healthy snacks for a 1st grade classroom

My childs teacher gives them snacks every day before they come home. Its snacks other parents have sent to the classroom and are often chips, candy, or other processed junk. Of course when she gets home she complains she's hungry. Ive talked with her teacher today and have been "approved" to send snacks specifically for my child that way the other students dont have to do without- and my child gets the healthier foods i want her to have.
Im looking for healthy snacks i can make a big batch of and send to school with her (I want to send snacks for the entire class 1-2x/month). I was thinking things like granola bars (homemade), homemade "fruit snacks", etc? does anyone have any good recipes for things like this? My daughter seems to be sugar sensitive so natural sugar is enough!
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Replies

  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    ~Ants on a Log (Celery, peanut butter and rasins)
    ~Homemade Chocolate Chip Muffins or any muffin for that matter (you can sub the oils and sugars for things like Applesauce and stevia, and you can add chocolate flavored protein powder to add protein to fend off hunger)
    ~Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
  • Ke11er
    Ke11er Posts: 147 Member
    Do any of the other children have allergies or special dietary needs (pork free, gluten free, lactose free, dairy free, vegan etc.)? Ideas otherwise....send what your daughter loves for snacks at home...pieces of fresh fruit, string cheese, half a turkey sandwich, sweet pepper rings, milk, hard boiled egg.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    Make your own Chex/cereal mix
    Bake homemade cookies so you know what's going in them
    Fruit skewers
    Individual yogurt cups
    homemade fruit/cream icepops
    cheese and crackers (cut the cheese lol, into shapes)

    My kid has a peanut/treenut allergy so this stuff is pretty mild.
  • Yooperm35
    Yooperm35 Posts: 787 Member
    ~Ants on a Log (Celery, peanut butter and rasins)
    ~Homemade Chocolate Chip Muffins or any muffin for that matter (you can sub the oils and sugars for things like Applesauce and stevia, and you can add chocolate flavored protein powder to add protein to fend off hunger)
    ~Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

    Most schools don't allow peanut butter or peanut butter products anymore due to nut allergies
  • jcmrax5
    jcmrax5 Posts: 133
    As far as im aware there is no allergies- we havent been told no nuts/peanut butter. she actually eats PB sandwiches at school for lunch a lot. but that is a good idea to double check before sending snacks for the entire class.
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
    My school doesn't allow homemade treats to be distributed to the whole class. If parents want to send something for everyone to share, it has to be store-bought with a label.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    My school doesn't allow homemade treats to be distributed to the whole class. If parents want to send something for everyone to share, it has to be store-bought with a label.

    Yep same rule applies at our school too....
  • jcmrax5
    jcmrax5 Posts: 133
    See i found this very odd! Last year they wouldnt let us send cupcakes or anything to school for her birthday. But this year THEY are allow to hand out treats. homemade OR store bought!
  • Dee_84
    Dee_84 Posts: 431 Member
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
    My child's school expects parents to send a snack for their child every day. It is supposed to be something "healthy" and not cookies, candy or chips.

    I do send processed/packaged things, because snack time is in the afternoon and yogurt, cheese, or anything that requires refrigeration doesn't work well, and whole fruit tends to get banged up bruised so it's out. I buy kid's Cliff Bars, Goldfish crackers, applesauce, and things that are quick to grab and pack in the mornings and will hold up inside a backpack all day.

    I make sure she gets a good breakfast at home, and our school serves very healthy school lunches, so I don't stress over a processed snack in the afternoons.
  • bowbeforethoraxis
    bowbeforethoraxis Posts: 138 Member
    My school doesn't allow homemade treats to be distributed to the whole class. If parents want to send something for everyone to share, it has to be store-bought with a label.

    This. I'm not sure if it's a state or federal thing, but no homemade snacks are allowed. Also, double check with the teacher about nut allergies and whatnot. At my mom's school, a teacher ate a PB&J sandwich for lunch, then during story time a kid in her class went into anaphylactic shock and had to go to the hospital because of the molecular level interaction. Nut allergies are serious stuff, so even if you're not aware of a problem I'd be extra careful with that.
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    My school doesn't allow homemade treats to be distributed to the whole class. If parents want to send something for everyone to share, it has to be store-bought with a label.
    I think that is pretty retarded, considering that they are allowed to send notes home about a child being over-weight. But when it comes to supporting parents to contribute "healthy" snacks, they make impossible to do by insisting on items like cookies, chips, etc...

    As far as the allergy thing, if there is a child with peanut allergies you can sub in soy butter or something like that.
  • AmykinsCatfood
    AmykinsCatfood Posts: 599 Member
    As far as im aware there is no allergies- we havent been told no nuts/peanut butter. she actually eats PB sandwiches at school for lunch a lot. but that is a good idea to double check before sending snacks for the entire class.

    Look up "Wow Butter" tastes like peanut butter but it's soy. Really good. Or cookie butter from Trader Joe's
  • gr8ful6291
    gr8ful6291 Posts: 6 Member
    You may wish to check the school's policies for homemades snacks/treats, My school does not allow any homemade foods to be shared with the students.
  • cmcoyle776
    cmcoyle776 Posts: 20 Member
    Check out the blog www.100daysofrealfood.com She has 2 young school-aged daughters that she packs whole food lunch/snacks for every day & she posts pictures & recipes of everything. She has some good pumpkin muffins that you can make ahead & freeze. I had to bring in a treat for my son's bday last year & made homemade carrot cake mini muffins, which the kids gobbled up. I'm planning to do it again this year. Some of my son's favorites are: Triscuit or Ak-Mak crackers & cheese; fresh veggies & homemade dip; Cascadian Farms organic granola bars (nut-free); Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunny Crackers; nut-free trail mix (I make my own w/ dried banana slices, sweetened coconut chips, craisins, raisins, dried mango pieces, sunflower seeds (these are fine for nut-free).
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    My school doesn't allow homemade treats to be distributed to the whole class. If parents want to send something for everyone to share, it has to be store-bought with a label.

    Yep same rule applies at our school too....

    I bring doughnuts. The kids like me. End of story.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Check out the blog www.100daysofrealfood.com She has 2 young school-aged daughters that she packs whole food lunch/snacks for every day & she posts pictures & recipes of everything. She has some good pumpkin muffins that you can make ahead & freeze. I had to bring in a treat for my son's bday last year & made homemade carrot cake mini muffins, which the kids gobbled up. I'm planning to do it again this year. Some of my son's favorites are: Triscuit or Ak-Mak crackers & cheese; fresh veggies & homemade dip; Cascadian Farms organic granola bars (nut-free); Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunny Crackers; nut-free trail mix (I make my own w/ dried banana slices, sweetened coconut chips, craisins, raisins, dried mango pieces, sunflower seeds (these are fine for nut-free).
    i wanna see the trash bins.

    also please dont effing send stevia baked into anything to my kids school unless you want an angry mexican momma knocking on your front door. i consider that less healthy than regular sugar and that would piss me off to epic proportions.

    for the record i would rather rely on anything packaged and sold in stores for humn consumption than whatever experiments the hippies...loadies....or 89 yr old gramdmas next door cooked up, dreamed up, or botched up on their stove...on their blog...or on their last high.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    Check out the blog www.100daysofrealfood.com She has 2 young school-aged daughters that she packs whole food lunch/snacks for every day & she posts pictures & recipes of everything. She has some good pumpkin muffins that you can make ahead & freeze. I had to bring in a treat for my son's bday last year & made homemade carrot cake mini muffins, which the kids gobbled up. I'm planning to do it again this year. Some of my son's favorites are: Triscuit or Ak-Mak crackers & cheese; fresh veggies & homemade dip; Cascadian Farms organic granola bars (nut-free); Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunny Crackers; nut-free trail mix (I make my own w/ dried banana slices, sweetened coconut chips, craisins, raisins, dried mango pieces, sunflower seeds (these are fine for nut-free).
    i wanna see the trash bins.

    also please dont effing send stevia baked into anything to my kids school unless you want an angry mexican momma knocking on your front door. i consider that less healthy than regular sugar and that would piss me off to epic proportions.

    for the record i would rather rely on anything packaged and sold in stores for humn consumption than whatever experiments the hippies...loadies....or 89 yr old gramdmas next door cooked up, dreamed up, or botched up on their stove...on their blog...or on their last high.

    Okay, doughnuts and Oreos.
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
    Fruit inside a waffle ice cream cone.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    See i found this very odd! Last year they wouldnt let us send cupcakes or anything to school for her birthday. But this year THEY are allow to hand out treats. homemade OR store bought!
    maybe it is about the birthdays not the treats. maybe it was the teachers rule. maybe the school is starting a new policy. please do tell who are "THEY". are you in an us vs. them situation at your school? are THEY the school or another group of parents? maybe the school is comfortble handing out treats they have looked over first?
  • farniente8
    farniente8 Posts: 30 Member
    Fruit. Pineapple, strawberries, blue berries- nature's candy. My daughter love it. Those cuties (small oranges) are always a big hit with soccer teams and classrooms alike. Technically not homemade!
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Check out the blog www.100daysofrealfood.com She has 2 young school-aged daughters that she packs whole food lunch/snacks for every day & she posts pictures & recipes of everything. She has some good pumpkin muffins that you can make ahead & freeze. I had to bring in a treat for my son's bday last year & made homemade carrot cake mini muffins, which the kids gobbled up. I'm planning to do it again this year. Some of my son's favorites are: Triscuit or Ak-Mak crackers & cheese; fresh veggies & homemade dip; Cascadian Farms organic granola bars (nut-free); Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunny Crackers; nut-free trail mix (I make my own w/ dried banana slices, sweetened coconut chips, craisins, raisins, dried mango pieces, sunflower seeds (these are fine for nut-free).
    i wanna see the trash bins.

    also please dont effing send stevia baked into anything to my kids school unless you want an angry mexican momma knocking on your front door. i consider that less healthy than regular sugar and that would piss me off to epic proportions.

    for the record i would rather rely on anything packaged and sold in stores for humn consumption than whatever experiments the hippies...loadies....or 89 yr old gramdmas next door cooked up, dreamed up, or botched up on their stove...on their blog...or on their last high.

    Okay, doughnuts and Oreos.
    throw im some yoo hoos and you have yourself a deal.
  • VictoryGarden
    VictoryGarden Posts: 194 Member
    How about food they can play with? Spread some low fat cream cheese spread on a whole wheat tortilla. Bring an assortment of cut up veggies for them to make faces out of. Then they can roll up and eat!
  • rhye
    rhye Posts: 104 Member
    We pop up big batches of popcorn with coconut oil and salt on the stove. My son loves them. We bag them in sandwich baggies and keep it in the cupboard instead of chips. I cannot imagine that the class would not love some home-popped popcorn.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    Check out the blog www.100daysofrealfood.com She has 2 young school-aged daughters that she packs whole food lunch/snacks for every day & she posts pictures & recipes of everything. She has some good pumpkin muffins that you can make ahead & freeze. I had to bring in a treat for my son's bday last year & made homemade carrot cake mini muffins, which the kids gobbled up. I'm planning to do it again this year. Some of my son's favorites are: Triscuit or Ak-Mak crackers & cheese; fresh veggies & homemade dip; Cascadian Farms organic granola bars (nut-free); Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunny Crackers; nut-free trail mix (I make my own w/ dried banana slices, sweetened coconut chips, craisins, raisins, dried mango pieces, sunflower seeds (these are fine for nut-free).
    i wanna see the trash bins.

    also please dont effing send stevia baked into anything to my kids school unless you want an angry mexican momma knocking on your front door. i consider that less healthy than regular sugar and that would piss me off to epic proportions.

    for the record i would rather rely on anything packaged and sold in stores for humn consumption than whatever experiments the hippies...loadies....or 89 yr old gramdmas next door cooked up, dreamed up, or botched up on their stove...on their blog...or on their last high.

    Okay, doughnuts and Oreos.
    throw im some yoo hoos and you have yourself a deal.

    Done!

    And . . . I'm loving how people are going with low fat food with kids. Okay, by "love" I mean "loathe." but meh.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Check out the blog www.100daysofrealfood.com She has 2 young school-aged daughters that she packs whole food lunch/snacks for every day & she posts pictures & recipes of everything. She has some good pumpkin muffins that you can make ahead & freeze. I had to bring in a treat for my son's bday last year & made homemade carrot cake mini muffins, which the kids gobbled up. I'm planning to do it again this year. Some of my son's favorites are: Triscuit or Ak-Mak crackers & cheese; fresh veggies & homemade dip; Cascadian Farms organic granola bars (nut-free); Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunny Crackers; nut-free trail mix (I make my own w/ dried banana slices, sweetened coconut chips, craisins, raisins, dried mango pieces, sunflower seeds (these are fine for nut-free).
    i wanna see the trash bins.

    also please dont effing send stevia baked into anything to my kids school unless you want an angry mexican momma knocking on your front door. i consider that less healthy than regular sugar and that would piss me off to epic proportions.

    for the record i would rather rely on anything packaged and sold in stores for humn consumption than whatever experiments the hippies...loadies....or 89 yr old gramdmas next door cooked up, dreamed up, or botched up on their stove...on their blog...or on their last high.

    Okay, doughnuts and Oreos.
    throw im some yoo hoos and you have yourself a deal.

    Done!

    And . . . I'm loving how people are going with low fat food with kids. Okay, by "love" I mean "loathe." but meh.
    inorite...its like th worst case of "i got on a diet so now my BF/husbnd/household/in-laws have to too." only this is the most far reaching and boundary-less one i have seen.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    Check out the blog www.100daysofrealfood.com She has 2 young school-aged daughters that she packs whole food lunch/snacks for every day & she posts pictures & recipes of everything. She has some good pumpkin muffins that you can make ahead & freeze. I had to bring in a treat for my son's bday last year & made homemade carrot cake mini muffins, which the kids gobbled up. I'm planning to do it again this year. Some of my son's favorites are: Triscuit or Ak-Mak crackers & cheese; fresh veggies & homemade dip; Cascadian Farms organic granola bars (nut-free); Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunny Crackers; nut-free trail mix (I make my own w/ dried banana slices, sweetened coconut chips, craisins, raisins, dried mango pieces, sunflower seeds (these are fine for nut-free).
    i wanna see the trash bins.

    also please dont effing send stevia baked into anything to my kids school unless you want an angry mexican momma knocking on your front door. i consider that less healthy than regular sugar and that would piss me off to epic proportions.

    for the record i would rather rely on anything packaged and sold in stores for humn consumption than whatever experiments the hippies...loadies....or 89 yr old gramdmas next door cooked up, dreamed up, or botched up on their stove...on their blog...or on their last high.

    Okay, doughnuts and Oreos.
    throw im some yoo hoos and you have yourself a deal.

    Done!

    And . . . I'm loving how people are going with low fat food with kids. Okay, by "love" I mean "loathe." but meh.
    inorite...its like th worst case of "i got on a diet so now my BF/husbnd/household/in-laws have to too." only this is the most far reaching and boundary-less one i have seen.

    Yes. Yes indeed.

    This is almost as bad as the "I'd like to lose 5 pounds a week while pregnant" threads.
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
    My school doesn't allow homemade treats to be distributed to the whole class. If parents want to send something for everyone to share, it has to be store-bought with a label.
    I think that is pretty retarded, considering that they are allowed to send notes home about a child being over-weight. But when it comes to supporting parents to contribute "healthy" snacks, they make impossible to do by insisting on items like cookies, chips, etc...

    As far as the allergy thing, if there is a child with peanut allergies you can sub in soy butter or something like that.

    My husband is an exterminator and is in and out of other people's homes every day. If you were aware of the cleanliness issues that some people have, expecially in their kitchens, you might not want your child to eat things that were prepared by strangers.

    I am much more comfortable with my child eating store bought sugar-laden 3-inch-high-frosted cupcakes than I am with eating a homemade "healthy" muffin from an unknown cook's kitchen.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    My school doesn't allow homemade treats to be distributed to the whole class. If parents want to send something for everyone to share, it has to be store-bought with a label.
    I think that is pretty retarded, considering that they are allowed to send notes home about a child being over-weight. But when it comes to supporting parents to contribute "healthy" snacks, they make impossible to do by insisting on items like cookies, chips, etc...

    As far as the allergy thing, if there is a child with peanut allergies you can sub in soy butter or something like that.

    My husband is an exterminator and is in and out of other people's homes every day. If you were aware of the cleanliness issues that some people have, expecially in their kitchens, you might not want your child to eat things that were prepared by strangers.

    I am much more comfortable with my child eating store bought sugar-laden 3-inch-high-frosted cupcakes than I am with eating a homemade "healthy" muffin from an unknown cook's kitchen.
    thank you and goodnight.
  • I'm quite amazed that a school would be asking parents to bring food for all... At my daughter's primary school it was absolutely strictly no-food-sharing. These days the seems to be a good chance that 1 in 100 kids have anaphylaxis and have been taught so well about avoiding peanuts that they think they'll die when they see any nurs from afar. Every child care centre was always 'nut and egg free' (try making a birthday cake without eggs).

    Has anyone yet proposed zucchini tots? http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/694263-zucchini-tots-so-good?hl=Zucchini+tots ... My kids all love them, and they are for once not sweet and do contain some vegetables. But they also have eggs in them.