Snacks!

[crazyhazy]

I include snacks and lucnhes within my hourly rate and am just looking for some ideas. Up till now I've just had my own two girls, 3y and nearly 2y plus another 3y so was pretty easy. But tmrw I have my first afterschooler starting, she's 11y and then I have another on starting on monday who is 9y. What sort of things do you offer as snacks when they come in from school? They'll both be picked up by 5.30pm so having dinner at home.

Thanks x

[Mouse]

For after school snacks I do things like:

crackers, cheese & fruit
cheese on toast & cherry tomatoes
crumpets, jam & banana
ham sandwich, cucumber sticks & raisins

[Stillgoingstrong]

For after school snacks I do things like:

crackers, cheese & fruit
cheese on toast & cherry tomatoes
crumpets, jam & banana
ham sandwich, cucumber sticks & raisins

Blimey, it those are snacks how big is tea/dinner??? My snacks are fruit, yoghurt, bag of crisps box of raisins, couple of biscuits and milk, just simple stuff. If they stay for tea then they get a sandwich/bagel/crumpets, but I dont do proper cooking and so dont offer dinner. Oh, I don't mean they get ALL those snacks, just one

[Mouse]

Blimey, it those are snacks how big is tea/dinner??? My snacks are fruit, yoghurt, bag of crisps box of raisins, couple of biscuits and milk, just simple stuff. If they stay for tea then they get a sandwich/bagel/crumpets, but I dont do proper cooking and so dont offer dinner. Oh, I don't mean they get ALL those snacks, just one

I find they're always starving when they come on from school & eat the lot. I don't do an evening meal at all, so that has to last them till they get home for tea.

I don't really do much after school care anyway. Perhaps if I was doing it every night for lots of kids I'd cut it down to an apple each

[DIPPY DOUGHNUT]

I have one after school and she has tea with me at 5pm so when she gets back from school her snack is a carton of pure fruit juice and 2 biscuits or some fruit.

[mushpea]

mine have a peice of fruit after school, I had 8 children all wanting different things last school year so in september its fruit or go hungry till you go home, they sit at the table all toghether and once snack times over thats it, I dont offer anymore later if they didnt eat at snack time as ususaly the table is being used for drawing or playdough or somthing. may sound a bit mean but got messed about a lot before with fussy ones.

[charlie potato]

my kids childminder after school used to give them all toast and fruit. xx

[karensmart4]

I was doing crumpets or toast with a choice of fruit, but parents complained some children weren't eating their tea so just give a couple of biscuits or some fruit now, and a drink.. some children have something left in their lunchbox (crisps or choc bar, that their not really allowed at school) and they have that if they ask.

[ChocolateChip]

I do tea by 5pm for some of mine so an after school snack here is just a light one, it is always a fruit or veg first then a small treat, eg.
banana and biscuit
grapes and flapjack
apple and cake
raisins and toast
tomatoes and cheese, cheese and fruit
carrot sticks, breadsticks and dip

They get milk, juice or water to drink, their choice, and I always have a big selection of fruit/ veg so they choose what they want then but the treat is what I offer that day or nothing (unless I know that someone really doesn't like it but I try to avoid that happening), they can have extra fruit if they want.
I sometimes ring the changes depending on the weather, i.e. we might have hot chocolate if it's miserable, or a lolly if it's hot, and sometimes do milkshakes or smoothies as a treat.

Basically I don't give them too much as it is supposed to be just a snack otherwise I find they don't eat much tea, although I did have one who went straight from me to swimming lessons before her tea so I would always make sure she had extra to keep her energy up.

[TheBTeam]

I am also flexible on the size of the snack, depending on the age of the child or the time that i know they will have their tea.