Homemade options are reliably better than packaged because you control sugar, salt, and additives. Boiled eggs, cheese cubes, mixed nuts and raisins, roasted chana, fruit with peanut butter, and mini idlis with chutney are protein and fibre-rich options that maintain energy without a sugar crash.
Avoid using food as a reward or punishment. This creates associations between emotions and eating that can affect food relationships long into adulthood. Snack times work best with a predictable schedule rather than continuous grazing.