Mealtime Memo
FOR CHILD CARE
2003
Snacks Can Be Healthful and Appealing
Snacks Are Important
Snack Suggestions
What is a snack?
• a refreshment that can be eaten between meals
• something to eat or drink or both
• something young children need one or more of
throughout the day
Fruit Bowl
Since snacks supply almost one-fourth of a child’s food
intake in a given day, they should be nutritious. Snack
foods rich in vitamins and minerals help to keep young
bodies healthy. However, denying a child birthday cake or
holiday sweet treats may make the child want those foods
more often. These foods provide calories, which preschoolers may need. Extra calories usually won’t hurt an active
child as long as other nutrient requirements are met.
Teaching preschoolers about practicing moderation when
these foods are occasionally offered should be viewed as
the start in making wise food choices later in life.
Snack Serving
Fruit is just about the perfect snack. A variety of cubed or
sliced fruit mixed with a little flavored yogurt is a yearround favorite. Mix canned and fresh fruit. Summer fruit
bowls can emphasize fruits rich in vitamin A, like fresh
apricots, cantaloupe, melon, peaches, papaya and mango.
Winter fruit bowls can emphasize citrus fruits, like
oranges, grapefruit, and tangerines, which are readily
available during colder months. Other fruit available in the
winter months include kiwi, apples, bananas, and grapes.
One-half cup mixed fruit and 1/2 slice raisin toast provide a
reimbursable snack to children ages 1–5. Source: Physical
Activities and Healthy Snacks for Young Children
Graham Cracker Smacker
Spread a graham cracker square with a thin layer of
peanut butter. On top of the peanut butter, place slices of
banana, peach, pear, or other soft fruit. Top with another
graham cracker square spread with peanut butter (peanut
butter facing inside). One Graham Cracker Smacker
and 1/2 cup 100% grape juice provide a reimbursable
snack to children ages 1-5. Source: Physical Activities and
Snack time need not be long – 10 minutes is ample. Sitting
down to eat a meal or snack can help avoid choking or spills.
Snacks that are served in the Child and Adult Care Food
Program must meet the meal pattern requirement for a speHealthy Snacks for Young Children
cific age group. The snacks must include at least two different components of the following four:
• a serving of fluid milk
• a serving of a meat or meat alternate
• a serving of vegetable(s) or fruit(s) or full-strength
vegetable or fruit juice
Do not give to children under age two:
• a serving of whole grain or
Hard to Chew
Nougat candy, Nuts, Peanuts, Popcorn
enriched bread and/or cereal.
Slippery and Smooth
Water is always recommendHard
candy, Whole grapes
ed as an additional bever✓ Does it look and taste good?
Coin-Shaped
age with snacks; however,
✓ Can fingers be used to eat the snacks?
Carrot
coins, Hot dogs
it is not part of the meal
✓ Can the snacks be chewed and swallowed easily?
requirements.
✓ Will there be a choking problem?
The Chokers
Snack Checklist
See “The Chokers.”
2003-1
National Food Service Management Institute • The University of Mississippi
Mealtime Memo
F O R
C H I L D
C A R E
Simple Snack Ideas
Juices: Apple, grape, orange, pineapple, tomato, vegetable
Fruits: Apple, banana, kiwi, cantaloupe, peach, pear, watermelon, honeydew, casaba melon, pineapple, grapefruit,
grapes*, orange, strawberries
Vegetables: Cucumber rings, green and red pepper strips, zucchini strips, tomato wedges, jicama sticks,
cauliflowerettes (raw or slightly cooked and cold), carrot curls, celery sticks
*Cut whole grapes into quarters to prevent choking in young children, ages 2 to 3 especially.
Bread, Crackers, Cereals: Pumpkin, zucchini, banana, or cranberry bread; bran, corn, apple, banana, blueberry
or English muffins; bagels; homemade soft pretzels; bread sticks; non-sugared cereals; animal and graham crackers;
cornbread; French toast; pancakes; waffles
Dairy: Milk–skim, low-fat, whole**, chocolate, and buttermilk; yogurt–plain or sweetened; string cheese; low-fat
cottage cheese and cheese cubes
**Make whole milk available for children under 2 years of age.
Meat, Fish, Eggs, Peanut Butter, Beans: Eggs–hard-cooked, halves or wedges; tortilla with bean dip;
crackers with peanut butter; mini pizza; ham cubes and other lean meats; sandwiches–open-face or closed, cut in
quarters, squares, triangles, strips
Snack Activity
Make Your Own Snack Box
(10 to 20 minutes to do the activity)
This activity encourages nutritious snacking as children
make a personalized container to hold delicious snacks.
(Snacks should always be stored in appropriate materials
[i.e., plastic bags, aluminum foil] inside the snack box).
Supplies Needed:
Containers appropriate for use as snack boxes such as
clean shoeboxes lined with aluminum foil, plastic food
containers, paper bags (one per child).
Options:
• You may want to provide pictures of foods that reflect
the ethnicity of some of the children in the group.
• After children have decorated their snack boxes, you can
organize a “show and tell” of the variety of foods they
have chosen as decorations and discuss what foods they
might put in their boxes when they get home. Remind
children and parents that if a snack box contains perishable foods, the snack box must be kept refrigerated.
• If possible, pass out a snack to put into the new snack boxes.
Source: Tickle Your Appetite
Materials for decorating snack boxes: stickers, magazine
cutouts of foods, drawings of the Food Guide Pyramid,
pictures of fruits or other favorite snacks, colored tissue
papers, and other art supplies like washable markers,
crayons, glue sticks, and sparkles.
Giving Directions:
Give each child a container to use for a snack box.
Invite children to use the art supplies to decorate snack
boxes using drawings or anything else that appeals to them.
Snack Sources
Boeckner, L., & Martin, D. (Revised June 1998). It’s snack time. Retrieved
February 19, 2003 from http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/foods/g1033.htm
Lagoni, L.S., Martin, D.H., Maslin-Cole, C., Cook, A., Maclsaac, K., Parrill, G.,
Bigner, J., Coker, E., & Sheie, S. (1989). Good times with snacks. Retrieved
February 19, 2003 from http://www/nncc.org/Series/good.time.snack.html
Physical activities and healthy snacks for young children. (2001). [Des
Moines, IA]: Iowa Department of Education Bureau of Food and
Nutrition, Iowa Team Nutrition.
Tickle your appetite: Team nutrition’s education kit for child care.
(1998). Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture,
Food and Nutrition Service. FNS-307.
This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service through a grant agreement with The University of
Mississippi. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or
organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The University of Mississippi complies with all applicable laws regarding affirmative action and equal opportunity in all its activities and programs and does not discriminate against anyone protected by law because of age, color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, or status as a veteran or disabled veteran.
For more information, contact NFSMI at 1-800-321-3054 or www.nfsmi.org