Mix up breakfast with a bright Berry Smoothie Bowl for Toddlers! This smoothie bowl is extra thick, not like typical, runnier smoothies, making it much easier for your little one to scoop with a spoon. Set up a little topping station and let your child build their own bowl by adding their favourite toppings.
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As a pediatric dietitian, I love recipes like this that support self-feeding and add a little fun to mealtimes while providing important nutrients for growing toddlers.
Why You and Your Child Will Love These Healthy Smoothie Bowls!
- Thick and spoon-friendly: This smoothie bowl is blended extra thick so toddlers can scoop it easily with a spoon, which is great for practicing self-feeding skills.
- Quick and simple: With just a few ingredients and a blender, you can have a nourishing breakfast or snack ready in minutes, perfect for busy mornings with little ones.
- Colourful: The berries bring bright flavour and a beautiful colour that toddlers often find fun to eat! Who doesn’t love the look of a bright and colourful smoothie bowl!?
- Fun to customize: Set out a few toppings like sliced fruit, toddler-friendly granola, hemp hearts, or shredded coconut and let your toddler decorate their own bowl. Letting toddlers choose their toppings is a great example of responsive feeding, where parents provide the food and children decide what and how much to eat.
And if you’re looking for other fun breakfast ideas, you’ll want to check out this post with over 20 Easy and Healthy Breakfast Ideas for Toddlers including recipes like my yummy Blueberry Chia Baked Oatmeal and these Peanut Butter & Strawberry Breakfast Bars.
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Ingredients for a Toddler-Friendly Berry Smoothie Bowl
This smoothie bowl is made with just a few simple ingredients – it’s more about the toppings!
- Milk of choice (dairy or fortified, unsweetened plant-based beverage)
- Yogurt (plain, unsweetened full fat, or plain unsweetened Greek)
- Frozen mixed berries
- Frozen banana
- Ground flaxseed
Toddler-Friendly Topping ideas:
- Cut up strawberries
- Cut up banana
- Toddler-friendly granola
- Cheerios – often iron-fortified!
- Hemp hearts – Good plant-based source of iron and healthy fats
- Pumpkin seeds (finely ground for younger toddlers)
Iron is an important nutrient for toddlers as their needs are relatively high during this stage of growth. Adding iron-rich toppings like hemp hearts, finely ground pumpkin seeds, or even fortified cereals such as Cheerios can help support their iron intake! And if you’re looking for other ideas for iron-rich foods and meal ideas for kids, be sure to check out this post!
For any seed or nut toppings, ensure they are finely ground up as they can be a choking hazard till about the age of 4.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions on How To Make a Thick Smoothie Bowl for Kids
Here is an overview of how to make this smoothie bowl, or you can skip down to the recipe card for full details.
Add the milk and yogurt to a high speed blender, followed by the frozen berries, frozen banana, and ground flaxseed (this helps all the fruit get blended up).
Blend until smooth, about 30-60 seconds. You may need a tamper to help push the frozen fruit around as it will be quite thick.
Option to set out toppings of choice on the counter or table. Let your child choose and scoop their toppings!
Enjoy!
Hint: Add the liquid to the blender first before the frozen fruit. This helps the blades move more easily and keeps the mixture blending smoothly without getting stuck, giving you that thick but creamy smoothie bowl texture that’s perfect for scooping. A tamper can also be helpful for pushing the frozen fruit around.
Substitutions
These smoothie bowls are very easy to adapt!
- Yogurt: Use plain Greek yogurt or plain full-fat yogurt
- Dairy-free: Use a dairy-free yogurt or full fat coconut milk
- Berries: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or a mixed berry blend are all great options. Frozen is important here though so that the smoothie bowl is nice and thick.
- Ground flax: You can swap with chia seeds, hemp seeds, or simply leave it out if needed.
Variations of Healthy Smoothies for Kids
This smoothie bowl can certain work as a smoothie for toddlers, and if you’re looking for other smoothie options that aren’t as thick, be sure to check out my Calcium-rich Smoothie for Kids, or this Blueberry Prune Constipation Smoothie!
Equipment
- High speed blender
Storage
This smoothie bowl is best enjoyed right after blending while it’s thick and creamy. If you do have leftovers, you can store it in the fridge, but know that it will become runnier over time.
Toddler Tip
Smoothie bowls are such a fun option for mixing up breakfast. On mornings when you have the time and capacity, set out the toppings on the table or counter for your kids to serve themselves. For younger toddlers, you can help serve them while still letting them choose which toppings they would like!
The thicker texture makes this bowl easier for toddlers to scoop with a spoon, helping them practice self-feeding skills.
Here are my two kids spooning out the toppings for their smoothie bowls. Did it get a bit messy? Yes, if I’m being honest it did. But they had SO much fun doing it!
FAQ
Generally, for this recipe I would not advise using fresh berries as it will simply be too runny to work as a smoothie bowl. If fresh berries are all you have, you could try adding ice cubes instead of the milk to thicken it up, but I have not tested this.
Absolutely. Simply use a dairy-free yogurt such as coconut, almond, or oat-based yogurt and use a plant-based alternative beverage. You can also swap out the yogurt and milk and use full fat coconut milk.
Yes, ground flax can be a great addition to toddler meals. It provides fibre and healthy fats and blends smoothly into recipes like smoothies or yogurt bowls. Using ground flax (instead of whole seeds) helps us digest it more easily.
Yes! Smoothie bowls can be a great option for toddlers because the thicker texture encourages spoon-feeding and helps them practice self-feeding skills. It can be a little messy, but that’s part of the fun while toddlers learn and explore new foods.
They key to thickening smoothies into a smoothie bowl is using frozen fruit like berries or banana to help create a thick texture that toddlers can scoop with a spoon.
Recipe
Berry Smoothie Bowl for Toddlers
Equipment
- 1 High speed blender
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup yogurt
- 1 cup frozen berries
- 1 frozen banana small
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
Topping options
- cut-up banana
- cut-up strawberries
- hemp hearts
- pumpkin seeds finely ground for younger toddlers
- granola ensure toddler-safe (not crunchy, or hard, no full nuts or seeds, low-to-no added sugar)
- cheerios
- berries
Instructions
- Add the milk and yogurt into a high speed blender. Then add the frozen fruit and ground flaxseed. This helps the blender run smoothly and prevents the frozen fruit from getting stuck.
- Blend until smooth, about 30-60 seconds. Use a tamper to help push the frozen fruit around as it will be quite thick.
- Set up toppings for your child to build their own smoothie bowl.
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