kindergarten snack question

[daricsmami]

What are some healthy, packaged, individually portioned snacks I can send for my DS's kindergarten class, approx. 20 students?

What the heck does individually portioned mean anyway? I was going to send things like salt-free pretzels, cut fruit, nut-free granola, cheese cubes, etc., but now I'm thinking they want each child to have their own packaged snack. Plus, the teacher recommended that parents bring in a week worth of snacks at the beginning of the week. Well, that cuts out most healthy things! I'm going to talk to her about it tomorrow, but I just wanted to see what ya'll think.

[velochic]

I have found that "healthy" is very subjective based on who you are talking to. Many parents think that Goldfish crackers are healthy in spite of all the crap that goes into them. Some think that pudding cups are awesome to get some calcium into kids. Some think that raw edemame is the only way to go. You should find out exactly what the teacher wants. In our case, dd has food sensitivities and she is on an all-natural (not quite Feingold) diet, so I packed her snack each day, yet still took my turn to provide snack to the whole class for two weeks. We were able to take in things like bags of carrots and commercial dipping sauce, fresh fruit, all-natural cheeses and ww crackers, etc. Things did not have to be *individual* portions, but they did have to be store-bought (nothing homemade) because of contamination and allergy issues.

I agree that if things have to be individually wrapped there is no way it can all be healthy. Cheeses, carrots (that would be sooooo expensive for those tiny bags for all the kids, though), and individual fruits are the only healthy things that come to mind!

[Teensy]

I've taken in bananas (super easy and actually cheaper than goldfish type snacks), zip-locs of grapes (mixed red and green), and cheese sticks.

Ask the teacher - are "homemade" individual bags okay - aka, split large packages (of pretzels, cheddar bunnies, etc.) into ziplocs or similar? Also, ask is there a refrigerator available? If so, yougart and cheese are easier. Hardboiled eggs are another option, if you are willing to peel 20 eggs before sending them in.

[Momily]

Things I've seen parents here bring that I consider healthy and are individually packaged (not a requirement here):

Individual cups of no sugar added apple sauce.
Individual bags of pretzels (not perfect, but OK in my mind)
Individual cups of pineapple or other fruit in 100% juice.
Bananas
Tangerines
Apples (probably counts but there's no wrapper)
Low fat cheese sticks
Little packages of carrots with dipping sauce
Boxes of raisins
Whole wheat mini bagels (not individually packaged but really easy to pass out).

As long as they eat the cheese sticks first day, and maybe the carrots (not sure what's in that dipping sauce) or if they have a fridge you could buy the bananas kind of green and bring in a week's worth from that list.

[lightheart]

if homemade snacks aren't ok, it may be possible to bring a fruit, veggie or cheese tray in from a deli.

You might be able to get the deli to individually wrap portons in ziplocks, would add to the expense but might get though the red tape of the food needing to be packages in a health dept approved kitchen.

[kmeyrick]

You have some great suggestions here! I'm a teacher and I would so dearly love my 1st graders to have any of these than the usual garbage they get.

[mojumi]

Originally Posted by daricsmami

Plus, the teacher recommended that parents bring in a week worth of snacks at the beginning of the week.

That might be a suggestion for your 'convenience'. If you don't mind bringing the snacks each day, or every other day, I would guess they wouldn't mind either -- ? Then you could bring the fruit, etc.

I've brought in grapes, cut cheese, healthy pretzels, granola, carrots, celery sticks with cream cheese and raisins, cucumber-hummus 'sandwhiches', air-popped popcorn, etc etc there really is a lot of possible variety and it's easy to ziplock into your own 'individual serving' bags. I try to imagine anything we'd have for snack at home and figure out how to get that into a ziplock

And I used to slip a cereal bar of a brand we found acceptable into ds's bag as some of the snacks sent in were really horrifying to me (fruit loops?! pop-tarts??!) and I wanted ds to have a back-up option. His pre-k stopped asking parents to provide class-wide snacks in part because of (some) parents' complaints about the 'junk food' coming in as snacks.

It seems like quite a lot to ask one parent to provide an entire week's worth of snacks for 20 children though -- did I understand that correctly? (100 individual snack bags, oh my!) ANd what about drink, does the school provide water or juice? (Beware the 'juice'!!)

[mamalemon]

We do fruit, either cut up and divided in to plastic bags (which I have to buy just for school) or tangerines that I buy in a case and send one for each child.

[marieangela]

I'm worried about this, too. All I know so far is that the school will provide snacks for the first week and then it will rotate. We'll be getting a ton of information sent home on the first day of school, so hopefully I'll find out next week. I definitely worry about all of the junk that other people will bring in. For his preschool when we had snack, he took homemade applesauce, clementines and such. We shall see. It would be a lot easier if you were able to do your own individual packaging. As others have mentioned, carrots, pretzels, apples, cheddar bunnies and such come to mind.

[daricsmami]

Thanks for the suggestions, ladies! Good ideas!

I talked to his teacher this morning and she said it's fine if I divide the snacks up myself to make individual packs (with plastic baggies or ziplock bags). And since they eat their snack just a couple hours after getting to school, perishable items are fine. Thank heavens!!

Thanks again!

[daricsmami]

Originally Posted by mojumi

That might be a suggestion for your 'convenience'. If you don't mind bringing the snacks each day, or every other day, I would guess they wouldn't mind either -- ? Then you could bring the fruit, etc.

I've brought in grapes, cut cheese, healthy pretzels, granola, carrots, celery sticks with cream cheese and raisins, cucumber-hummus 'sandwhiches', air-popped popcorn, etc etc there really is a lot of possible variety and it's easy to ziplock into your own 'individual serving' bags. I try to imagine anything we'd have for snack at home and figure out how to get that into a ziplock

And I used to slip a cereal bar of a brand we found acceptable into ds's bag as some of the snacks sent in were really horrifying to me (fruit loops?! pop-tarts??!) and I wanted ds to have a back-up option. His pre-k stopped asking parents to provide class-wide snacks in part because of (some) parents' complaints about the 'junk food' coming in as snacks.

It seems like quite a lot to ask one parent to provide an entire week's worth of snacks for 20 children though -- did I understand that correctly? (100 individual snack bags, oh my!) ANd what about drink, does the school provide water or juice? (Beware the 'juice'!!)

Yup! One hundred separate bags! And we have to bring in 100 napkins and 100 cups (Dixie-style). Thankfully, they drink tap water with their snack.

[mojumi]

Originally Posted by daricsmami

Yup! One hundred separate bags! And we have to bring in 100 napkins and 100 cups (Dixie-style). Thankfully, they drink tap water with their snack.

Wow, that's crazy. A lot of work, and a lot of waste!

[daricsmami]

I know! I wish every kid had their own special snack cup and plate/bowl, that way I could send a bag/box of snacks. At the very most 5 bags/boxes vs. 100 plastic baggies thrown away every week.

[bscal]

That is so wasteful. Thankfully for my DD's K class everyone brings in their own snack everyday. Although I've already had to have a talk with DD about not throwing away the paper lunch sack I send in. Makes more sense to reuse it everyday rather than throw it away. I plan to purchase her a small snack bag (like those cute animal shaped ones that clip on to the backpack) and start sending that in but I haven't gone out to get it yet. I get the impression that her teacher would prefer that everyone send in disposable items... I'm waiting for that note to come home b/c I'll have to have a talk with her about being earth friendly.

As a side note, I taught 2 yr old preschool for 10 years... you would not believe the crap some parents send their kids for lunch. The occasional treat/cookie doesn't bother me but one child brought in a 6 pack of the little white powdered sugar donuts each day. She also had a slice of cheese, a cup of pudding, and chips. That's it. It used to make me so mad that this mom didn't pack healthy things in her lunch. The mom said her DD was picky and just wouldn't eat healthy stuff... well, if you stop buying the donuts and have healthy options available then that's what kids eat, kwim?

Beth

[spero]

I'm so glad our school has done away with the parent-provides-for-the-whole-class everyday snack. Way back when my son was in kindy (he just graduated : ), this was the norm (K-3) and allergies weren't the issue they are today, so I always sent in homemade treats. He usually ended up bringing most of it home - I'm a good cook, but apparently most of the kids preferred store-bought stuff. He begged me to please send Freihofer's chocolate chip cookies instead - we have an outlet here and they're super cheap so I gave in.

By the time my youngest went to kindy the kids brought their own snacks - which was great b/c she was dx'd w/Type 1 diabetes in kindy.

I can't get over the stuff kids bring for a "healthy snack" (what the teachers ask that they bring) - potato chips, candy bars, m&ms, cheez doodles, Snapple, pudding ... I mean Goldfish, fruit & grain bars, string cheese, and grocery store granola bars (what my kids typically bring for a snack) may not be THE healthiest option but surely they are better than that stuff.