Dear Melissa,
Do you have any ideas for healthy snacks for me to send to my daughter’s preschool?
I have to say, I VERY MUCH DISLIKE it when my daughter comes home from Pre-K, and says that she had two different cookie snacks at school that day. And this, at a school that tells parents not to bring in sugary snacks for birthday treats! With Halloween coming up, I do NOT want to overload our kiddos with candy. As an OT who often sees these kiddos in the afternoon, and as a mama who then needs to settle her own kiddos down for an evening of homework and bath time, please let’s stop the sugar overload! Now I know there is MUCH debate as to what is the healthier diet for kids as well as adults. However, I think that we would all agree that the list below is healthier than a standard sugar cookie. AND, I am not a crafty, Pinterest queen. The following snacks were chosen because they are a good balance between cute/fun, as well as easy for busy moms to pick up and prepare for your child’s party the next day.
Grab and Go Snacks: Lets face it, sometimes you totally forget that it is your child’s turn to bring snacks until that morning. The following are fun & healthier treats that can be picked up on the way to school.
- Veggie sticks & Hummus
- Apple slices and nut butter
- “Frozen Forest” Broccoli and Cauliflower “trees” with Ranch dressing “snow”. (Hey, its all in how you sell it!)
- Cheese sticks/string cheese
- Wheat crackers and cheese slices
- Popcorn
Un-fail-able Make Ahead Snacks: These are NOT the type of cutesy sna
cks that require a frosting bag and glue gun. Each of these are so easy that my 4 and 7 year old kiddos even help me with them. Added bonus? They can be modified for Halloween parties or standard classroom snacks.
String cheese faces – Simply use a Sharpie marker to draw silly faces on the package of string cheese. You can make them look like ghosts or just a silly face.
Cutie orange faces – Again, simply use a Sharpie to draw silly faces on a cutie orange. You can make them look like jack-o-lanterns or just a silly face. Apparently the one my daughter drew was “Elsa”. (A very loose interpretation!)
Fruit cup faces – See a theme here? Once again, take a Sharpie and draw either a jack-o-lantern or silly face on top of the fruit cups.
Trail mix – Have your little one help you mix up individual baggies containing pretzels, dry cereal, chewy dried fruit such as Craisins (dried cranberries) or raisins, crunchy dried fruit such as banana chips and freeze dried strawberries, and nuts (if there are no allergies). You can even throw in a few mini marshmallows if your child craves a bit of extra sweetness.
Kid Chefs! My daughter’s pre-K strongly encourages classroom “cooking”. They love it when we bring in the ingredients, and the kids get to be the chefs. As an OT, I love how getting kids to “cook” encourages them to try new foods, as well as encourages fine motor skills.
- Banana Wheels: The kids can slice bananas with a butter knife, and spread nut butter on the top of each wheel.
- Ants on a log: Kids can spread nut butter into celery sticks and add the “ant” raisins.
- Cheese sandwiches: Easy assembly – bread, sliced cheese, done!
- Nut butter sandwiches: Again, the children can practice their fine motor skills by spreading nut butter to slices of bread and folding.
- Fruit Kabobs: The kids can wash and pick the grapes, slice bananas, cube (already peeled) melons, etc, then string the fruit onto BBQ skewers. Again, multiple fine motor tasks in one yummy treat!
What healthier snacks do you like to send to your child’s school? Please share your faves here! share@childrenstherapyteam.com