Taking treats to pre-school

[bzzymom]

DD's first day of 3 yr old pre-k is on Tuesday. I got a call from the teacher wanting me to bring treats that first day. They ask for something "healthy". I was thinking about bringing little boxes of raisens or cheesey crackers. I would like to know what snacks people get.

 

[arobeen]

Here is what I have taken for snack in the past:

bananas
yogurt cups (cartoon themed ones)
cheez-it crackers
pudding cups
teddy grahams

The only time we were allowed to bring in a sweet treat was for birthday celebrations. Hope this helps!

 

[Perditamarie]

Here are some ideas:

* graham crackers
* apple sauce
* fruit tray w/yogurt dip or veggie tray w/ranch dip
* Danimals drinkable yogurts (bring straws to pop in)
* cheese and crackers
* string cheese
* muffins or mini muffins

Don't forget to check for allergies!!

 

[mamaminnie]

Cut up oranges are always a huge hit. I'm not sure why but kids think they're more exciting that way.

 

[Disney_Dreaming]

These foods always make for a good, healthy snack:

* Popcorn
* Strawberries
* Milk
* Juice
* Apples
* Grapes
* Graham Crackers
* Yogurt
* Goldfish Crackers
* Mini Corn Muffins
* Raisins

 

[daisyduck123]

I would send in Goldfish crackers...I've never met a preschooler that didn't like them.

 

[juligrl]

I like to send in those Dole fruit parfaits - not sure how healthy they are, but the kids love 'em.

 

[thepeach80]

I like to send in those Dole fruit parfaits - not sure how healthy they are, but the kids love 'em.

Not my kids, but I usually have 2 a day. I just found out Sams has them...

We take in a variety of things. So far we've taken in individual packages of animal crackers and Yo-Go rollers (the boys wanted them so I let them keep a few and take the rest to school). The kids all liked me that day.

 

[mjantz]

The most popular snack at my workplace (I teach Pre-school) is fruit. We had a parent one time bring sliced apples & grapes & they ate every piece & were begging for more!
Usually we get cheese crackers, pretzels, popcorn (we pop it in class), graham crackers & dry cereal.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Snacks are a big deal at our school. Many of our kids do not eat breakfast (we beg aand plead but...) our am snacks is two food items and a drink and we stress healthy but do not always get that. We also encourage parents to look at our theme for the week and try to reinforce it wtih the snack. it is fun and the kids love it. Here are some good examples I have seen at school.

bear week- teddy grahams and pudding or apple sauce cups for dipping,

Ocean week, fish crackers- homemade jello cups, blue jello with the pinapple sea shaped creatures in it (think the brand is dole)

Apple week- apple slices and graham crackers with apple butter.

Dinosaur week- use a cookie cutter to cut dino shaped sandwiches. (cheese or ham as we are peanut free.

You get the idea.. Have fun and try to include your child in the planning.

 

[dougsmom98]

My kids never had to bring a snack for preschool, but when I volunteered at bible camp and there was snack every day. Kids love gold fish, grapes, animal crackers, Jello jigglers (these are really inexpensive to make and easy), popcorn and orange slices.

 

[pooh4evr]

Everything for ours has to be store bought pre packaged too- I've brought-
Mimi muffins, aplesauce cups, goldfish little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies, 100 colorie packs of snacks.

 

[momtomari]

thanks for all these great ideas my DD4 just started preschool again.
i have always heard they love fruit so we usually send it in when it is her turn

amanda

 

[AuroraBeauty]

I've seen popcorn mentioned a few times so I have to offer my 0.02 -- popcorn is a major choking hazard for kids (even for adults) b/c the kernel can get stuck in the back of their throat.

Also, grapes should be cut up if they are for little kids. My DD4 eats them (actually prefers them frozen) but I always cut them.

Keep in mind all the allergies as well. And find out if there are any 'non-allergy' food restrictions. One little girl at DDs school is prohibited from having candy, chocolate or any snacks with sugar in them. Makes it more challenging but it is often done.

If dairy is allowed, cheese makes a great snack -- and they make Disney characters too!

 

[caroline1851]

Whenever i brought in a snack for my son's preschool i didn't bring any sort of crappy snack that had enriched flour or partially hydrogenated oil.

I brought watermelon one time and i brought a trail mix that i made up myself that included cheerios, organic cheddar bunnies and raisans-the kids loved it.

Veggies and dip would be a good choice also as well as yogurt. One parent brought her blender in and all sorts of cool stuff and made fruit smoothies for the kids. (it was a cooperative nursery school so we rotated being parent of the day)

 

[bzzymom]

Thanks for the responses. The teacher said there was no dietary allergies that she was made aware of. Since this is the very first day of school, you would think the school would have been notified before now. I am still not sure what I am going to get. One rule now our county health department made for schools is that you can't make anthing yourself, all treats have to be purchased in a store.

 

[Minniemouse07]

Stuff we do for snacks:

Pirate Booty (like popcorn but w/o the kernal part...they also make Fruity Booty!)
Organic yogurt (most of the "kid's" yogurts have either artificial sweeteners or tons of sugar... you can find Stoneyfield and Horizon versions of organic kid's yogurt)
Pretzels
Fruit - bananas, oranges, strawberries, plums, nectarines, clementines, apples...all have been successful w/ our toddlers
Cheese Sticks

 

[Erin1700]

When my DD was in PreK I remember we once sent Alphabets cereal and yogurt. The kids loved finding the letters in their names!

 

[3jsmommy]

For the first day I would bring something really familiar, like a PP said goldfish are great, I would get a bag of the cheese & a bag of the pretzel kind just so everyone is happy.
I have brought:
Fruit cut up
small boxes of raisins & mini pretzels (kidzels are cute)
pickles ( on tasting day, believe it or not they were a huge hit)
pizza cut up in small slices
healthy cereal like Kashi
mini rice cakes
oatmeal cookies
graham crackers
On my DS 3rd bday we brought mini carrotcake (from the box cupcakes w/ cream cheese frosting & I stuck one teddy graham on each cupcake, they were really adorable & the boys & girls loved them!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I work in a special ed preschool at a public school and our kids bring their own snacks and lunches. Sometimes, a parent wants to bring something for a birthday party. The only thing we ask is that the portions be individual or something we can divide up easily. For example, if they bring a fruit tray with yogurt dip, each child has to have their own portion of the dip - which means the parent needs to bring bowls or plates. We don't allow the kids to take food from a platter themselves or dip into a communal dip bowl. We have to be able to divide it up before they eat it so they don't touch each others food. We do this for health reasons. If they bring a box of crackers, we can easily pour those on paper towels so everyone has a portion. Since we're a public school, we're not provided with things like paper plates and bowls. If we want those in our classroom, the teachers have to pay for them so we generally don't have a large supply. Same with plastic forks and spoons. Most private preschool do tend to supply those things.

I would say whatever you bring, make sure you also bring whatever is required to serve it properly.