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Watching What You Eat: Sensible Snacks for Sunday School
by Denise Oliveri It is fun to teach Sunday school. You have a good time and the kids look forward to coming to your class each week. One of the important parts of teaching Sunday school is giving the kids a snack. Kids expect a snack during their Sunday school and whether you have the class first thing on Sunday morning, or later in the day, it is your job to see that your class is getting a sensible snack. Allergy Alert When planning snacks for your Sunday school classroom, it is important to keep a few things in mind. First of all, you need to think about allergies. You probably know the children in your class quite well, but you will have visitors from time to time and you never know what the children can and cannot eat. It is always a wise idea to let the parents know what the children will have for a snack so they can tell you about food allergies. Top food allergies include nuts, wheat and dairy products. Easy Cleanup Snack Ideas The next thing you will want to do when planning snacks for your class is to make sure that it is not too messy and that clean up will be easy. Your kids will have fun with a messy snack every now and then, but you can bet the parents won't be happy picking up their child and seeing chocolate smeared down their Sunday best. Keep this in mind when picking snacks. Here are some ideas for easy and sensible snacks: Snack Mixes: Making a snack mix is easy and nutritious, plus these mixes are flexible. You can make them salty or sweet. All you need to do is fill a bowl with a couple of different kinds of cereal, pretzel sticks, raisins and popcorn. You can also add in small candies such as M&Ms or yogurt covered raisins. Give each child a small cup of the snack when it is time to eat. Graham crackers: Graham crackers are perfect snacks for any age. You can also let the kids frost and decorate their own graham crackers with peanut butter, frosting or even cream cheese. The choices are endless and kids have fun making their very own snack. Give the kids Popsicle sticks to spread their frosting instead of knives. Finger sandwiches: Finger sandwiches are also good choices for Sunday school, especially if you have your class closer to lunchtime. Fill the sandwiches with cheese, cream cheese, jam or ham or turkey. You can even let the kids make their own sandwiches or bring cute cookie cutters to make them in shapes that the kids will enjoy. Fruit and veggies with dip: Try fruit slices and a yogurt dip or peanut butter with your kids. Apple slices and bananas are both easy and not very messy. Or, you can try carrot sticks and celery with cream cheese, pimento cheese or peanut butter. Some kids may not love raw veggies, but it is always a good idea to give it a try. You can get creative when choose sensible snacks for your Sunday school class, but just remember, you don't need anything too complicated. Simple is usually better. Denise Oliveri is the owner of Preschool Sunday School Central (http://www.psscentral.com). The site provides preschool Sunday School teachers wtih valuable resources to help with Bible lesson planning. Join our eBook Club today for a new eBook each month. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |