My 5 yr old is in all day kindergarten and needs two snacks per day in addition to his lunch. The snacks have to be "green light foods" so basically fruits and veggies that are easy to eat
I've been having one of the snacks be an applesauce packet but the teacher keeps telling him it's more "yellow light". I try and pack carrot sticks and pea pods but they get brown and wilty in his backpack. Bananas are ok but any berries or grapes get smashed :/
This shouldn't be as hard as I'm making it out to be. Suggestions?
You don't use any type of container? I would use the smallest container ( we use bento style things so I have a bunch) and send any fruit/veggies that your ds eats.
Ditto the hard sided reusable container. Maybe cucumber sticks, apple slices, grapes, broccoli patties? I'm not very creative and struggle with this as a well.
It's also extremely frustrating when they tell you something is "too yellow". WTF. It's not a candy bar, just let me feed my kid.
Post by mainelyfoolish on Oct 19, 2014 9:49:55 GMT -5
WTF? My DD would starve at that school because she won't eat any fruits or veggies (not even applesauce pouches). She ate crackers for her kindergarten snack every day last year.
As for grapes or berries, I'd suggest getting some of the small Ziploc semi-disposable plastic containers and using those to prevent the food from getting crushed.
As long as the applesauce is just apples and no sugar/sweetener added, I'd write her a note and tell her it's a green light food. But you could send apple slices instead - half an apple sliced up, put a tsp of lemon juice in a cup of water and dip the slices in there. Oh, and if he likes it, sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on there (no sugar). It makes for a nice change and hides any minor browning.
I don't really use baggies in my kids' lunches/snack bags. I mostly use little take and toss containers - the Glad mini rounds are perfect size. They hold a few sliced strawberries or a lot of blueberries. (and I use sandwich boxes for their sandwich or for cheese and crackers at lunch so nothing gets crushed there either)
To send things that need to be chilled, try using a thermos. Either fill with ice water for a few minutes or just pack it the night before and leave in the fridge overnight. How does teacher feel about messy snacks? Could you send a small yogurt? You could put the little yogurt cup inside a chilled thermos.
I also use a pencil bag as a snack bag and it just fits an ice pack so I can send a cheese stick.
I know they tried to tell my DD that cheese was a "go-slow" food, but cheese sticks are pretty much always "part skim" mozzarella and the government says it's a green-light food: kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/go_slow_whoa.html#
Ditto PPs--send berries, grapes, cut up pineapples, plums, cut up veggies, etc. in a hard-sided container. We use Rubbermaid Lunch Blox, which are pretty cheap and work great.
Clementines hold up well in backpacks. The individually packaged baby carrots and celery should not get wilty (though I put carrots and other veggies in Lunch Blox, and they are fine).
Hard boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, Baby Bel cheese, and mozzarella sticks might be options, though if she thinks apple sauce is a yellow light food, then I suspect yogurt and cheese are as well.
In addition to the above, my kids take stuff like crackers and Laughing Cow, fruit leather, apple chips, veggie straws, graham crackers, homemade trail mix with raisins, dried apricots, and a few Bunny Grahams, or mini whole wheat bagels and cream cheese for snack, but I can only imagine what this teacher would think of that. Please no one call CPS.
I use a small tupperware and fill it to the brim with sliced apples - they don't get brown. Carrots and sugar snap peas don't get brown and wilty if you use an icepack. Are you using a lunch bag/box?
I try to send green light foods, but it sounds like it's not the norm. At back to school night the teacher talked about making sure their snack was resealable because there was an ant problem. She talked about people sending pringles chips as an example. Yikes!
Ditto the others on the tiny tupperware. That's what we use.
We send: Cut up: apple, pear, plum, peach, nectarine Raisins Clementine (already peeled) Freeze dried fruit or veggies (simply balanced brand) Banana chips Grapes DS1 really prefers to eat fruit for snack and save veggies for meal times.
It would be great if we could send a protein, but there is a "no dips allowed" rule in addition to "fruits and veggies only."
Post by Dumbledork on Oct 19, 2014 11:18:59 GMT -5
We use the Rubbermaid Lunch Blox for her actual lunch, but we found these nifty reusable containers at Target that keep the ice pack inside the container as well as a cup that you can freeze.
DD likes to take cottage cheese, yogurt, blueberries, carrots and pb, other produce. We use the frozen cup for the first two and the other for produce. Having the ice pack inside helps keep the condensation from getting her book bag all wet. It's worked really well so far.
Post by DarcyLongfellow on Oct 19, 2014 11:45:35 GMT -5
WTF is all this special kid snack terminology? Green light foods? Too yellow? Go slow?
If a teacher told me my kid's snack was "too yellow," I'd think she was referring to the color of the apple or something.
My five year old is in kindergarten and has to take a snack every day. She takes a pouch that is a mix of greek yogurt and applesauce (I'd prefer a yogurt tube, but she can't open them alone) and a Kashi cereal bar. I want her to get some whole grains and protein in her.
Her lunch is a PB&J, two kinds of cut up fruit, an applesauce pouch, and a small container of craisins. She gets plenty of fruit, and I'd be pissed if her teacher dictated what her snack needed to be.
Also, my kid won't eat a single vegetable, so if the teacher told me to send carrot sticks I might as well just light some money on fire because those carrot sticks would get thrown away when they came back home every afternoon.
ETA: Sorry, that rant wasn't helpful at all.
For fruit and veg, can you just cut it up and send it in small containers? I use the Rubbermaid Lunch Blox for DD1's lunch. I always sent 2 varieties of cut up fruit -- plum, grapes, nectarine, strawberries, blueberries (not cut, obviously), apple slices (I dip them in sprite so they don't turn brown). They go in her insulated lunch box, but she refuses to use the ice packs, so they aren't kept cold. They're fine by the end of the day -- she often finishes her lunch when she gets home.
You could do the same thing with slices of bell pepper, carrots, etc.
Post by pierogigirl on Oct 19, 2014 11:54:21 GMT -5
I'd probably write the teacher a note and tell her the applesauce is a green light food (and so are cheese sticks and yogurt) and she should email you rather than talk to your child about those foods. My kids love cucumbers and carrots (the crinkle cut chip-like ones), so I sometimes send those as well as fruit in the small square container from a Rubbermaid lunch blox.
FWIW, I am a teacher and I can't imagine the hate mail and death threats from parents (only half joking) I'd get if I tried to police the kids' food choices at snack.
. Also, my kid won't eat a single vegetable, so if the teacher told me to send carrot sticks I might as well just light some money on fire because those carrot sticks would get thrown away when they came back home every afternoon.
Ditto. The only vegetable my kid eats is cooked broccoli, and no one wants to eat that cold. And I guarantee he wouldn't even eat that if I wasn't there to nag him about it.
I learned early on that I could send a bunch of healthy fruits and veggies for show, or send things he'll actually eat. I'd send yellow light foods without a second thought. I send the healthiest foods that he will eat, but my biggest priority is making sure that he eats SOMETHING so that he has energy to learn.
I've had success with bananas, sliced apples, and grapes. We've had our share of GoGurts, apple sauce pouches, and Pirate's Booty too.
Post by dragonfly08 on Oct 19, 2014 13:40:36 GMT -5
Short of not allowing stuff like candy bars and cupcakes, it makes me ragey when other people try to do my job for me. *I'm* the parent, and monitoring what/when/how much my child eats is my job. Applesauce (esp. with no added sugar) is a "yellow light food"? Never mind the inappropriateness of discussing this with a five year old instead of approaching me, if they feel that strongly? I work VERY hard to teach my kids that food is not inherently bad or good, that while we should eat more of certain things and less of others to fuel our bodies, that everything is ok in moderation, b/c I want them to have a healthier relationship with food than I do. No teacher has the right to undermine that or override my parenting decisions.
Having finished my rant, I'll say that I always send fruits/veggies in hard sided containers. I like the Ziplock throwaways b/c if my kids do lose or toss them, it's no big deal. We do grapes, carrot slices, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, apple slices dipped in OJ to prevent browning, applesauce pouches. Non fruit/veggie options that work well include yogurt, string cheese, cracker sandwiches with PB or (if a nut free school) sunflower seed butter. I also send Pirate Booty, homemade trail mix, cereal (mostly whole grain stuff...maybe that'd be ok?), pretzels, goldfish, granola bars (homemade ones that aren't processed might "qualify" as "green light"?), but something tells me those might not fly if the applesauce pouch is getting flagged.
Post by fortmyersbride on Oct 19, 2014 14:01:11 GMT -5
I'm not familiar with the green light/yellow light food classification system, but seriously no applesauce? And fruits and veggies alone would just make my kids hangry in an hour or so. Are you allowed to send in any protein and fats with it? DS really likes the guacamole and hummus single serving packs with veggies or crackers to dip. Like pp we use little Tupperware containers for school.
I distinctly remember my mom packing leftover halloween/Christmas/Easter treats with a juice box for snack when I was a kid. My how times have changed
My kindergartener's snacks are one of these. I keep a huge box in the pantry and let her pick one each day.
Applesauce pouch Clif bar "fruit stick" from Costco Crackers and fake cheese pack (so gross lol) Pretzels Pack of cheddar bunnies or goldfish
We get a weekly email from the teacher and she always mentions that candy, juice, and go-gurts are not allowed (the go-gurt because the kids make a huge mess).
My preschooler typically has a serving (which happens to be about 150 calories, I know because I take some for me too) of a (peanut-free) nut/yogurt chip/dried fruit mix. And a juice, because apparently that's required, I can't send water without a dr note. He's also had a bag of pretzels. His snack has to be in a ziploc bag separate from his lunch so it's hard to send anything refrigerated and I try to make it as clean as possible/no utensils required. His teacher requested high protein snacks, but if I forget to pack him something, apparently the standby snack is goldfish.
And a juice, because apparently that's required, I can't send water without a dr note.
That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read! My boys' doc is very anti-juice. (She doesn't say they can't/shouldn't have it, but she's always thrilled when I say that they rarely drink it.) I can't imagine what her note to the school would say when she had to approve WATER over sugary juice!
Post by stealthmom on Oct 19, 2014 15:56:59 GMT -5
Ok. I have a question that might get me flamed.
Why do they need snacks in the first place?
My son went to full-day K and they didn't have any snacks at all. They got lunch. And to my knowledge it was never a problem. My son never said he was hungry. And at home he eats ALL the time.
The only snack I packed was for the after-school program.
So is all this snack nonsense even necessary? All the rules are so ridiculous in the first place, and for something that's not even necessary seems even more ridiculous.
My son went to full-day K and they didn't have any snacks at all. They got lunch. And to my knowledge it was never a problem. My son never said he was hungry. And at home he eats ALL the time.
The only snack I packed was for the after-school program.
So is all this snack nonsense even necessary? All the rules are so ridiculous in the first place, and for something that's not even necessary seems even more ridiculous.
I see your point, but DS gets dropped off at school at 7:30, they don't each lunch until noon and they only get 25 minutes to eat. Half the time, he can't finish lunch because he eats slow. So I have no issue with him having snacks.
My son went to full-day K and they didn't have any snacks at all. They got lunch. And to my knowledge it was never a problem. My son never said he was hungry. And at home he eats ALL the time.
The only snack I packed was for the after-school program.
So is all this snack nonsense even necessary? All the rules are so ridiculous in the first place, and for something that's not even necessary seems even more ridiculous.
I don't think it's unreasonable to have a snack in the morning and/or afternoon (whatever makes the most sense with the length of the day). I'm a grown adult, and I have a morning and afternoon snack. I feel better when I eat smaller meals and healthy snacks, and I turn into a raging bitch if I go too long without eating. I also think it's easier to control my portion sizes at meals when I know I'm going to have some almonds or something in a couple of hours, but that's just my personal experience.
I hate the snack police, though. If this is what school is like, I'm dreading having to deal with it when DD enters kindergarten.
My son went to full-day K and they didn't have any snacks at all. They got lunch. And to my knowledge it was never a problem. My son never said he was hungry. And at home he eats ALL the time.
The only snack I packed was for the after-school program.
So is all this snack nonsense even necessary? All the rules are so ridiculous in the first place, and for something that's not even necessary seems even more ridiculous.
I don't think it's unreasonable to have a snack in the morning and/or afternoon (whatever makes the most sense with the length of the day). I'm a grown adult, and I have a morning and afternoon snack. I feel better when I eat smaller meals and healthy snacks, and I turn into a raging bitch if I go too long without eating. I also think it's easier to control my portion sizes at meals when I know I'm going to have some almonds or something in a couple of hours, but that's just my personal experience.
I hate the snack police, though. If this is what school is like, I'm dreading having to deal with it when DD enters kindergarten.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply it's not reasonable. Just unnecessary. It just seems like a lot of headache for something that seems to me to be unnecessary.
I agree that an afternoon snack is often necessary, but when school ends in the middle of the afternoon it seems like it could be eaten after school, no?
I'm also curious if this happens in other grades too. I assume it would. I don't know. I guess I'm just glad DS's school isn't like that.
And a juice, because apparently that's required, I can't send water without a dr note.
That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read! My boys' doc is very anti-juice. (She doesn't say they can't/shouldn't have it, but she's always thrilled when I say that they rarely drink it.) I can't imagine what her note to the school would say when she had to approve WATER over sugary juice!
I KNOW! They say it has to do with federal guidelines, but I haven't checked into that. Wasn't worth the fight. My bigger beef is allowing my preschooler to choose white or chocolate milk at lunch. Drinks have to be purchased not sent. Ugh. At least I can send what I want for breakfast. No idea what he eats at aftercare, but I assume something.
I think it's weird that the teacher has any say in what your kid gets for a snack actually. If they are put providing it, then they have no say IMO. I however did read recently that applesauce (even without sugar added) should be treated like a junk food, which seemed insane to me. But, if you think about it, it's really not that good, apples are healthy because of the fiber offsetting the sugar. Applesauce takes the fiber out of it. It's absolutely fine in moderation and I think it's way better than chips or cookies or cake or whatever.
Snack ideas: Whole or cut up apples Edamame Guacamole and tortilla chips Lunch meat roll ups Carrot coins (my kids prefer them to carrot sticks and they all hate baby carrots) Meat and cheese kabobs (put lunch meat and cheese cubes on the short wooden skewers they sell for caramel apples) Use hard sided containers for grapes, berries, etc Small yogurt cups
My son went to full-day K and they didn't have any snacks at all. They got lunch. And to my knowledge it was never a problem. My son never said he was hungry. And at home he eats ALL the time.
The only snack I packed was for the after-school program.
So is all this snack nonsense even necessary? All the rules are so ridiculous in the first place, and for something that's not even necessary seems even more ridiculous.
DS is gone from 8-4 and he gets 20 minutes for lunch. I think a small healthy snack is a good idea to refuel. Of course, his school isn't insane about what kids pack.
Are you saying his school goes until 4? If so, that is really late. Bc I agree that a snack at some point after school is good, but I'm questioning whether it's necessary during school?
But 20 min. is super short for a meal too. I can see how other times to eat would be necessary. I wonder whether there would be less of a need for a snack time if the kids were given more time for their actual meal?
I'm so thankful that my kid's school doesn't dictate what the snack should be. The snack I give her alternates between apple slices and green pepper slices, but no one told me that's what she has to have, it's just what works for us.