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HEALTHY SNACKS IN THE CLASSROOM
by Carol Goodrow
To Parents: It takes a bit more time to cut an apple into wedges, prepare a fruit salad, or make a low-fat veggie dip, than it does to pick up a bag of chips, but if you do take that extra moment and send your child to school with a healthy snack, you'll be helping your child form healthy habits that he'll remember for a lifetime. |
Wellness policies have been written for most public schools in the U.S. this year. The idea is great but the jury is still out on how they will be implemented in the schools. They are varied in nature. Some are publicized and others are just for the record, but there is one common thread that should run through them all. They should help the students develop healthy habits that last for a lifetime and include activities and practices which help combat obesity. Is this a teacher's job? Some will argue that it's a family responsibility, but KR feels the ball is in your court. So here are some "classroom" suggestions.
BE A ROLE MODEL
Let your children see you eating fruits and veggies in front of them.
MAKE IT MATH
THE TALLY CHART
Keep track of the healthy snacks brought to your classroom. Make a "Healthy Snack Tally Chart". Make a column for healthy snacks and add the name of the fruits and vegetables to your chart as they are brought in. Then let each child who brings in a healthy snack make a tally mark. Keep it in front of the room in plain sight of all children and keep going until the chart is full.
THE MATH WORKSHEET
Surprise the kids with a Math Snack Worksheet. Ask questions like "Which fruit is the most popular?"
"How many bananas have been brought to class?"
"How many healthy snacks in all?"
THE PARTY
Have a healthy snack party when you reach a certain number of tally marks on the chart - say 500.
THE MONEY JAR
Put a penny in a jar for each snack that comes in. Assign a group of kids each week to "trade" the money to use the fewest coins or bills necessary. From time-to-time check to make sure the money matches the tally chart.
THE HUNDREDS CHARTS
Staple 5 blank hundreds charts together. Add a healthy snack cover. Assign a group of kids to highlight to show the total healthy snacks brought to class. Check to make sure it matches the tally chart and money.
MORE SNACK TIPS
1. Keep extra fruit in the classroom for when a child forgets a snack. Give out fruit, not candy, cookies, or crackers.
2. Don't "forbid" a child to eat a snack that isn't on or can't be added to your list.
3. Teach children about portion sizes. If a child brings a huge bag of "chips" to school, show them the nutrition info on their package. Encourage them to "count-out" chips that equal one portion and to put the rest away for another day.
4. Teach benefits of each healthy snack on the chart. Ex. Tell them one benefit of eating an orange.
5. While "whole-grains" and "low-fat cheese" are harder to monitor (harder to be sure they are the real thing), let kids add them to the chart after you've started your unit and you trust that they know how to read the nutrition info and know that the word "whole" should come first.
6. If your kids are slow eaters teach your kids to take "work-bites", write a sentence and then take a bite of a snack, do 3 problems, then take a bite. While apples can be a favorite snack and one of the most healthy snacks, some children could spend close to an hour nibbling on one.
7. Show children how to check ingredients when deciding if a "granola" bar is a healthy snack. Look for whole-grain, or whole-rolled oats as one of the first ingredients. Do the same with cracker packs.
WATER/JUICE BOTTLES
Kids should be allowed to keep water bottles on their desk. Encourage the sports type with the push-cap top. See kendrickfincher.org - a leader in the promotion of hydration. They donate free water bottles to clubs and groups. We use them for our Happy Feet, Healthy Food Kids' Club. As a courtesy to the organization, I ask families to contribute from 50 cents to $2.00 so that I can send in a donation to their memorial foundation, but this isn't mandatory.
Want to try something new that children love? Try WADDA JUICE.
This is a combination of real fruit juice and purified water. It tastes great and kids and teachers alike love the spill-proof fun-to-sip bottles. Waddajuice comes in apple, wild berry and grape flavors. Visit waddajuice.com for complete nutrition information. I need the spill-proof caps in my classroom. I encourage children to stay hydrated and in my resource room I have a few children who often spill their water over their work. I also like that it is part purified water and part juice. It's a good training drink - close to what I take on my long distance runs or cycling trips (1/4 cranberry grape juice, 3/4 water).
Carol Goodrow: carolgoodrow@verizon.net
Graphic from Happy Feet, Healthy Food, Your Child's First Journal of Exercise and Healthy Eating