Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Menus, Breakfast, Lunch and Snack Ideas>After School Snacks
Unregistered 11:18 AM 01-09-2020
I just started doing after school care this week. It's going pretty well except for snacks. I'm finding that the kids come in from school starving. I planned snacks such as a)Graham cracker fruit pizzas, b)chips w/salsa, cheese stick & carrots, c)healthy homemade peanut butter cookies & apple slices...etc. But I'm hearing a lot of "I'm still hungry.". I've previously worked with preschoolers so I guess my question is should I be doing heartier snacks for older kids? They're ages 5-9. I asked them for suggestions on what they would enjoy seeing on the menu occasionally & the responses were chicken nuggets, pizza, & other dinner type snacks. Do you serve differently when you have older kids in care? Thanks!
Cat Herder 12:09 PM 01-09-2020
School lunch serving sizes leave a lot to be desired. 
I always added a protein as in lunch for my big kids. I opened doing only before/after care when my own children were infants/toddlers. 
The biggest hits were:
Hot Ham & cheese sandwich (bonus points if you add a couple of peices of pepperoni in there), chips, sliced apple, pickle, yogurt and water. (my school-agers never seemed to drink unflavored milk so I just cut it out for waste and added a dairy. Schools can serve chocolate milk, daycares can't here.)
Taco Tuesday. Cooked ground beef, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream, taco sauce. They made their own. Applesauce and water.
Manwich, tots, carrot sticks, tangerine, cubed cheese and water.
Beef, black bean and cheese burritos, corn on the cob minis, strawberries, string cheese and water.
HM Bacon cheeseburger pizza, green beans, banana, pudding and water. (Fridays)
I always added a protein as in lunch for my big kids. I opened doing only before/after care when my own children were infants/toddlers. The biggest hits were:
Hot Ham & cheese sandwich (bonus points if you add a couple of peices of pepperoni in there), chips, sliced apple, pickle, yogurt and water. (my school-agers never seemed to drink unflavored milk so I just cut it out for waste and added a dairy. Schools can serve chocolate milk, daycares can't here.
)Taco Tuesday. Cooked ground beef, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream, taco sauce. They made their own. Applesauce and water.
Manwich, tots, carrot sticks, tangerine, cubed cheese and water.
Beef, black bean and cheese burritos, corn on the cob minis, strawberries, string cheese and water.
HM Bacon cheeseburger pizza, green beans, banana, pudding and water. (Fridays)
storybookending 06:40 PM 01-09-2020
I don’t serve “special” for older kids. They get the same snack and everyone else. A snack in meant to hold them over until dinner, not be a pre dinner. I ran an after school program for years before switching to in home. They got one snack and some were in care a lot later than any after care kid I’ll ever have doing in home.
rosieteddy 05:55 AM 01-10-2020
I would also serve a snack not a meal.That being said I might offer an apple for those still hungry.Maybe pb&j sandwich for the snack,or cheese sandwich.I would buy cost effective snacks.No sense spending all your profit on food.They need to be reminded that it is not second lunch.A little protein added to snack might help .I bet when offered an apple most will turn it down .They just want to eat, not really hungry.I would send a notice to parents about sending a full lunch to school.Let them know its a snack offered at after school only.As you have just started its the perfect time to set the expectations.All my years of full time childcare I always offered a snack of bread(muffin,cookie ect),fruit or vegetable(sliced apple,bannana.veggie sticks ect)and milk .There was a controlled snack .I cant tell you how many times I said its a snack not a meal.I told parents they would be hungry for dinner as soon as getting home.
CountryRoads 06:46 AM 01-10-2020
I have one after school kid one day a week and I don't even serve him a snack.
Snack is at 3:30, he doesn't show up until about 4:15. But, he also usually only here for 30-45 minutes so it's not that big of a deal.
I have snuck him a little fruit or something when he asks for something, and of course it caused all the other kids crying and whining for the same thing. So, now I just tell him he will be eating dinner soon so he can wait.
On the days he's here all day, he eats what everyone else eats.
Snack is at 3:30, he doesn't show up until about 4:15. But, he also usually only here for 30-45 minutes so it's not that big of a deal.
I have snuck him a little fruit or something when he asks for something, and of course it caused all the other kids crying and whining for the same thing. So, now I just tell him he will be eating dinner soon so he can wait.
On the days he's here all day, he eats what everyone else eats.
ConnieG 03:26 PM 01-10-2020
Sometimes I think they are lacking enough water throughout the school day. This makes them feel hungry also. Fill up on water and regular snack items and a reminder this is just a snack. Dinner is at home. Also ask if they ate or what they had for lunch. Not your fault if they threw lunch away! Ask if they still have items in their lunch box they could eat. One kid I found out had almost his whole lunch left in his backpack as he wants to go play at lunch time!