Snack Psychology

I have a growing 8 year old boy who seems to be hungry all the time. It's hard to find good healthy snacks that he will eat without too much whining. Recently, I've learned a few things though about the snacking mind of a kid. If he says, "I'm hungry" and I ask, "what for?" It is a long, drawn out process of naming foods that he mostly turns his nose up to. So, I've stopped asking. I simply find something that I think is appropriate for the time of day and his hunger level and I put it on a plate all pretty like and 9 times out of 10 he eats it and is satisfied. I need to remember to STOP giving too many choices! Like the other day...I know he loves pears. But when I answer his hunger with, "do you want a pear?" Well, that doesn't sound too exciting. Especially when he knows there's Pringles and candy in the house (I know, for shame!) So, I simply get the pear, slice it up nice like this:

and it becomes a lovely treat. I give it to him, he eats it up, he's happy, I'm
happy and it's another snacking success story down the hatch.

Another sneaky snack trick I use is the switcheroo. I get MYSELF something tasty and healthy to eat and sit myself down with it. Inevitably, he comes along and sees what I have and begs to share it with me. I just end up saying, "okay, you can have it."