Healthy Snacking in the Classroom
Snacking between meals is important for growing children. Offering nutritious foods will provide adequate nutrients & help children to develop healthy eating habits.
Whether your school provides snacks for the children, parents send in community snacks weekly, or each child brings their own, it is important to set boundaries on the types of foods consumed in the classroom and encourage children to make healthy food choices to help reduce the amount of added sugar, sodium, & fat children eat throughout the day!
Healthy Snack Ideas
apple slices
tangerines
mixed berries
bananas
celery sticks w/nut butter
veggie sticks w/low-fat dip
low sodium cheese sticks
boiled eggs
low-fat/low sugar yogurt
whole grain/low sugar cereal
unbuttered popcorn
pita slices w/hummus
- Reminder: A balanced snack consists of 2 food groups! (make substitutions for food allergies accordingly)
Ways to Encourage your Students to Choose Healthy Snacks
Do your students eat snacks from their lunchboxes? Here are some tips to encourage them to choose the most nutritious options.
- Ask your students to identify the most nutritious snack option in their lunchbox - for example, making a choice between apple slices or chips
- Encourage the students to choose the healthiest option first and save the other options for later in the day
- Avoid using negative words to describe less nutritious food items
- Try not to make the child feel like they are prohibited from eating less nutritious foods or like they did something wrong by having these foods in their lunchbox
- Have class discussions continuously throughout the year about healthy food choices
- Knowledge is power! Gives your students the opportunity to make informed food decisions by providing them with nutrition education to understand the benefits of healthy eating
Teaching Scenario
Troy is a 5-year-old in your class. This past month, you have been teaching the students all about nutrition and making healthy choices. It’s snack time and Troy takes gummy bears out of his lunchbox to eat.
You notice that Troy has other snacks in his lunchbox including chips, strawberries, and a cheese stick.
