Our Snack Break - Food & Set-up

Several of you have asked me about the snacks James eats during our daily snack breaks (we have one at 10am and one at 3pm), so I thought I'd write up a post about it. I hope you find it helpful!

First, let me show you a picture of our snack set up:
This is just a drawer in the kitchen next to the pantry. We call it "James' drawer" and this is where we store his dry snacks, bowls, glasses and utensils.

These are drawers inside of the door of the refrigerator. There's always two beverage choices - a jug half full of water (for easy pouring) and usually a can of V8. I don't purchase juice boxes (I find them wasteful and costly). Of course James is welcome to any other beverage in the fridge, but these are the only ones that are at his level. I rotate the other contents somewhat often.

Now, when it comes time for a snack, I tell James he may choose a beverage and ONE of anything in either his refrigerator drawer OR in his pantry drawer. This helps to eliminate the grazing-at-the-buffet effect that's catapulting so many of our children (and us adults!) into obesity. It also provides James with an opportunity to have control over this aspect of his life and for him to know that I trust and respect his choice. All very important things.

We practice Montessori not just in our classroom, but throughout our home. My husband and I are BIG believers in cultivating independence within our children. With regard to food, James is very accustomed to making his own snacks. And I must add here that James prefers to make his own snacks - if ever I attempt to do it for him he'll say, "Mama, I can do it!".

The following is a list of things James can and does prepare on his own. In the past I've shown him how to do these things and I'm always present when he uses any kitchen tools.
::Peel and slice a banana
::Peel and slice a carrot
::Peel an orange
::Peel a hard boiled egg
::Core an apple
::Spread cream cheese or peanut butter onto bread or crackers
::Pour liquid from a pitcher to a glass

When it comes to preparing these foods, I put together any materials he'll need and he takes it from there. Some day we'll get to the point where he'll go around the kitchen to collect whatever he needs (e.g. the corer, peeler or blunt knife) himself, but I'm not comfortable with that just now.

The following is a list of some of our favorite snack items:
::Goldfish, graham, and other kinds of crackers
::Dried fruit/raisins
::Granola bars
::Nuts (we have no allergies)
::Cheese (sliced or string)
::Applesauce
::Yogurt
::V8
::Pretzel sticks
::Mini muffins (or whatever we've baked that Monday)
::Vegetables - James loves raw vegetables: broccoli spears, carrots, celery sticks, spinach leaves, avocado, pea pods etc.
::Fruits: strawberries, grapes, apples, oranges, slices of mango, pineapple or melons, berries
::Pirouette sticks
::Canned fruits

I should note that not all of these food items are available all the time. Depending on where we're at with our groceries, I typically only have about 1/3 of these options available. I do, however, rotate which things I buy to keep his choices interesting.

I should also note that I've prepared some of these items so that they are portion controlled. For example, if James wants to have some Goldfish crackers he will need to use his measuring cup to scoop just ONE scoop out of the container and into his bowl. But, since ONE is not enough of all food items I've also created a little cheat sheet for him to indicate how much of a certain item he's allowed to have.

So there you go - I know to some of you this probably sounds "strict" or whatever, but believe me, it is really just a casual thing since we're all so used to it. And it's not as though we're counting out every single Goldfish cracker - it's really just about giving James some control and parameters to work within. Anyway, I hoped it answered your questions. If you have any other snack time ideas or if you've arranged a food space for your children, please let me know in the comments!

And be sure to take a look at these lovely blog posts at About A Girl and at Sew Liberated to see the self-sufficient food environment they've created for their children. Both were an inspiration to me when I created this space for James.

~Thank you for your comments!~