AM Snack vs Breakfast?

[CityGarden]

My students arrive at 8:30am and leave at either 12:30pm (half day) or 3:30pm (full day). I provide an AM snack each day, children provide their own lunches and if they stay full day we encourage them to finish their lunch at the PM snack time and have extra snack on hand for those who have completed their lunch. I am not on the food program so I have flexibility but now that my numbers are increasing I would like to set a menu and be consistent in what I serve.

Would you serve them AM Snack or Breakfast?

I have been serving an AM Snack around 10:15am of a grain and a fruit. Is there a good reason to adjust this? Many of my new children say they are hungry around 9:15am.... are they just adjusting? Another consideration is right now we go outside to the park at 11:15am shortly after snack but given the summer heat I want to switch our park visit to the morning (before summer camps arrive and the heat it too much).

Examples of our AM Snacks
Homemade blueberry muffins with fresh strawberries
Homemade whole wheat waffles with fresh sliced peaches
Soup with homemade chips or homemade croutons
Oatmeal with milk and pear
Fresh baked bread with fresh fruit and butter

● only ever water to drink, from little glasses

Also should I switch to serving milk? If I switch to milk would it be both at snack and lunch or just one.

From a Food Program perspective what approach to snack / breakfast and water vs. milk would be in compliance? Even though I am not on the FP it seems like a good reference point. Where can I find the guidelines and are they the same in the entire USA or does it vary by state

[laundrymom]

I would serve milk at meals and snacks and water between meals.
I offer a snack in the morning. Lunch, and in the afternoon a large snack w all components of a food program "dinner"
I only offer the initial serving at that last snack and no seconds. It gives the kids enough in their tummies to not have a before dinner melt down but it's not too much that they don't eat dinner at home. My parents appreciate it greatly.

[Cat Herder]

I'd most likely add a protein and more fiber. Your examples seem to have a lot of starch and sugar and may leave them feeling hungrier, faster. Sticking with water to hydrate before the park works great, though.

Maybe try something like:

Homemade blueberry muffins, cheese cubes (cheaper in block form ) and fresh strawberries

Homemade whole wheat waffles, hard boiled eggs and fresh sliced peaches

Salsa, refried bean and cheese dip with homemade chips

Oatmeal with cinnamon & flax seed (can be baked into "cookies" http://www.cooks.com/recipe/dx5xp8om...t-cookies.html) and sliced pears

Fresh baked whole grain bread & butter with roasted pumpkin seeds (https://smile.amazon.com/Lightly-Sal...%2Bsalted&th=1) and fresh fruit


The food program will not have an issue with adding components, they only frown upon omitting them.

[CityGarden]

I would serve milk at meals and snacks and water between meals.
I offer a snack in the morning. Lunch, and in the afternoon a large snack w all components of a food program "dinner"
I only offer the initial serving at that last snack and no seconds. It gives the kids enough in their tummies to not have a before dinner melt down but it's not too much that they don't eat dinner at home. My parents appreciate it greatly.

Does your morning snack have all the components of a snack or breakfast?

Yes one of the reasons I adjusted our PM snack was because parents were concerned when their child was not hungry at dinner also there was so much food waste from lunch so I lightened that.

[Ariana]

I provide part time care, either half days or a couple full days a week. I don't feel it is my responsibility to give kids milk unless they are infants under 14 months old. I only give water here.

My morning snack is at 9:30am and afternoon snack is at 3:30pm. Kids are here between 7:30-8:30am until 4-4:30pm

[trix23]

I'm an expert on nutrition and your snacks not only don't have a protein of some sort but they are lacking in fat too.

A good snack has 3 components:
a protein, a fat, and a carb.

These have all 3 and are balanced:
Apple (carbs from sugar) with peanut butter (protein and fat)
Whole grain muffin (carb) with fruit (carb) and cashew butter (protein and fat)
Sweet potato (carb) and black bean (protein) quesadillas with sour cream to dip (fat)
Banana (carb) and peanut butter (protein & fat) and chocolate chip (fat) quesadillas
Trail mix (raisins, dates, pistachio halves, cheerios, m&ms, and mini chocolate chips)

[CityGarden]

I provide part time care, either half days or a couple full days a week. I don't feel it is my responsibility to give kids milk unless they are infants under 14 months old. I only give water here.

My morning snack is at 9:30am and afternoon snack is at 3:30pm. Kids are here between 7:30-8:30am until 4-4:30pm

Thanks for responding.

Do you serve a full breakfast for a morning snack or what components do you serve in your morning snack?

In example, there is a big difference between:

AM Snack: Apples and almond butter

and

AM Snack: Homemade whole wheat waffles, hard boiled eggs and fresh sliced peaches

Initially I viewed snack closer to the first one but realize what is considered "morning snack" varies so I am trying to figure out which approach I should take. Also serving snack at 9:30am might be a happy medium since children seem hungry prior to my current morning snack at 10:15am.

[Ariana]

Thanks for responding.

Do you serve a full breakfast for a morning snack or what components do you serve in your morning snack?

In example, there is a big difference between:

AM Snack: Apples and almond butter

and

AM Snack: Homemade whole wheat waffles, hard boiled eggs and fresh sliced peaches

Initially I viewed snack closer to the first one but realize what is considered "morning snack" varies so I am trying to figure out which approach I should take. Also serving snack at 9:30am might be a happy medium since children seem hungry prior to my current morning snack at 10:15am.

My am snack is definitely more breakfast like but its not a full breakfast. I don't serve eggs and toast for example. I also don't provide completely balanced snacks. I make sure I provide a balanced day. So I give carbs, veggies,protein and fat throughout the day. The most food is served at lunch. So for example my morning snack might be a blueberry muffin (homemade), then lunch would be chicken with roasted veggies and then pm snack might be trailmix and fruit. This is a balanced day.

Some examples of am snack:
Various forms of muffins (this is my most popular snack)
Banana bread
Yogurt and berries
Flax seed pancakes with berry sauce
Whole grain pancakes with berry sauce
Apples with cocoa brazil nut butter
Sunbutter rice cakes
Applesauce with kamut ginger snaps

[CityGarden]

I'd most likely add a protein and more fiber. Your examples seem to have a lot of starch and sugar and may leave them feeling hungrier, faster. Sticking with water to hydrate before the park works great, though.

Maybe try something like:

Homemade blueberry muffins, cheese cubes (cheaper in block form ) and fresh strawberries

Homemade whole wheat waffles, hard boiled eggs and fresh sliced peaches

Salsa, refried bean and cheese dip with homemade chips

Oatmeal with cinnamon & flax seed (can be baked into "cookies" http://www.cooks.com/recipe/dx5xp8om...t-cookies.html) and sliced pears

Fresh baked whole grain bread & butter with roasted pumpkin seeds (https://smile.amazon.com/Lightly-Sal...%2Bsalted&th=1) and fresh fruit


The food program will not have an issue with adding components, they only frown upon omitting them.

These sounds delicious.... if I lean toward doing a full breakfast these will certainly be in the rotation. lovethis

[CityGarden]

I'm an expert on nutrition and your snacks not only don't have a protein of some sort but they are lacking in fat too.

A good snack has 3 components:
a protein, a fat, and a carb.

These have all 3 and are balanced:
Apple (carbs from sugar) with peanut butter (protein and fat)
Whole grain muffin (carb) with fruit (carb) and cashew butter (protein and fat)
Sweet potato (carb) and black bean (protein) quesadillas with sour cream to dip (fat)
Banana (carb) and peanut butter (protein & fat) and chocolate chip (fat) quesadillas
Trail mix (raisins, dates, pistachio halves, cheerios, m&ms, and mini chocolate chips)

Am I missing something? Per this site https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/defau...ealpattern.pdf I do not see protein as a required item at breakfast or snack. For breakfast it says a grain can be substituted a max of three times per week.... For snacks protein is mentioned but you can pick two of five components (milk, grain, fruit, vegetables, meat/meat alternates)

Also I was not asking if my snacks were balanced but how to approach morning snack in general. Should I treat morning snack as a complete breakfast or as a snack? That said your post will certainly make me think of ensuring balanced snacks if I go the snacks route vs the breakfast route.

[Unregistered]

I am on the food program and used to have a longer work day 7am-4:30pm) and served breakfast at 7:30, lunch, and pm snack. I found the children were not eating the breakfast I served and was wasting food. When I changed my hours to 8am-3pm, I changed to serving an am snack at 8:30, kept my lunch and pm snack at the same time and seems to work better for me. I no longer waste food and the children are not asking for a snack before lunch.

[trix23]

I'm not talking about what the USDA recommends but from a nutritional standpoint what a balanced meal/snack is. If you eat all 3 components in any snack or meal, your energy levels will be stabilized, you won't crash from sugar in the food (yes, fruit counts as sugar), you'll feel satisfied longer, and you'll be less hungry at the next meal/snack which is good because the 1hr before lunch won't be a fuss fest. ::

[Ariana]

I'm not talking about what the USDA recommends but from a nutritional standpoint what a balanced meal/snack is. If you eat all 3 components in any snack or meal, your energy levels will be stabilized, you won't crash from sugar in the food (yes, fruit counts as sugar), you'll feel satisfied longer, and you'll be less hungry at the next meal/snack which is good because the 1hr before lunch won't be a fuss fest. ::

Would love to get your thoughts! Does this work the same way for children? Most kids have very little fat stores and need more carbs as ready to go fuel for active play. Also I find most foods are quite balanced in themselves. Even pasta can be high in protein. Because of my own kids sensitivities I have had to get fats and proteins in them in unique ways besides dairy!

[Ariana]

Am I missing something? Per this site https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/defau...ealpattern.pdf I do not see protein as a required item at breakfast or snack. For breakfast it says a grain can be substituted a max of three times per week.... For snacks protein is mentioned but you can pick two of five components (milk, grain, fruit, vegetables, meat/meat alternates)

Also I was not asking if my snacks were balanced but how to approach morning snack in general. Should I treat morning snack as a complete breakfast or as a snack? That said your post will certainly make me think of ensuring balanced snacks if I go the snacks route vs the breakfast route.

I only serve a complete breakfast if the parents want it as part of their service and I charge $5 extra a day for it. They also have to be here before 8am. Otherwise the parents feed the kids and then they get snack at 9:30am. I think if I were having issues getting them to lunch (if you change the timing to 9:30 and they still complain) I would start lunch a little earlier and serve raw veggies as an appetizer. So for example get the kids in their chairs at 11:30am eating veggies and then serve the lunch at 12. If a kid is actually hungry they will eat!

[daycarediva]

I am on the FP. I don't serve 'breakfast' per se, but I claim it as such and it's more of an AM snack (which has complete time flexibility for my sponsor).

Kids who arrive at 7:30 come fed, kids who arrive at 9 usually don't, because we are eating in a few anyway.

I LOVE the new FP rules, bc I can sub a protein for a grain for breakfast.

My kids LOVE edamame, chickpeas (beans of all kinds, actually) ww bean burritos, veggies and hm bean dips, mini quiche.

I serve a LOT of protein, two veggies with snack and their fruits are at PM snack.