Snacks for 30-40 children - Ideas please

Hi Everyone. I am looking for a few ideas please. I am about to take over an After School Care program with 30-40 children (ages 5yrs-11yrs) each day. This is an existing program that has offered a basic sandwich at 3pm then another snack at 4.30pm (Children collected by 5.30pm). Currently the firm children's favourite snacks are 2 minute noodles (yuck I know), sausages, fresh fruit platters and hamburger buns with spagetti and cheese grilled. Parent feedback is to offer more along the homemade baking line, children's feedback is DO NOT get rid of the 2 min noodles or sausages! I have a budget of $150 p/w (or $30 per day). So I have to be very careful with the $$$$. There is minimal prep/baking time in the program, so I expect I will be baking the night before, or bulk baking and freezing things like loaves/cupcakes etc. A couple of days a week we have 2x gluten-free children attending. Anyone prepared to give me a few ideas. TIA

WOW! A credit to what you and your organisation are doing!

How are you funded and is there other support from the community you can receive to help out? How is the school supporting this program?

Are you able to hook into your local bakery such as Bakers Delight and get a regular supply of breads for free? I see church groups accessing perhaps a share rota? Also local fruit veggie shop to sponsor and supply?

Mad Butcher supports community projects.

Pitch to a milk company who may supply cheese, yogurts, milk either free or below costs.

Same with Pak n save , Countdown, a letter to them to help supply either free, or below costs.

Are the parents contributing to running costs?

I'm thinking home made pizza slabs that can be cut up into fingers squares triangles. Do you have oven on site?

Mini muffins, cupcakes plain made in bulk.

Piggies in a blanket- sausage roll bites. Again premade in bulk, then reheat

Pasta cups. Plastic reusable cups filled with pasta. Can be made in bulk, add a tomato style pasta sauce that has been reduced to bring out richness and flavour using finely diced veggies no mince. with a bit of grated cheese on top.

Mini meat balls made in bulk from mince and finely chopped veggies. Premade and reheated. Splash sauce.

Good luck!

Be sneaky - make small changes initially. Ditch the spaghetti on the buns in favour of baked beans for example -

https://au.healthinsite.net/ContentViewerPane/ContentViewerPane.aspx?cookie=10168611&Content=1006187&ContentType=2

Swap the cheese to a lower fat if it's not already - Edam melts nicely (no pools of oily fat left on the surface) and is around 25% lower (think that's right without re-checking the actual %) in fat content than some other varieties.

Not all noodles are created equally . as in not all of them arrive in NZ with a pre coating of already fried surface. Have a look around, see what's available. You could get the kids involved with this - lets make noodles, how many types do you think there are? Which ones shall we try today? Who wants to grate some carrot to put with them? What about peas and corn - should we put them in too. ? Imagination is a wonderful thing and kids will usually step through its doors readily and what could have been a battle ground suddenly turns into their playground and we all know the 'secret' here - what a child creates they must try out. :)

Sausages are pretty easy. Source a decent quality one that is not going to break the bank and, if you need to make them stretch then there are lots of ways. Squeeze the sausage meat out and you have the beginnings of mini meatballs, sausage rolls, patties etc. And the beauty here is that once you separate the meat it's amazing how many finely diced, shredded or otherwise blitzed veg can be added in with complete impunity (if you're clever and you can make the bits small enough to avoid detection). Breadcrumb coated surfaces are a wonderful thing. ;-)

Have fun with it!

Sounds like hefty sort of snacks, why do they need two afternoon snacks, they won't eat their dam tea

Totally agree - have picked up kids from daycare and had to wait while they are having their "second" afternoon tea! then they go home and don't eat tea. I would not be happy at all if my kids were eating like that. (apologies for personal opinion when I know that's not the question as I know you are trying to balance it all out as required).

I would do a sandwich, home baking of some sort for first afternoon tea. Then offer at second afternoon tea - cut up fruit, vegie platter, rice crackers and cheese or dip if budget allowed.

Could always try pancakes or pikelets/scones 0r popcorn for filler uppers.

Agree - this does seem excessive. When my kids were at after school care they were lucky if they got some fruit and some cheese and crackers.

Most of those suggestions sounds like meals to me.

I agree -offer one substantial snack after school.
I expected my kids to be hungry for dinner at 5.30 - 6 when I picked up. If I was not organised for early tea then it was my responsibilty to provide the snack to tide them over.
People do not need to be fed every 2 hours.
I bet half of them have uneaten fruit in their lunchboxes!

There has to be a reason that the kids are offered a second snack, perhaps kmw1982 wouldn't mind enlightening others why this is so. Could be lots of things but, before we critique further, it would be great to hear from them as to why this is the case.

What about popcorn. Cheap as to make and you could get the children to make a variety of flavours for it?