The after school kids are costing me a fortune !!

[Gizmo]

I really need to cut back on after school snacks, the kids all need something when they come in at the moment they have a choice of a frube, cheesestring, pepperami, breadstick or fruit. I just dont know what else to give them, I dont want to spend any time cooking as I do dinner for some of them as well. Any ideas ????? what do you give for a snack ?????
HELP !!!

[clio0602]

All i give for snack is fruit. Am I mean? :o

[Louise0208]

pepperami & cheesestrings are wayyyy to expensive for my mindees, my own kids only get them as an occasional treat :D

Rice cakes, fruit, a couple of biscuits, toast or a yogurt is what mindees get.... :thumbsup:

[mushpea]

monday to thursday mine get a choice of a peice of fruit and on a friday they get a 'treat' like a chocolate biscuit or a small bag of sweets or somthing similar,,, If they dont eat/want/like fruit then tough,, i used to vairy what i gave them but catering for all the different tastes was a pain,, they all like fruit so thats what they get

[mushpea]

All i give for snack is fruit. Am I mean? :o

certainly not unless i am too!!, :eek: :D

[Louise0208]

mine dont get the choice either.....its what i put in front of them or go without :blush:

[ajs]

toast or crumpets
i agree cheese strings and peperami are too expensive for an every day snack

[miss mopple]

Cut back on the expensive stuff, there are cheaper options. Mine have things like:

fruit
raisins and breadsticks
cheese (proper not cheese wtrings- they are rank IMO)
toast/crumpets/muffins
home baked flapjacks
rice cakes

I may give them cereal bars but only of they are on offer as they are so expensive, or if I am passing lidls I buy some cheaper ones there :thumbsup:

[SYLVIA]

If the after schoolies are here for tea then they wait for dinner at 4.30ish. They will get a drink though. If they don't have tea then they get toast or fruit

[sarah707]

Toast / crumpets / fruit bread

Fruit

And a drink of water :D

[Gizmo]

Thanks will now offer Toast or a piece of fruit and if they dont like it they can bring their own snacks, then I might start seeing a bit of a difference in my shopping bills

[mufftie]

i give buscuits and toast , and sometimes popcorn which they love , i buy the origunal stuff that you have to pop and the kids love it and so does my pocket

[sonia ann]

I give fruit, carrot or peppers and one of the following ..........cheese and crackers, toast/muffin/scone/cereal bar or if we have been baking homemade cake or biscuits but I do not provide an evening meal.

[Louise0208]

if they dont like it they can bring their own snacks,

i tried this & it caused so many arguments between the kids :rolleyes:

the parents arnt much help either sending a 2 year old with a 1lb bag of haribos! there was only so many time i could tell parents, no sweets or chocolate but still they sent it every day :rolleyes: thats when i started doing my own food!

[Helen Dempster]

My mindees all get a sandwich and drink, or fruit if they want it. I was getting through so much bread, but one of the mums asked if I could just give her son one slice of bread as he was putting on weight (due to seconds at the breakfast club!) so I just use one slice for all of them now, as I thought it would be fairer.

[Donkey]

I stick bowls and plates on the table and they have an assortment

(not everything!!)

scotch pancakes (asda do smart price ones but I have boycotted asda on another reason)
crumpets
toast
fruit (fresh/tinned in juice)
tesco value shortbread (26p a pack, bargain!!)
cheerios (they love it dry, go figure!!)
any other cereal we have in (got variety packs for dirt cheap)
bread sticks
yule log (my mum had one left over from christmas and brought it round today)
biscuits
cheese
carrots

they all know they have to have fruit or they dont get the good stuff :)

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I feed mine at 4.45 and we get in at 3.30. There is fruit if they want a snack but if I give them anything else then they won't eat their dinner

Check their lunch boxes to see if there is anything left over as they quite often pull a fast one on me there

[Noomie]

As Debbie said. When we don't get in until 3.40ish and dinner is served an hour later, I don't give much as I want them to eat their tea.

On offer:
Any muffins, biscuits, slices, cakes (all healthy choice ones) that were made with the younger ones in the day.
Fruit
Hot Chocolate - This is a good one - satisfies for a bit but still eat their dinner!
Milk and biscuits
Rice cakes and Raisins
Sometimes crisps as treats

[loocyloo]

If the after schoolies are here for tea then they wait for dinner at 4.30ish. They will get a drink though. If they don't have tea then they get toast or fruit

same here!

i also make popcorn ( i have an air popper machine, they all love it! often the 'tea' children then ask for it for pudding! )
they like rice cakes/crackers with a topping (peanut butter/carrot/raisons is one mindees favourite! another loves marmite )
sometimes its breadsticks/veggies etc with a dip. just discovered one of my 'snack' mindees loves olives - excellent :D she is eating her way through the jar i bought for christmas and didn't like myself !!!
sometimes they have a tiny portion of whats for tea ( like curry & rice, with some naan bread ) or pudding!


i used to do a selection and 'help yourself', but i found by giving each 'snack' child a plate with things on, they eat a wider range of foods! but i decide what is for snack! i don't do a different thing for each child ! but one child won't have raisons, and another can't eat tomato etc so there are some variations.

[catswhiskers]

Jacobs cream cracker and cheese.

[Ali56]

My mindees don't get a choice-so I must be really mean!
They each get their own snack pot and in it is a small selection of fruit-
apple slices, pear, orange segments, grapes, raisins, strawberries-whatever I have really, chopped/peeled if necessary(like a little fruit salad) and either a biscuit(normally plain-some of my mindees have that horrible habit of breaking open creams and scraping the middle out with their teeth! It makes such a mess and I hate it!:panic: ) or breadsticks, occaisionally a choc coin or a mini jaffa cake for a treat!
Not a big snack, but I also feed them tea at 4.30 and if they want pudding they have to eat!! I hate to see them go without, so a big snack is not needed :thumbsup:

[Bridey]

I love scraping out the middle of cream biscuits with my teeth! :littleangel:

[Ali56]

I love scraping out the middle of cream biscuits with my teeth! :littleangel:

My kids do too! I pretend not to notice when its just them, but inside I am cringeing:panic: :panic: I hate cream biscuits-maybe thats my problem :D but biscuit scraping on my sofa times 7 children is just to much to bear!!!!

[peanuts]

my aftershool kids were eating me out of house and home as we get back at 3.30 and they left at 6ish. sometimes they were having 2 snacks afterschool, when doing accounts this year i have just been butting double snack every day down for them.

[Vickster]

I offer mini croissants (co op), breadsticks or crumpets. 1 per child, obv 2 or 3 breadsticks, raisins, chopped up apple and chopped up banana and water.

[ORKSIE]

I have on offer

Crumpets
Toasted T cakes
Toast
Cheese on toast
Mini Pizza
Pitta bread pizza (kids like to make these themselfs)
Crackers with a topping or just butter
Mini Sausages
Fruit
Sandwiches
Cereal
Yogurt


I never buy expensive brands always Asda own:thumbsup:

[gegele]

i give fruit that i cut and mix as they were wasting lots especially on apple and pear just ate a bit around. so i cut 2 apple a banana and for exaple a hand full of rape and feed 4kids.

i put bread stick or crakers on plate and they dip in houmous.

toast, 1slice sandwhich with choice or jam or chocolate spread on good.

sometimes i buy muffins when they're on offer ie yesterday 75p for 4 :blush:
yesterday was celebration of my son first hour in nursery ( that's my excuse for me really wanting a muffin :blush: )

yoghurt... Lidl got choice and it's cheap and really nice too:thumbsup:

[Gizmo]

Thanks for all your replies :thumbsup:
I told the kids this morning that from next week there will a change in the snacks and they all seemed quite happy with it

Thanks again xx

[mrs coops]

scotch pancakes (asda do smart price ones but I have boycotted asda on another reason)
QUOTE]

can i be nosey and ask why?:blush:

[Louise0208]

i was thinking the same but didnt want to ask! :p

[sweets]

well im gonna ask! lol.


come on flutterbyes what has adsa ever done to you? :D

[Bitsy Beans]

Mindees get offered a sandwich, crackers and cheese or home made biscuit or home made cake. And fruit of course which they never choose after school ;)

this has made me think about my DS's school trip to see the local panto just before Christmas. The venue was full of other schools and daycare providers. Come the interval they all broke out tins of chocolate biscuits etc and my son and classmates had a carrot :( They were all asking for what they could see the other kids eating. Did seem a shame that on a special outing this obsession with healthy eating took precedence :(

[Ali56]

Mindees get offered a sandwich, crackers and cheese or home made biscuit or home made cake. And fruit of course which they never choose after school ;)

this has made me think about my DS's school trip to see the local panto just before Christmas. The venue was full of other schools and daycare providers. Come the interval they all broke out tins of chocolate biscuits etc and my son and classmates had a carrot :( They were all asking for what they could see the other kids eating. Did seem a shame that on a special outing this obsession with healthy eating took precedence :(


That does seem a bit mean! It was a special occaision after all, you can be a bit too healthy sometimes, I think. Saying that, I would imagine that our school would have been with yours on that one :(
Shame really.

[mushpea]

Mindees get offered a sandwich, crackers and cheese or home made biscuit or home made cake. And fruit of course which they never choose after school ;)

this has made me think about my DS's school trip to see the local panto just before Christmas. The venue was full of other schools and daycare providers. Come the interval they all broke out tins of chocolate biscuits etc and my son and classmates had a carrot :( They were all asking for what they could see the other kids eating. Did seem a shame that on a special outing this obsession with healthy eating took precedence :(

thats mean ,,, I am not obssed with healthy eating,, I provide fruit after school because its quick easy and they help themselves to it,, I got fed up with juggling clingy baby and trying to do half a dozen snacks that they choose so now its fruit or nothing,,, we have a friday treat and dvd night if theyve been good all week.

[Sara T]

Im looking for ieas for after school but seem to do pretty much the same as everyone else.

This sept was my first experience of schoolies so I was making sure they had something decent after school, taking a snack with me for pick up like a cereal bar and then a snack when we got back to the house ( dairylea dunkers, toast and nutella or cream cheese ) fruit, yoghurt and a drink.

It was costing me a fortune and my own kids would not then eat their tea!!

so....Ive since taken on 2 more schoolies and they stay for tea so now instead I take a cheaper snack with me ( a multipack biscuit bar or cereal bar if on offer ) and then no snack when we come back until tea time ( 5pm)

we get back at around 3 .45 and it just felt like I was making unecessary snacks and food when they just want to play. Id clean up the snack mess and cups and plates then have to do it all again less than an hour later!!!

The children are more than happy with an after school treat and on a friday they get to pick an ice cream from the shop ( may start buying multi packs though as that costs a fortune! )

and then tea at 5pm.

If they seem really hungry and a bit moany then Ill do a small snack when we get in as it seems to put them in a better mood, but its difficult when you have some stopping for tea and some not.

its working for me at the mo, Ill def give crumpets a go, I forgot about them!!

:) :thumbsup:

[Velleity]

I have houmous and pitta bread for tonight.

[Roseolivia]

We have tea between 4 and 4.30 so mine wait until then, they don't even say they're hungry as they're too busy playing.

[gingerella]

Fruit or toast or a crumpet. For a treat they have honey on the crumpet or we bake fairy cakes.

[Tina O]

This week so far we have had Mon - toast, Tues- pancakes, Wed- cereal today will be fruit and tomorrow will be some sort of muffin/scone type cake that I cook with little ones in afternoon - last week we had banana loaf,.

I have two kids that always complain it's not enough and one of those is only at mine 45mins after school. I just say I don't provide a meal just a snack and then water/ squash and if they have been very good milkshake xx

[Anon8319]

I only have my schoolie one evening a week (and 5 mornings) and found that during the school holiday he was asking for something every half hour, very often not wanting his very healthy lunch. I'm not wet behind the ears so on the second day if he left his lunch it was kept back and the next time he said he was 'starving hungry' out it came! He was clearly wasting away as he'd not bother with it!!

When he comes out of school he gets given a biscuit because he is often tired and will go into total meltdown without the sugar; when he gets home he is given a choice - banana, orange, apple or grapes!!! Then dinner is at about 430.

What I seem to spend a lot of money on is milk. I thought I was getting through a lot, so I decided to start monitoring it and since yesterday morning I have used a 6 pinter of blue milk - that's just on 2 1.5 year olds (including my own) having drinks and on the two of them plus the schoolie having breakfast, just for yesterday and today! So I did have 2 bowls of cereal with it (yesterday and today) as we've run out of green milk, but that's only about a pint's worth of milk! 6 pints every couple of days is no joke when it's costing £1.74 a bottle. And what angers me (I internalise it, don't worry) is the sheer waste! The two mindees (siblings) won't take up the milk dregs from their cereal because they don't have to at home; the 1.5 year old will quite happily tip the milk upside down and spread it everywhere with her hands then expect a refill! The schoolie will very happily waste food, think of every excuse under the sun not to eat it. Then he blimmin well asks for a snack half hour later!

I don't even charge for meals like every other bleddy minder in the area. I am £3.50 an hour including all snacks and meals and drinks, entry to toddler groups and in school hols I even did a trip with them which I paid for!

So I quite agree with you it all has to be reined in somewhere. Do you charge for meals? Maybe if I did then the kids' mum would be more likely to back me up on things!

[Sara T]

Im the same as you, charge an hourly rate and no extra for meals or snacks.

Im careful how much milk I put on the cereal so as there isnt loads left over, but Im really lucky and the local shop sells 4 pinter for 99p which is great :)

I claim for my under 5's through the nursery milk scheme online which pays for the little ones 1/3 pint a day, but dont get reimbursed for the older ones, so I just make sure I dont give too much that gets wasted.

If they drink it then fine, but leaving lots of milk or tipping it out is just waste!

I dont charge extra because I like to have control over what I give them and wouldnt want to justify what I was providing. I charge a fair hourly rate and the food I offer is balanced, healthy fruit and cereals and meals and treats like chocolate biscuits or ice cream.

Im getting more savvy with keeping my costs down, the asda own brand or smart price treats, digestive bars or cereal bars are really nice and you get quite a few in a pack. I dont mind paying for ice creams on a friday as I think the parents pay me good money to look after their children and once a week treat that may cost a little bit is my way of treating the children and I put it in my accounts as an expense so it will help my tax bill at the end of the year although its coming out of my pocket.

I dont charge for weekly groups as they are a minimal charge ( that I would pay anyway to take my own as its not per child). I take them to a jumping gym which can work out quite a bit when there are 4 to pay for including me but I usually only go once a week and again, £1.60 per child out of the money the parents pay me weekly really isnt worth worrying about. The way I look at it is I am doing lots of fun things with my own children too, getting paid to look after the others and to give a bit back is my way of saying thanks.

I would charge extra for any other planned trips that would perhaps be in excess of £5 per child like the farm etc but this would be planned in advance

:)