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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!
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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)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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Cat Herder 05:06 AM 01-12-2020
* I should probably clarify that my afterschool program was located in a high poverty area and I was open until 7 pm.
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Unregistered 11:26 AM 01-13-2020
Thank you for all of the comments. We waste a lot of leftovers here b/c my husband isn't big on them so I'm going to try working dinner "leftovers" into the next day's snack. So it will be something more filling, but I'll also limit portions. So when we're done we're done and then if they complain they're still hungry I'll just remind them that its a snack and they'll have dinner at home. Some of these kids aren't getting home until 6:30-7:00 and lunch is at 11:30 so I'm sure they are hungry. My family has always ate dinner at 5:00 until last week so this idea of after school snack before dinner is kind of foreign to me.
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Jo123ABC 12:30 PM 01-13-2020
Try to pick filling cost-effective snacks. Things that fill my kids up are: pb and j sandwich or pb and j on toast, butter and honey on toast, cinnamon sugar on toast or the premade raisin toast from the store, muffins, crackers and cheese, oatmeal, biscuits, wheat thins with cottage cheese, yogurt with teddy Graham's etc. I always serve a fruit or vegetable with the grain and 1 serving of milk. Then it's water.
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springv 03:58 PM 01-14-2020
Our school agers at our center get the exact same snack as everyone else and if they don't want the juice or milk, we still serve it to as required by the food program but we tell them they don't have to drink it and they can pour it out
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daycarediva 10:40 AM 03-04-2020
I find hungry can equal boredom or thirst in older children.

They wash hands and get a GIANT bottle of ice water when they come in the door. They always GUZZLE it.

We give them the same snack and the preschoolers in a larger quantity.

Sandwiches- PB & J, hot ham & cheese, grilled cheese (tomato soup 'dip') and turkey clubs are current favorites
Whole wheat quesadillas- pizza (marinara to dip), PB&banana with vanilla yogurt to dip.
Cheese cubes/any fresh veg/ww crackers
Cobb salad and garlic bread

After 1sts of snack, they can have as much of the veg as they eat/I have. I always have carrot sticks for those who are 'still hungry'.

BUT- I always have something out to DO. Current favorites are K'Nex and jewelry making supplies. They can't wait to play and I never get takers on seconds.
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AmyKidsCo 12:36 PM 03-04-2020
Are you on the food program? I don't take school age anymore (except my kids/grandkids) but when I did I'd make extra lunch and save some for the after-school kids. If you're on the food program you can claim it as a supper and get higher reimbursement than snack.

Another thought is to serve protein because it helps them feel full longer, or serve raw veggies and let them eat as much of those as they want.
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topazann 09:21 AM 03-09-2020
from my list: full fat yogurt (personally not worried about the sugar in it when most other kids are guzzling down juice all day) ; hummus with veggies; "Banana milk" (banana, almond milk, and cinnamon in the blender), raisins; sunflower seeds, unsalted, nuts; popcorn; mini frittatas.
Also, my kids love this snack I make that she calls Super Snack.
Pitted dates (chopped)
Walnuts (chopped)
Pumpkin seeds
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Tags:after school, after school - tips, after school care, after school program, afterschool
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