Master List Of Fruits For Kids And Easy Ways To Use Each

List of Fruits for Kids

Fruit is full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which can aid in digestion and help prevent constipation—and they taste good! It’s so easy to get into a rut of buying just apples, bananas, and oranges at the store, so this list of fruit for kids will give you new ideas to serve up some variety to the family. My goal is to both keep the kids interested in actually eating their fruit AND will help ensure that they’re getting a range of nutrients throughout the week. So use this list for ideas for what to buy, how to store them, and how to use the fruits in recipes throughout the week as needed, (You may also like my Master List of Vegetables for Kids, DIY Fruit Cups, and All-Fruit Ice Pops.)

Healthy Fruit for Kids

I always remind parents that kids who don’t love their veggies should be encouraged to enjoy fruit since they contain many of the same nutrients. The water content can also be really helpful in making sure that the kids don’t become constipated (which is an important thing to keep in mind because a kid who can’t go is a miserable kiddo). They are also naturally sweet and are usually much more enjoyable for many kids than veggies.

Best Fruits for Toddlers

This list of fruits includes a wide range because pretty much any fruit is good for toddlers—you really don’t need to worry about the natural sugar content (promise). There are some considerations to take with choking hazards and chewing abilities, so you’ll see that info below. Use the following list for ideas on how to serve fruits for kids raw and how to cook some of my favorite fruit recipes, too.

Apple

Raw apples can be a choking hazard up until age 4 if cut into chunks, though use your discretion if you want to offer them earlier and opt for softer varieties like Gala when possible. You can also serve raw apples shredded to younger toddlers, which is much easier to chew. Also try these recipes for apples below.

Apricots

Putting together a list of fruits wouldn’t be complete without apricots! Fresh apricots can be hard to find if you live in a smaller town like we do, but when they’re in season and good, they’re a delicious fruit for kids! They’re a very good option for toddler constipation and are a nice alternative to fruits like peaches and plums if you’re looking for variety. You want to look for ones that give just slightly—if they are super firm, they aren’t quite ripe and won’t be very sweet. These energy bites are a favorite apricot recipe.

Avocado

An avocado is a fruit and it’s SO good for babies and toddlers due to the healthy fats it contains. You can serve it diced, sliced, or mashed on it’s own as a puree or spread onto toast. Or, try adding a few tablespoons to a smoothie to add creaminess. If you have some leftover avocado, try sticking it into a freezer bag in the freezer and using it for a smoothie later on! My Avocado Puree is such an easy baby food recipe that requires hardly any time or effort—and it’s super versatile if you want to combine it with another puree too.

Banana

Fresh bananas are an easy snack that can be taken on the go or eaten at home. Smaller bananas will have less likelihood of winding up half-eaten. And it’s fun to try the mini varieties which have a slightly different flavor and can mix up things a bit from week to week. Also try:

Blueberries

Fresh blueberries are a perfect kid snack. For younger toddlers and babies eating solids, I recommend slicing them in half to ensure that they are easy to chew. You can also try freeze-dried blueberries or frozen blueberries, which both have great nutrients. And here are some ways to use blueberries in recipes for kids.

Cantaloupe

Fresh cantaloupe is so good during the summer with it’s musty, mellow sweetness. Look for one that gives slightly to the touch at the base and that smells like a cantaloupe for the best chances of bringing home one that tastes good. Serve it diced or sliced.

Cherries

Fresh cherries, while likely to be somewhat messy (get that bib out!), are rich in antioxidants and have a deeply intense flavor—they definitely belong on my list of fruits! Cut them in half and pop out the seed or use a cherry pitter. Also try:

Citrus

Citrus is great for helping to boost immunity with Vitamin C and to add water to kid’s diets with their high water content. Look for oranges, blood oranges, grapefruit, clementines, mandarins and more to keep things interesting for your kids. Also try:

Cranberries

Fresh cranberries are too tart to eat straight up, but we love using them in bread! And you can also stir cranberry sauce into plain yogurt for a fall treat. Here are a few favorite cranberry recipes.

Figs

Fresh figs are one of my favorite things in life and if you’re lucky enough to live in a place where you have access to them, buy them up! The interior is soft and sweet and will likely be enjoyed by kids. You can also try dicing up dried figs or softening them in oatmeal as another option.

Grapes

Grapes, which should be slighted longways in half or quarters to prevent choking, are usually a favorite fruit for kids. Change up the color that you buy between green, red, and black and look for the new varieties like the long skinny ones to keep things interesting.

Honeydew

Similarly to cantaloupe, you want to look for a fresh honeydew that gives just slightly at the base and that smells sweet. Honeydew are often firmer to the touch on the outside than other melons, so it can be hard to judge a ripe one—this would be a good one to ask the produce manager for your store for help choosing!

Kiwi

Kiwi, which come in the classic green color and a slightly smoother yellow variety, are a good way to serve up Vitamin C and fiber. They can be sliced in half and eaten with a spoon or diced or sliced (after removing the skin). Or try:

Mango

Fresh mango is sweet and soft and is a good fruit for babies, toddlers, and kids—it’s a must on my list of fruits too. You can serve it diced or sliced and if you think that doing that is too much work, try buying a bag of frozen mango cubes and letting them thaw. They’re often just as good as fresh mango and the work of cutting them up is already done! Also try:

Peaches

Fresh peaches, which should be slightly soft and fragrant, are so good in the summer. Cut them up into smaller pieces for younger toddlers and remove the skin if needed. Older kids can eat them straight up! (They brown after a while when sliced, so try not to cut them too far in advance of serving unless using them in my DIY Fruit Cups.)

Pear

With Bartlett, Bosc, Anju, Asian, Seckle…there are so many delicious varieties of pears that come in green, red, and brown colors. Pears ripen well on a shelf at room temperature, so I recommend buying them firm and letting that happen at home to avoid super ripe ones becoming bruised on the way home from the store. (They brown after a while when sliced, so try not to cut them too far in advance of serving.)

Pineapple

Whether fresh, thawed from frozen, or canned in 100% fruit juice, pineapple is sweet and delicious. Try it as a side dish for tacos or Asian food, or served over cottage cheese, 80s style! This is another fresh fruit that should give slightly at the base and should smell like a pineapple.

Plums

Plums are sometimes forgotten about, but ripe summer plums are soft and mellow—making them a healthy fruit for kids. Try black, red, and the speckled varieties to see which ones your kids like best and remove the skin for younger toddlers if it’s too hard for them to chew.

Pomegranate

Popping fresh pomegranate seeds into a mouth is so fun and is often very entertaining for kids. Buy a whole pomegranate, cut it in half, and let the kids lightly tap the back of each side with a spoon to get the seeds to fall into a bowl. OR just buy pomegranate seeds and cut out the work!

Raspberries

Fresh raspberries are a great source of fiber and vitamins and are nice and low maintenance since you don’t even need to cut them. (Though you may want to halve or mash them for older babies depending on their experience with solids). If fresh raspberries are too pricy at certain times of the year, try buying frozen ones and adding them to smoothies. Or dehydrated or freeze-dried ones for a snack. And try:

Strawberries

Fresh strawberries are sweet, easy to eat, and are often a favorite on a list of fruits for kids. Look for ones that are uniformly red (not with too many white spots). When you get them home from the store, wash and dry them thoroughly and store in a paper towel lined container to extend their life. And try:

Watermelon

Fresh watermelon, whether served diced, sliced, or in wedges, is a perfect summer fruit for kids. It has a high water content, so it’s great for kids who don’t love drinking water, and it’s rich in antioxidants and vitamins. We also like to blend seedless watermelon into juice—blitz it in the blend, strain it through a fine-mesh colander, and serve it up cold. So good!

Final Notes on this List of Fruits for Kids

It’s 100% normal for kids to go through phases of loving one fruit for days and then flatly refusing it. This is a reason that it’s good to aim for variety each week and not just buy the two fruits that you know your child loves at that point in time…since you never know when they’ll change their minds. Expect them to go through cycles and try not to totally write off a refused fruit. Instead, give it a break for a few weeks and then buy it again. It’s likely they just needed a break! And play around with how you serve them (see above for ideas). Sometimes small tweaks can make a giant difference. I’d love to hear which fruits your kids love so please chime in below in the comments!