes, apples, pears and mangos all work well – mix familiar fruits with some new types. Chop them into bitesize pieces and put them in the middle of the table so that the children can pick bits for their own pots. You can have competitions to eat the most colours and, because they're in control, they will be more likely to choose plenty of variety.

Popcorn

Popcorn only takes minutes to make. Heat a little oil in a pan, add popping corn to cover the base of the pan (about 60g for two children). Put the lid on and cook for 2-3 minutes until the corn has popped (if you have a glass lid, the children will love to watch the popcorn pop). Add a pinch of cinnamon and a little brown sugar (you don't need much) and shake the pan to mix. High in fibre, low in calories and low fat, it'll keep them going – but won't interfere with the proper meal later on.

Banana and peanut butter sandwich

Spread a slice of wholemeal bread with a little peanut butter, top with sliced or mashed banana and then put another slice on top. You can always share the sandwich between two children if you're worried about it spoiling their tea later.

Amanda Grant is a food writer who specialises in children's nutrition and cookery. Recipes and photographs taken from Healthy Lunchboxes for Kids by Amanda Grant, photography by Tara Fisher, published by Ryland Peters & Small, £14.99. www.rylandpeters.com