Snack: Community Meal Made Simple

Our school was fortunate enough to receive the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant provided by the state for the past few years. We had all different kinds of fruits and vegetables 3 days a week. It was not only nutritious for my students, but I also did not have to plan for snack!  My families are incredibly generous when I ask them to send snacks, but they are often cookies.  So, I often scrambled to figure out what snack to serve Monday and Fridays.

However, I figured out a system, that is easy to manage.  I created a schedule and assigned my classroom Snack Helpers to send home reminder notes.  In addition to having my students bring in snacks, I prepared a mixture. The mixture was my back up plan in case a snack was forgotten or we simply needed more. The students also liked it. After a few months their snacks changed from bags of cookies to ingredients that could be added to the mixture. 

A typical mixture included:

• Cereal (usually something sugary),
• Pretzels,
• Oyster crackers or Goldfish

I would mix them all together in a small sealed plastic container.  The plastic container is essential to prevent a rodent infestation. I would have a measuring cup to scoop the snack onto a napkin or a tray. One student would pass out the napkin or tray and the other would scoop out the snack.

I found that the Snack Helpers, the notes to go home, and the mix all made my snack time stress-free and somewhat nutritious.  

Downloadable Resources:  

Snack Reminder

How do you manage snack in your classroom?  What is your favorite snack?