About toddler group snacks?

[youcankeepyourhead]

I wanted to mention/discuss with you my concerns about some toddler groups snack options.

I went to a group last week - at snack time, they gave the children: crisps, biscuits and juice (squash that's full of sugar). I changed the juice for water and gave my child the snack I'd brought with me (cheese sandwich and quartered grapes)

It does not teach the children healthy eating nor does it show a good example to parents. I believe that these groups should be offering fruit, raisins, rice cakes, milk or water.

Am I the only mum who thinks these unhealthy snakes are unacceptable? So my question is, do you think it's acceptable for these groups to offer our children unhealthy snacks?

[Sandbrook]

Who runs the toddler groups? I go to one that doesn't provide snacks so I bring my own, cheese, fruit, Crackers and water

[Emochild]

Raisins wouldn't be my idea of a healthy snack but other than that yanbu

Perhaps it is due to the cost -packet of smart price biscuits and bottle of squash is much cheaper than milk and fruit

Who is running the group?

[awkwardas78]

They probably choose food that's cheap and easy to store and prepare but crackers, raisins, toast etc. would be an easy alternative. I think if you make a few suggestions tactfully and maybe even offer to help bring/chop a few bananas then you could affect some positive change.

[WipsGlitter]

Is it run by volunteers? Why don't you volunteer to be in charge of the snack? One biscuit won't harm them.

[mareseatoatsanddoeseatoats]

what kind of playgroup/how much did you pay?

whilst i would agree that they are not great...squash and biscuits are cheap. Fruit and milk etc not so much. Am surprised by the crisps though, have genuinely never seen those offered at a playgroup.

[BaBaBaBoomBoom]

I think it's up to individual parents to do as they please. We go to a toddler group every day of the week, and dd has one or two biccies (and drinks high juice with full sugar, no aspartamine at home anyway) at all of them bar Thursday, where I let her go completely mad and don't even bother giving her lunch. Meh, however, if they start putting snakes out on the snack table I might get a bit more on side..

[starry0ne]

Firstly Squash should be full sugar not full of sweetners..

I think part of the problem is if they are offering healthy snacks and they are getting dumped.

I think you have to take the option to bring your own or balance it out.

[Soooosie]

Awful snacks. My group did cut up fruit or veg plus cheese lumps and breadsticks or oat biscuits.

[silverduck]

If this is a volunteer run group I don't think you should comment unless you are prepared to budget/shop/prepare/serve or at least do so on a rota.

When I helped at a playgroup we served cheapo biccies as we could buy 40 packets at the start of term, shove them in a cupboard and just tip in a tupperware. The main issue for us was cost, but it could be prep time in another setting.

If it is run by a company/pre-school/sure start then go ahead and complain.

[ByThePrickingOfMyThumbs]

Who runs the group? How much do they charge you to attend?

[rednsparkley]

I run a playgroup for 0-5 and we offer snack during the session. The kids can have water or squash and there is also fruit (usually bananas although it depends what looks good when I go to Aldi ) and toast. Parents can have a brew and whatever snack they fancy as well.

We only offer crisps when we have an end of term party

[IrritableBitchSyndrome]

We have to avoid raisins and fruit on it's own as a snack (fruit is ok as part of a meal) due to the awful effect they had on my toddler's teeth :( crisps are not a healthy snack either, as the frying leaves them full of carcinogenic substances. Biscuits and squash are also sugary and unhealthy, obviously. I end up taking chopped up carrots, cucumber, cheese and a bottle of water most of the time. Toddler has sweet treats sometimes but we really limit them now, having messed up her teeth with lots of fresh fruit and raisins. Poor kid

[eastwest]

YANBU. It is really annoying. I once went to a group that was avowedly a 'healthy eating' themed group, where children were supposed to prepare their own food, get into healthy eating habits etc. - it was close by me so I went a couple of times. Every time, they had a relatively healthy main lunch (e.g. flat breads, pre-grated cheese to make wraps), but then they also had a dessert set out at the same time - which was shop-bought cupcakes with a selection of silver balls, other sugar topping things like hundreds and thousands, ready-made icing in tubes and the 'make food' part of it was that the toddlers decorated the cupcakes (on one occasion it was biscuits rather than cupcakes) with this and then ate it. Obvs most of the kids by-passed the wraps and went straight for the icing and the biscuits. It was all about a million times less healthy than he'd get at home.

[Osolea]

I wouldn't mind a plain biscuit being given, but I wouldn't like the squash and crisps.

[ThursdayLastWeek]

This happens a bit at one of the groups I go to - the mums all bring something with them.

TBH it's mostly fruit, a few poms bears and little biscuits of some sort - and none of them eat so much as to worry about it. Mostly they want to get back to playing.

It's not something I worry about. I just adjust DS menu accordingly the rest of the day.

[rednsparkley]

Oh and I am a volunteer, not a paid worker.

[hownottofuckup]

Not my experience tbh, the one I go to you pay £1 per family, they provide a big plate/s of fruit (grapes, berries, banana), jug of squash and one of water, and then a plate of little biscuits come out (parents get tea/coffee and homemade cake or bread, tis lovely!)
It's the most relaxed one I've been to. Got a bit fed up of the 'Snack time! Have some yummy rice cakes!' ones, DD was I was and then I realised we really didn't fit in so we left like

[eastwest]

What annoyed me is that they got external funding to run it - someone should have checked the organisers actually knew what healthy food looked like before letting them loose!

[MumOnTheRunCatchingUp]

Do they go daily or weekly? Because if it's the latter you are being daft

Dafter still to prefer flipping raisins

[BackforGood]

Agree with most - apart from the crisps - which I'm a bit surprised at - I can understand the biscuits and squash as it means it can all be bought in one go at the beginning of term and there is virtually no preparation time.
I think if you'd like to change it, then your best way is to offer to buy and prepare the fruit for each meeting. You'll probably find it goes down quite well

[ChablisTyrant]

It's squash and biscuits in our village. I don't care, but it was a surprised after experiencing the state-subsidised fruit snacks in London children centres. As others have said, I'm sure they'd be delighted if you arrange healthy snacks every week.

[WhatWouldFlopDo]

Probably not unreasonable and certainly not health food, but for me shoving a packet of biscuits onto a plate and a pouring squash into 20 cups is the easiest and most cost effective thing to do for £1 a head when I'm trying to open up the hall, pay rent, clean up any bits on the floor, get all the toys out, put door jams on, safety gates up, think of a craft, brew up and wrangle my own pre-schooler.

It's a thankless task running a toddler group, volunteering time and effort week in week out for the community. I'm sure the toddler group leader won't mind you bringing your own snacks, I don't.

[firefly78]

how is squash easier than water?

[Cavaradossi]

Squash and biscuits at the two I've had anything to do with, for the reasons others have said. They operate on a shoestring - in one case at a loss because the fees don't cover hall rental/toy storage unless it's very well attended, which it currently isn't - and cheap biscuits and squash are inexpensive, easily stored and keep well. Once a week won't kill my son, and no one is suggesting it's the Platonic Ideal Snack.

[NannyNim]

YABU
No, crisps, biscuits, squash and the like are not the most healthy of snacks but once a week at a toddler group is not going to make a child overweight, ruin his teeth, or give him any ill effects. But never allowing a child these kids of treats will only cause food issues later on. As long as the diet is balanced and these foods are given in moderation then I don't see a problem.