After school snack

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My 4 year old has just started reception and is coming home starving. The school lunches are taking some getting used to (he's quite a picky eater) so he's not eating a massive amount at lunchtime. We get home just after 3 and normally eat dinner about 5:30 so it's a long time for him to wait. Just wondering what others give after school for kids this sort of age?

He has fruit and veg as his school snack so I'm not too worried about him having more after school but obviously don't want him eating crisps etc all afternoon so looking for some balanced snacks which will see him though a couple of hours

After trying healthy snacks for a while when mine started reception last year, I have ended up just giving him dinner really early (like 3:30 early) and then a small snack before bed (usually fruit and a biscuit). It is a ridiculously early dinner but I found with snacks first thing he just wanted more and more and then didn't eat his dinner

We do lots of toast with peanut butter or houmus, cheese and crackers or oatcakes, fruit? Yoghurt, homemade muffins or biscuits and granola bars. That kind of thing.

Oatcakes are good for filling up "starving" children in our house. They've really gone up cost wise in lots of places but they are 55p a box in Aldi

Muffins and peanut/almond butter.
Rice cakes, cheese cubes.
Mini muffins sometimes.
Toast or crumpets with fruit spread.

I always had to feed my kids as soon as they got in from school. So 3.30 or thereabouts, fish fingers, mash, peas or whatever for tea. They needed it. Me and H ate dinner at normal adult time.

Yoghurts, babybel, rice cakes, fruit

Bowl of cereal
Bagel
Soreen lunchbox loaf
Smoothie
Yogurt
Ham or cheese sandwich

Thanks all. I'm not keen to give him dinner straight after school as I'm not prepared to cook twice in one evening and family dinner time is really important to us.

Some good suggestions though. Haven't tried oatcakes but a few have suggested it so will pick some up next time I'm in aldi and see if he likes them

@Fivemoreminutes1 bagel or sandwich are both really good shouts, he loves bagels and that's a bit more filling so will hopefully keep him going until dinner

If he's not eating school dinners then I'd definitely go with the bagel/toast with peanut butter option as a more substantial snack. DS (older) has bao buns that we buy frozen and can be microwaved. Also cheese - babybel, feta etc - are all popular post-school snack options here.

Having said that, I feel your pain - DH has a habit of giving DD crisps or biscuits and it drives me mad.

i do the following alot;
-popcorn and fruit
-a small cheese sandwich
-ditto ham sandwich
-those snack packs of cocktail sausages and tomato sauce
-carrot sticks and hummus

We have a 45 minute drive home from school so it has to be portable and largely tidy although I have had the occasional tomato sauce incident.

DD just started school this week too. She’s eating waaay more than usual.

fruit is a popular option or cheese
banana bread she loves (I do the Jamie Oliver one)
courgette and cheese muffins (can be frozen, Tesco recipe).

I try not to give biscuits/cake etc as she doesn’t really like them and they are empty calories.

im trying to do high protein and carb teas eg salmon and potatoes, meaty stews as that fills her and ensures she gets proper protein which I suspect isn’t the focus of school lunches.

Egg and soldiers
Cheese scone
Toasted cheese
Flapjack
Sausage roll
Banana and custard
Apple crumble

My DD likes a pack of prawns! Random I know but she really loves them and prefers that kind of thing over carb options. Or Peanut butter on a spoon and a chunk of cheese.

Generally though we all just eat together at about 4.30pm and then once she's gone to bed I have a substantial snack about 8pm with DP as we get hungry again! I find the adults having the snack in the evening works better for our family on some days rather than giving daughter a snack in afternoon when really she is ready for a meal at that time.

Thanks all, some more great suggestions. Agree that biscuits and crisps aren't my ideal solution. I'm not against him having that sort of thing in moderation, but they're just not filling enough and he'll keep snacking all afternoon on them

Egg and soldiers is a really good shout!

@Snowpaw ds wouldn't touch a prawn unfortunately, I'm quite jealous of your foodie dd

Crumpets

I used to give my DC's proper lunch after coming home from school. Basically whatever I had for lunch was their lunch at 3:30 untill they started eating really well in school.(which was around year one if I remember correctly)

Then the later evening snack was cheese , fruits or milk. And proper dinner at night. I felt that they needed proper meals like four times a day, bf ,lunch ,snack &dinner.

My has just started reception and is also struggling with lunch at school a bit.

Cheese and crackers or a bowl of weetabix have both gone down well here (though I know a lot of MN are quite anti breakfast cereals)

What sort of dinners do you give that early, just asking out of interest and for ideas in my house! 🤩

I would meet dd at the classroom door with a cut up apple and she would eat that on the way home. Then crackers with hommous. Then a slice of cake or something.

And, most importantly, she wasn’t allowed up from the table at home until she had had a good, decent drink of water. It’s easy for a child to say “I’m hungry “, not so easy to say “I’m thirsty” so getting that drink in really set up a decent evening.

Half the week he eats at after school club so we don't have every day to fill which is helpful. Usually these on rotation:

Pasta Bolognese
Cheese toasties and tomato soup
Jacket potatoes (prepped earlier obviously)
Couscous, veg and natural yoghurt
Prawns and rice was an unexpected hit

I know it isn’t what you asked but have you thought about giving him a packed lunch instead (assuming it’s an option).

i’m a TA in reception and we have a lot of children that just won’t touch the school dinners ( tbh, I don’t blame them). I do understand the idea of children hopefully trying new foods at school etc but I do wish some parents would just make a packed lunch. Our school has the option of choosing on a daily basis if you want a hot lunch, therefore you can look at the menu and decide in advance.

Agree with pp give dinner when he gets in. Then weetabix or something at bedtime if it's been a while.

I wouldnt give dinner when they get in as we have family meal times and that really is early for dinner!

After school snacks range from crumpets to hummous and breadsticks to toast to an ice cream or slice of cake on occasion!

Toasted tortilla pockets are a fave snack in our house. Lay the tortilla flat and spread it with tomato purée or ketchup. Put some grated cheese, sliced ham etc at the top. Fold the bottom half of the tortilla up, the fold the sides over. It makes a pocket that you can put in the toaster to make a sort of melty cheese pizza toastie. Much simpler than it sounds!

@Tulipvase packed lunch is an option but it's his first week so I'm waiting to see if it's just a settling situation and he'll eat more once he gets used to it. Obviously if he continues not to eat then we'll switch to packed lunches/mix and match for days I know he won't eat