Do your children have to take a morning snack to school?

[Longwhiskers]

Just curious what other schools do. Ours requests a morning snack sent in for the children. My younger one is not fussed what they’re sent with but it causes tensions with the older one who is easily influenced by what others have (they claim classmates all have crisps and expensive snack bars) whereas I try to send mine in with fruit or homemade muffins etc (not cool apparently!). I’m fed up with the whole thing. The cooked lunch is often rubbish so several days a week we have to send in packed lunch so it’s a faff.

Ours take their morning snacks outshine so those tubs would end up used as footballs 😆

If they have crisps or biscuits at lunch, can’t they eat it mid morning instead? If they’re having it once a day anyway then it’s just a question of timing. Or is the issue that they want it twice?

*outside

Fruit only, right through primary years.

Ours don't tend to use their snackboxes as footballs. It's a whole school thing and all the children have them outside. There's a space for them to eat and store them away from the football pitch or playing area.
Obviously, if that isn't the done thing at a school, it would be more difficult to take a box. On the other hand, it's school lunches only across the school (Reception to Year 13), so no lunchboxes to take in.

We leave at 7. He refuses breakfast and is at ASC until 5 too.

I knew he barely ate but this has highlighted it even more!😮

My son is at primary and the school request fruit or veg only.

Because fruit costs more money and tastes nicer when fresher (not after being bashed around in a school bag) and I want to make sure they eat it and don’t throw it away or waste it so they have it for breakfast.

A lot of fruit is not easy to transport.

You say that as if kids are actually hungry. For the majority who'll have eaten breakfast its habit.

The biggest difference between kids in the 80s and now is the amount of snacks they eat.

Ds used to. Normally what his friends had, so cereal bar, crisps or small choc like a rocky bar. If took fruit it came home battered in his bag.
Fruit wasn't cool. He wasn't fussed about housepoints for healthy snacks.

Yes, and it has to be fruit or veg

My thoughts too, and put the muffin in the lunch instead.

Ours were only allowed fruit/ veg at break in primary, with no single use packaging...

No our school doesn’t allow it. Didn’t know others did!

My Ks1 kids get fruit provided but have the option of taking in a snack. Apparently friends all do but I don’t send one in unless at after school club. Dc1 is Ks2 and has to take a healthy snack, he takes fruit or occasionally a cereal bar. What constitutes a healthy snack varies to the schools monthly stance and from parent to parent, his friend took in a toffee crisp one day last term, much to his annoyance, I don’t think he’ll get away with it next week. 😁

DS's school doesn't do school meals, so he needs to take lunch and a snack -- he takes a cheese sandwich or pasta, fruit, breadsticks, cucumber or carrot/hummus, and one 'treat' which could be crisps or a small bar or a homemade brownie. Up to him how he distributes them between snack and lunch.

My DD used to take a snack some days (this year her teacher has discouraged it, not sure why), when there was a longer afternoon (lunch is so early they never need a snack in the morning) and would either take a sandwich or a piece of fruit and a biscuit. Now she just keeps an emergency cereal bar in her backpack.

Yes mine have to take one (primary). It's supposed to be fruit or vegetable, but not sure how much that's enforced!

Bit off topic, but we never had snacks at school (mid 80s - 90s) and we didn't starve or suffer educationally. Why are snacks now almost mandatory?!

i think I’ll say it’s up to them to have the ‘treat’ for lunch or get it out for morning break. But quite often the treat bit isn’t cool enough eg crisps’ bit is some mini cheddars from a big pack in a tub and that’s not cool enough for my eldest. Or homemade muffin or biscuits I put in a tub. It’s all about stuff in a wrapper. We’re on the pathway to ASC diagnosis and he is very heavily influenced by what classmates have/desperate to fit in. We’ve had massive effing meltdowns in the morning over what the bloody snack is for morning break. His previous school didn’t do it and I don’t think kids necessarily need a morning snack either, they’re not toddlers. Certainly mine don’t because luckily they eat a big breakfast.

Ah reminds me of the old primary school days of DDs Epic Travelling Apple.

I swear it travelled more miles to and from school each week than my actual commute.

At primary ks1 got provided with fruit/veg, ks2 could send fruit/veg.
Mine are now in secondary school and dc 1 and 3 have always taken a snack due to medical issues (usually homemade flapjack, cereal bars). Dc2 doesn't really need a snack now he's older and doesn't want to take one as its not cool.

In DS's case, he's a terribly slow eater, and often doesn't eat much breakfast, and as he walks/cycles to school and is very active during breaks, I think it's important for him to have the option of something to eat between an almost non-existent breakfast and a 12.30 lunch.

KS2 optional piece of fruit. Sometimes it's eaten, sometimes it's not.

@PortableVirgins which is why it makes sense for it to be an optional thing rather than a universal all kids need a snack

Most kids will be fine going from breakfast to lunch. We have a massive issue with obesity. And I'm sure a chunk of it has to come from snacking.

The TV adds have done a job convincing people that Chocolate biscuits and deep fried potatoes are fine to eat between meals but a tiny bag of sweets with less calories aren't.

At DD primary school we have to send in a morning snack but it has to be fruit or veg only.