Food related question for moms with school aged kids.

peacelove&mama

How many snacks do you send to school with your child?

 I ask because today DS's teacher sent a note home asking me to send extra snacks for him as he was complaining of being hungry. I send 3 snacks in addition to his lunch, which seems to me to be plenty of food for a 6 year old. I barely eat that much during the day, and I'm pregnant.

I'm wondering if it's a case of DS seeing other kids snacking on cookies and chips and trying to scam some for himself because I don't generally pack stuff like that. 

HarrietNJMommy

One snack only. And we are encouraged to send in a "healthy" snack - crackers, cheese, fruit, veggies, etc. 

Three snacks sounds really excessive. 

hokies94

Wow, three is a lot!  I send one.

There is one set snack time at our school.  We even have guidelines as to what we can send.  It has to be fairly healthy-no chips, candy, cookies.  In Kindergarten it was a class snack that a parent was responsible for once a month.  Beginning in 1st grade each kid brings their own snack and there is a set time when they're allowed to eat it if they want.   

I'm in the camp of kids have WAY too many snacks these days.  I think the older grades can go without having to eat every few hours.   

My 2nd grader complains that she's hungry a lot but I know it's because she messes around at lunch time and rarely finishes her lunch.  

Do you know that he's finishing his lunch?   Maybe a lot of it is being thrown out and he really is hungry.  

Andrewsgal

Same as the posters above, one lunch and one snack. Kids don't need to be eating all day. I would not send more. Make sure you are sending healthy snacks with protein and your kid will be fine.

peacelove&mama

At DS's school, there is morning snack and afternoon snack. So, I send a snack for each of those times, and a snack to eat along with his sandwich/wrap/whatever is for lunch, which is typically a piece of fruit.

Examples of snacks I send: veggies and dip, fruit, fruit and cheese kabobs, yogurt, cheese and crackers, homemade muffins, homemade trail mix, applesauce, pretzels etc. Stuff along those lines. So it's not like I'm sending insubstantial food.

I feel it's more than enough food, and I don't plan on sending any extras simply because I'm the "mean mom" who doesn't send dunkeroos. I just wanted to compare against others to see what the norm is for number of snacks, and now I know I'm right in refusing to send more.

EnglishMajor03

HarrietNJMommy:

One snack only. And we are encouraged to send in a "healthy" snack - crackers, cheese, fruit, veggies, etc. 

Three snacks sounds really excessive. 

This.  

Parker just started K and I started by sending a whole sandwich with three or four snack options and she inevitably is coming home w/ having only eaten the sandwich and maybe one snack.   I'm paring way down.

penguingrrl

We have half day kindergarten and they don't have snack at all for the 3 hours they're there. I would think 3 snacks would be plenty! And I agree that you shouldn't send junk!

MrsBalletStar05

I don't send snacks to school with my Kindergartner.  He eats breakfast the school provides and I send him a lunch. 

HarrietNJMommy

The girls's lunches are "bento" lunches. It's a bunch of things - usually some kind of sandwich or protein, a yogurt, cheese stick and some fruit. Maybe crackers also sometimes. Nothing is a "large" portion at all.........

Mrs.Hizzo

One snack for a morning session of school. I always include fruit or veggies, but I know my kids and produce runs through them in nothing flat, so I make sure there's something with carbs/protein and some fat, too. A mini flax muffin, or peanut butter to dip their apple slices in, a granola bar, something like that.

notkateanymore

I send one, but she doesn't eat much because of her medicine. I would think two for a growing active boy probably isn't crazy.

Mrs.Hizzo

KateMW:

I send one, but she doesn't eat much because of her medicine. I would think two for a growing active boy probably isn't crazy.

It's completely insane how many calories my 5 year old boy can consume in a day. He's skinny as a rail, so I have no idea where it all goes. But he's always hungry.

babypuplove

Mrs.Hizzo:

KateMW:

I send one, but she doesn't eat much because of her medicine. I would think two for a growing active boy probably isn't crazy.

It's completely insane how many calories my 5 year old boy can consume in a day. He's skinny as a rail, so I have no idea where it all goes. But he's always hungry.

DD is only 3.5, so not technically "school aged", but she is going to preschool three mornings a week, and will have lunch there.  She eats a TON of food and is also skinny as a rail (last night she polished off her milk, broccoli, potatoes, and a few bites of chicken, and then had an apple with almond butter and some cheese for "dessert"  She complained of still being hungry).  I plan to send a large variety of small portions of food.  

This Tuesday she'll get milk, a mozzarella stick wrapped with turkey, yogurt, cucumber, carrot, and apple sticks (I just cut thin strips of each because I'm paranoid about choking), and she can pick one of the following "special snacks" to add to her bag:  Annie's cheddar bunnies, pirates booty, or a bag of oatmeal squares cereal.  I'm sure she'll have a substantial snack when she gets home around 1:30.  I plan to send the same thing on Thursday and Friday, but may substitute a hard boiled egg for the turkey.

I hate that I can't send almond butter, because it's a healthy and easy way to fill her up, but like most schools, her school is nut free.  

notkateanymore

I was pretty shocked since DD is at a large public school now, but we're not nut-free. There is a child in DD's class that has a peanut allergy and his parents just asked that we not send things with pb in it for a class snack/birthday. 

HarrietNJMommy

babypuplove:

I hate that I can't send almond butter, because it's a healthy and easy way to fill her up, but like most schools, her school is nut free.  

Most preschools are nut free. I only know of one public school in our area that is nut free (there is a child with an airborne peanut allergy and this happened only 2 years ago). Public schools are typically NOT nut free around here.  

babypuplove

HarrietNJMommy:

babypuplove:

I hate that I can't send almond butter, because it's a healthy and easy way to fill her up, but like most schools, her school is nut free.  

Most preschools are nut free. I only know of one public school in our area that is nut free (there is a child with an airborne peanut allergy and this happened only 2 years ago). Public schools are typically NOT nut free around here.  

Good to know.  You think I would remember since I taught elementary school four short years ago.  I blame mushy mom brain.  ;-)  Hopefully when we get to elementary school I can start sending almond butter!