Kids Room Tips
An idea for a Birthday snack for a class room of 1st graders?
I wanted to do something different for the class, instead of the usual cupcakes. The schools these days are weening away from the surgar glazed candy filled celebrations of yester years. Which is fine with me. I had an idea for somehting I call Bagel People, bagels sliced with tinted blue or pink cream cheese (for boys and girls) and add pretzel sticks for arms and legs, and rasins, M&Ms, and or other small snackables like different dried fruit. Then they could build there own Bagel Person. When my soon to be six year old heard me say the bagels could be pink or blue she was all for it. But I am worried the other kids would shy away from it. My Husband say kids want cupcakes plain and simple, cause thats what Birthdays are for, he says the kids will hate me... what should I do?
Public Comments
- The schools in our town won't even allow "home-made" goodies anymore, so I'm jealous you have that option! I think your idea sounds great! Some kids won't go for it because it's healthy, but if you had a variety of things to go on the bagels, they'd at least be able to snack on those!
- You have to be careful. Some kids either don't like cream cheese (mine are prime examples) or they can't handle dairy products. If you want to steer clear of the sugar coated snacks, you might consider fresh fruits and/or veggies. Believe it or not, kids will actually eat these things. You'll still run into the picky eaters who won't even LOOK at a carrot or an apple, but that's THEIR problem.... and their parents'. You could go with something like a small bag of pretzels, per child. They're low in fat and won't cause an allergic reaction to dairy. Of course, you have those that can't handle wheat gluten.....
- sounds like a good idea to me. If you meant that you thought some of the kids might be too shy to make them,then you could give them the items they need & let them fix them at their desks. I do know of some kids who would be too shy to interact in this manner. Or you could just make them yourself & take them to the school.
- There may be few picky kids that won't like it but most will LOVE it! When we have kids parties for grade school age kids, the non-sugar snacks like the cheese-peanut butter cracker packs and snack size goldfish were the first things to go. We set out a fresh veggie and dip tray and it was gone before the caramel apple dip with graham crackers. It's good to give them healthy choices! You might want to think about how much time they have for snacks though. It sounds like this might be kind of complicated (and messy) for a room full of 1st graders to make their own. You might individually prepackage the supplies for each kid; a baggie with a few pieces of each "construction" goodies for each child (if you didn't already have that in mind. )
- You may want to check with the teacher or front office. I know that anything I give my students has to be pre-made at the store and sealed when it comes to school. Also most teachers are really pressed for time as it is and fitting in birthday treats can be a hurried task. The bagel people sound great for a home party, but a little involved for a school celebration. Sugar cookies, fruit trays, pretzels with peanut butter, chex mix, bagel chips, any kind of fruit chip/dried fruit (apple, banana, apricots, pineapple) will give the kids some sweetness but still be in the natural sugar realm. Try to keep them to as few choices as possible. Even if the flavors are the same, colors can still make a difference to 6 year olds. Don't forget the drinks, as anything will make them thirsty. Something else to consider... it should be easily cleaned up. My class of first graders would inevitably end up with a ton of cupcake crumbs on the floor that would then get ground into the carpet and make clean up impossible. The less sticky and crumbly, the better.
- pizza and birthday cookies
- Dirt 'n' worms. Its built like a parfait. Take a plastic cup and fill it 1/2 way with chocolate pudding (the mud) on the bottom and crushed up oreo cookies (the dirt) on the top and those little candy gummi worms comming out of the "dirt". If it has to be healthier try going for low fat pudding and those 100 calorie Nabisco Oreo snacks (kids really won't know the difference unless you tell them). Or you could make "octodogs" hotdogs that are cut to resemble an octopus (perhaps chicken, turkey,or tofu). I usually serve these over a bowl of mac and cheese.
