Snack Ideas for Kids in Preschool

In the first week that Keshav and Alisha started preschool, after 2 days of sending carrots in their snack box I realized they spent so much time trying to chew the raw carrots that they didn't end up eating the other snacks.  On the 3rd day I got a note attached to the box from their teacher saying I'm sending too much food and that their snack time is only 15 minutes!  By day 4 I was scratching my head because I needed more snack ideas to pack for a preschooler!  By the end of the week, I tried to keep their snacks simple and was hoping they were eating it within the time limit, and that they would come back home with an empty box.  After all, that's one of the most happy moments for a mother to see her child eat, and eat well!

I have received a few messages and comments on the Keshalish Facebook page asking me snack ideas for kids in preschool.  There is a NO NUTS and NO EGGS policy at their facility, so that limits a LOT of my options, such as bread-peanut butter, almonds, granola bars, etc!  In this post I'm sharing pictures of their snack boxes from the month of August, their first month at their preschool.  Both kids were given the same snacks and similar quantity in their individual boxes:

Following are the products/brands their snacks consisted of:





I realized whenever I gave them bread they did not finish up most of it. Toasted bread and cheese was a flop because the cheese turned chewy and bread turned cold.  I also realized that separating moist snack and crunch snack with cupcake liners didn't matter and still ended up making the crunchy snack soggy and chewy because they'd never keep their bag straight so everything got mixed up, so I should either pack them separately or just place alike crunchy items together.

Some days if they ate breakfast well (at 8:15am) I packed less food for their snack (which is at 10am) so that they could eat lunch (at 12:30pm) better.  Because of the morning rush to brush their teeth, change diapers, put on clothes, wear socks and shoes, feed breakfast, and pack their snack box and water bottle - there is no time for me to cook for them or make something fancy.  Also, because I have to send food only for the 15-minute snack time, I have found it easier to just give storebought snacks or fruits that would take me only a minute to pack.  Perhaps in the coming months I will try giving variety of roti, rice, noodles, pasta, etc when I see they're able to feed themselves properly.  For now, this works perfectly for their and my time limits!