Snack Time Routine

Snack time in the 1st and 2nd grade is generally a time when we recharge our batteries, refuel our bodies, and practice good manners. Each week, families take turns providing snack for the entire classroom. We usually have two snacks a day, once after math in the morning, and once sometime in the afternoon. You will end up having about 4 turns as snack provider throughout the year, and the rest of the time you get to relax!

I will provide snack the first week of school - after that, I'll make up a list and will post the schedule soon.

With our emphasis on being a healthy school, it is so important to educate our children of the importance of putting good things in their bodies. A great way to do this is to have your child be involved in the planning, shopping, and preparation of the snacks they bring in to share.

Most, if not all, of the snacks should be fruits and vegetables. Children simply do not get the recommended servings per day, so having 2 snack times where these are the only options is an easy way to encourage getting those in. Also, with fruits and vegetables, we don't have to worry about unnecessary additives, or - worse - sneaky nut contamination (remember - we are a nut-aware school).

With that in mind, here are some suggestions:

Fruits:
berries, bananas, apples, grapes, melon chunks, kiwi, clementines, oranges
frozen fruits are a nice change of pace - frozen grapes, frozen all-fruit bars
dried fruits, like apricots and raisins
natural applesauce (low sugar)

Vegetables:
carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumbers, broccoli, red, green, yellow sweet pepper strips, cherry tomatoes (I know, I know - probably should have put it in the fruit section)

Besides fruits and vegetables, rice crackers and popcorn kernels (we have an air popper) are a nice occasional treat. Big containers of natural yogurt (please, no gogurts) and string cheese are fine!

So, with our class of 12 children, a shopping list may look something like this:

12 bananas, 12 apples, 12 oranges, 4 big bunches of grapes, carrot and celery sticks with Sunbutter or Wowbutter, baby cucumbers, 12 raisin boxes, bag of mixed bell pepper strips, bag of popcorn kernels, stick of butter.

You can drop off all at once, on Monday morning, or every day - whichever is easiest. Thank you in advance for your help in keeping our children fueled up and ready to learn!

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