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Parents and teachers are always looking for the best classroom snacks for different occasions—whether it’s an individual snack in your child’s lunchbox or classroom treats for a school party.
In this post, we’ll take a look at different types of snack ideas for kids, including options that range from “everyday fuel” to festive creations for holidays and rewards. Ready to explore some cool-for-school ideas? Let’s get snacking!
Snacking in the classroom has many benefits for kids, including:
Snacking can help keep kids energized throughout the day, especially during long activities or on test days.
Snack time can be an opportunity for kids to socialize, bond, and create friendships with other students.
Taking turns handing out snacks or cleaning up afterwards is a great way for kids to learn responsibility and the importance of helping out.
Teachers can use snack time as a fun way to practice counting, fractions, measurement, and more!
Before we dive into class snack ideas for groups and parties, let’s talk about individual snacks for your kid to bring from home. While every kid has their favorites, here are a few tried-and-true lunchbox options:
If you’re volunteering to help with a holiday celebration at your child’s school, you may be wondering what food to bring to a classroom party. Have no fear! We’re here to give you kid-approved class snack ideas that can be adapted for different holidays and occasions.
One of our favorite easy and creative classroom snack ideas is to bring fruit to life by drawing a face on the outside of it with a food-safe marker. Turn clementines into mini jack-o-lanterns by drawing eyes, a nose, and a mouth on the peel. Or add a face to a banana peel along with a holiday-themed pun such as “Let’s never split!” for Valentine’s Day. Fruit is typically a safe option if you’re looking for dairy free snacks, peanut free snacks, or other allergy-friendly snack ideas for kids. You can also try the same idea with string cheese!
Made with rice cereal, melted butter, and marshmallows, these classroom treats tend to be a big hit with kids and can be decorated to suit different holiday themes. The easiest way to add a touch of festivity to these snacks for school is to drizzle the squares with icing in holiday colors, such as red and green for Christmas, red and pink for Valentine’s Day, green and white for Saint Patrick’s Day, or orange and black for Halloween. You can also experiment by adding colorful sprinkles or other decorative toppings.
Bake a sheet cake and use food coloring to tint white frosting in a holiday color, such as pink for Valentine’s Day, orange for Halloween, or green for Saint Patrick’s Day. Use Welch’s® Fruit ‘n Yogurt™ Snacks to create a simple shape on top, such as a heart or a Christmas tree. Slice up and serve on holiday-themed paper plates for extra flair.
To make these classroom treats, dip a pretzel rod in melted chocolate about three-quarters of the way, leaving room for a “handle.” While the chocolate is still tacky, scatter on festively colored sprinkles in holiday colors. Mix things up by using a combination of melted milk chocolate, white chocolate, and dark chocolate for your pretzel rods, and experiment with different color drizzles to suit your theme.
While party treats are fun, there may also be occasions where you want to serve group-friendly snacks for school that aren’t tied to a particular holiday or theme. Special snack days are one of our favorite classroom reward ideas for weeks when every student has completed their homework or aced their assignments. What are some good snacks for school reward days? Read on for ideas!
When it comes to easy classroom snacks for school activities and reward days, it doesn’t get much more popular than pizza. Holding a pizza party is a great way to motivate kids to reach certain goals, like completing a reading log or practicing good classroom behavior.
If it’s a nice day, take the reward session outside and create a picnic area on the school lawn. Spread out a blanket and serve cheese and crackers, watermelon, or other picnic-ready snacks for school. Bring along a soccer ball, Frisbee or jump ropes to ramp up the fun factor.
Kids love mini foods—and mini bagels are no exception! Put out a platter of mini bagels and let kids add butter, cream cheese, jelly, hummus, or another favorite spread. These classroom snacks also double as great school lunch ideas when you add fillings like turkey & cheese or avocado & tomato.
Another option is to let kids take their rewards to go with pre-packaged snacks for classroom goodie bags. Be sure to include peanut free snacks like Welch’s® Fruit Snacks. Made with real fruit, these allergy-friendly snacks are an excellent source of Vitamins A, C, & E and come in a variety of fun flavors to suit everyone’s tastes.
Be sure to include delicious and convenient Welch’s® Fruit Snacks on your snack time shopping list. Perfect for on the go, they’re the ultimate school treat for lunch boxes, parties, field trips, and beyond. Happy snacking!
