Snack Ideas for Preschool

Fruits and Vegetables are great snacks. Kids love them cut up into small pieces like carrots, bananas, and apples. But you can try blueberries, melon, grapes or others in season. Try making fruit kabobs or veggie kabobs, they are fun to look at and easy to serve. You can also make "bouquets" with the bamboo skewers, putting a piece of fruit or veggie on the end and placing in a tall container like a flower. Have fun!
D. B

TJ,

Goldfish, Teddy grahams (they come in cinnamon, chocolate, and honey), graham crackers, ritz crackers with cheese, string cheese, club crackes, mini rice cakes (variety of flavors), bananas, sliced fruit, jello, applesauce, fruit snacks, pudding, okay I ran out of ideas.

Hope these help,
Melissa

TJ,
I relate. Our son just finished his second year in pre-school and I am soooo happy that he will begin Kindergarten in two weeks.
Snacks were a struggle for me too. The first year I didn't contribute anything because I couldn't think of anything to bring that wasn't sugary fruit snacks or crackers. This last year, I went to Costco and brought one of those huge boxes of Goldfish. Yes, they aren't the "healthy" snack that the parents want, but the kids like them.

As far as the food allergies, our oldest son has a classmate that has peanut allergies (carries and epi-pen) and one that has Gluten (Wheat) allergies. Their parents have always brought them their special snacks and excluded them from the other ones brought by other classmates. I feel that you shouldn't try to accommodate those children 100%. Their parents should provide a "box" or container with a variety of snacks just for their child to have a snack time. (Allowing them to pick one that they want at snack time.) Eventually they will have to do this when their child goes off to elementary school, so it's a good idea to start now. The kids get over not having what everyone else has because they understand that what the other kids are eating will either make them sick or kill them.

Best of luck to you.

Ask the teacher for suggestions of what's acceptable.

About the only thing that was acceptable at my daughter's school was regular teddy-grahams. Rest assured that if you pick the wrong treat to send they will throw it out and then afterward send you a note about your poor choice. And if a parent sends boxes of Krispy Kreme's, you never know if the kids will get it (and be on a sugar rush when you pick them up) or if it will go into the teacher's lounge.

I really wish they would get rid of the long list except maybe for nuts (which some schools don't allow anywhere in the building) and then ask parents of kids with allergies to send their own kid's snack every day.

Hello! As a preschool teacher myself, it is required that we provide a monthly snack calendar listing exactly what should be provided.. In the state of Washington, where I work, it is required that the children have healthy snacks that include a regular dose of vitamin C. Parents should not be providing krispie kremes, and I do think that any teacher would kindly give these back to the parent, not eat them, or serve them and politley ask that they not be brought again, unless it is for a birthday or holiday treat. I really do feel most schools and teachers will help you with this... However, here are some ideas.. and keep in mind in Washington parents are no longer allowed to bring homemade goods or to slice fruits and veggies. This is due to the food handler's card requirement. Some suggestions: Oranges, popcorn, bananas and crackers, dried cranberries (I love to mix this with popcorn, it looks so appealing to kids!) Apples, bread sticks, olives, cheese, bagels with cream cheese, yogurt and berries, cereal and milk, waffles with jam, oatmeal cookies with fruit, mini muffins, individual applesauce cups, rice krispies, pretzles, quesadillas, vegetables and dip, canned pineapple and fig newtons (the make kinds that aren't fig in the middle and the kids love them) These are just a few ideas. Also, juice is a tricky thing. Most are very high in sugar... so consider carefully. Children don't need a cookie and juice all the time at school, they can have water or milk. We squeeze lemon in the water sometimes to add vitamin C and some zest, they enjoy that too. I hope you found this helpful, look at with a fun, creative attitude and an important way to contribute to your child's classroom. And, I am certain the teacher or administrator will assist you with your snack questions as well.
`Best, M.

don't know all your restrictions, but I worked at a preschool where parents brought snack (now my son goes to one where I have to provide it)...here are some ideas!

Yogurt smoothies like danimals
pumpkin bread/banana bread
apple slices, grapes sliced, oranges, bananas...any fresh fruit (always nice to have it sliced)
mini muffings
pretzels or trail mix (chocolate chips, raisins, pretzels, cereal...)
granola bars
crackers and cheese cubes or slices
string cheese and fruit
applesause (although it is messy)
graham crackers
veggie assortment and ranch dessing - always a hit

hope this helps!!!

TJ,

Before I tell you about the book I love I will say it is for making food yourself and not buying it, however I am wondering if you can just pick up the ingredients at the store and bring it in and throw it together ahead of time? Maybe they don't allow this, I don't know, but they are yummy dips that kids can put on their plates with veggies as well as lowfat fruit dips and a peanut butter dip so kids can have fun enjoying their yummy food. The recipes have like three or four ingredients that takes like a few minutes to throw together. With that in mind...I love knowing exactly what is going into my child's body LOL and this book does it really well!...
Get the book FOOD for Tots:The complete guide to feeding preschoolers, including 100+ kid-tested recipes. They have a website as well: www.foodfortots.com This book is so great because it not only gives you great ideas for food, it educates you on everything from eating habits to what vitamins and minerals do for kids and the amounts of food at each age. You can actually predict the amount to bring and the most effective yummy tasting food for your class.

Happy eating!
G.

Talk to the other parents in the school. My daughter's last preschool made a list of acceptable snacks that was distributed to all parents. It included restrictions (allergies, organic, etc.). Parents weren't required to buy snacks listed, but it certainly helped those of us who were time challenged :-)

I love fruit. I also love simplicity. Cut up apples (sprinkle some lemon juice on them, and they won't turn brown). Apple sauce. Bananas. Dried fruits. Little sandwiches. Lettuce wraps. Cream cheese on celery sticks.

Just wanted to throw this out there... when my daughter was in preschool they made snacks easy about every 2 months I would get a list from the teacher what to bring.. They would rotate throught the parents.. For example one time the list said please bring 1 block of cheese, apples (for a grup of 15) that way we were sure not to bring something that another child might be allergic too.
Best of luck,
Lenc

Good snacks for preschool that seemed to be ok when I had to deal with probably the same long list you do are: Pirates or Veggie Booty, Mozzarella Strings (found in the deli section usually) cut up strawberries, bananas or other fruits, mini-muffins, graham crackers, dry cereal, etc...

When I was teaching K-1 some of the favorites were:

Mud pie--chocolate pudding with brownie square. You can add gummie worms and creepy crawlies from the snack section at the grocery store. Great for Halloween.

Rice crispy with marshmellows.

Star fruit cut in sections to show the star.

Apples cut in sections horizontally to show the star.

Celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins. You can probably find a substitute for for the peanut butter at a health store.

Luke warm chocolate milk with marshmellows floating in it.

Layered jello with fruit in it.

Surprise bags with differ gummie critters in it.

Animal crackers!!!!

I hope that this helps.

apple sauce
fish crackers
animal crackers
string cheese
fruit
grilled cheese sandwiches
get a torlilla, spread cream chease over it, then a little preserves, roll it up and cut it into 1/2 in. slices. Instead of preserves, you could put slivered veggies like cukumber, bell pepper, tomato, olives, etc... you could put meat, but the veggies are so good this way, the meat should be a different one. Or put lunch meat and olives and tomato.

Also, you can make those fun things like they show in those magazines where raisins are eyes and stuff, go somewhere like better homes and gardens website and see fun recipes for kids

We made these for my son to take to preschool. They were a big hit.

Make fruit smoothies using whatever fruit you have. We usually use bananas, strawberries, orange juice for the base. You can add other juices or berries.

Pour the smoothie in those little paper Dixie drinking cups, cover with foil and stick a popsicle stick in each one. Put them all on a cookie sheet and freeze over-night.

The kids just love their little fruit smoothie popsicles.

Hello,
When my son was in preschool last year, we had to bring snacks once a month also. I purchased the snack size ziplock baggies and put a string cheese in and 3 "scooby snacks" (graham cracker aisle) a box of raisins as well as a juice. I put the kids names on the baggies and added a couple stickers. On a different occassion we did popcorn. We decorated plastic cups with stickers and the teacher popped the popcorn (these are 4 year olds). My son helped decorate the cups which made it fun for both of us. Stickers are cheap and adding their names makes it more personable for them. Just make sure you know what kids might be allergic too. My son is allergic to orange juice so we never brought that as a drink. :)

Hello,

Here are some snacks that my co0-op used regularly.

Half-cut grapes
Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
Half Bananas - cut just before snack time
Graham Crackers and other healthy crackers
Applesauce
Mini Muffins made at home (not the store bought kind) so they could be sure there were no nuts. And my daughter LOVED helping to make these.

Water was the only drink offered at our preschool.

There was one child who was allergic to loads of foods, so his mom brought his food each class, but we still had to do non-allergic foods.

Positively,
M.