Does anyone else have children who come out of school and simply say ‘Snack’? This is my reality. I watch other children run to cuddle their mothers and exclaim how much they have missed them or simply start to babble about their day. My littles run to cuddle me too, but I think it might only be so that they can frisk my pockets as it is after school snack time. They are boys on a mission to discover what the snack is and be sure that they get their fair share. The fact that I pre count and divide the snacks has seemingly passed them by…
When my eldest started school I didn’t even know that this was a thing. I didn’t know I was supposed to bring a snack, but it took me less than a nano second to work it out… My apparently starved child threw a temper tantrum beside me because there was no snack. We hot footed it to Lidl and calm reigned once again. After that I spent a term getting the snack wrong and he spent a term losing his sense of reason. It seems that as a mother you are supposed to know that just because he liked crackers on Monday it does not mean he likes them on Thursday. Eventually he stopped being so tired at the end of the school day and the tears dissipated, but the love of an after school snack did not!
Treat Friday
My kids love of the after school snack runs so deep that I tend to plan them in advance now. I have introduced ‘Treat Friday’ so that they do not expect me to be arriving straining under the weight of doughnuts on a Monday afternoon. I just don’t want them to have sweet stuff everyday and feel like that is the norm. So now I think a bit more about what I am giving them so that I can use snack time to support the principals of healthy and balanced eating that I already instill at mealtimes. Then once a week I give them something that seems more treat like and we have a babycino with marshmallows when they get home. Even in the Friday Treat I try to reduce sugar or at least replacing refined sugars and flours for more natural alternatives for example in these Chocolate Cookies. The kids don’t care if there is a bit less sugar in their cookie as long as it tastes great. The main thing is for them to learn that a little bit of a treat is totally fine, but not everyday.
I am having to get creative as an apple and a bit of bread simply doesn’t cut it and then the sugar quest begins in earnest. At this stage you would be forgiven for thinking that my children sound like spoilt, entitled little rotters. I assure you that despite the fact they can be all those things on occasions they are generally lovely little beings. They are lovely little beings who get very hangry though! It can genuinely make them highly emotional! I can only assume that all the running around they do just needs extra fuel.
As the after school snack debate shows no sign of quietening down I have decided to up my snacking game! Variety is the order of the day. If you too are feeling my after school snack pain and are stuck for ideas you are in luck! I am going to share one of my after school snack ideas on the blog each day this week.
I would also love it if you could share some of yours in return as I am always on the look out for new inspiration. The snack roster in this house needs to stay fresh. You just never know when the crazed snack monster, who stalked me during that first term in reception, might return demanding something different. This mummy plans to be after school snack ready!
Links to all 5 After School Snack Ideas:
17 Comments