Snack time is a great opportunity to keep daycare children engaged. Instead of preparing those snacks for the little ones, enlisting their assistance promotes activity, encourages critical thinking, and offers an opportunity to work on practical skills that impart real-world experience. These 5 snack ideas were selected because they offer all of these benefits-- and taste great as an added bonus.
1. Snack Cracker Sandwiches
This fun snack time activity helps Montessori daycare children learn to identify shapes, gives them experience with cutting, and offers a healthy snack that is high in protein and low in sugar. Start with snack crackers that have different shapes such as round, square, and rectangular. Have your child slice lunch meats and cheeses to fit the cracker shapes. It's OK to place the meat and cheese on top of a cracker and trim around the edges at first, progressing to free-hand cutting with practice.2. Fun Fruits
Fresh fruits provide essential summertime hydration, tasty snacks, and ample opportunity for slicing (with a butter knife!), sorting, and counting. You can use any fruits you or your child wish to use, and the activity can also include as-you-go lessons on food origins, cultural favorites, and more. From bananas to watermelon, there are many types of fruits available, and each one has its own texture, flavor, and story to be told.3. Celery Dip Activity
As a practical experience, slicing and dethreading celery prior to eating it are excellent for helping children develop fine motor skills. Once the celery is prepared, put small amounts of various "dips" such as ranch dressing, peanut butter, or onion dip on a dish for dipping.4. Fancy PB&J
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are among the most common lunch and snack meals for small children, but their usefulness in developing fine motor skills and gaining important household experience are often overlooked. Allow your little ones to spread their own peanut butter and jelly or jam, and then coach them in carefully cutting away the outer crust.5. Yogurt Popsicles
Yogurt popsicles are one of the simplest snacks your child can make. All you need is one or more favorite flavors of yogurt, some popsicle cups and sticks, and a spoon. Using the spoon, have your children pack the popsicle cups, place a popsicle stick in the end, and freeze the cups for a least an hour before serving. You can introduce other variables if you wish, such as adding fruit, having popsicle taste tests, and more.Inclusion is an important part of early development, and allowing your kids to help you with repairing snacks is an inclusive activity with many benefits. You may have to do most of the work at first, but children learn quickly and will be able to prepare their own fun snacks after only a few tries.
