So last year my co-leader and I decided that we would just provide snacks for our Girl Scout meetings - it was just easier to increase dues rather than keep hounding parents to step up and volunteer to bring them. My co-leader would stop off at a restaurant supply place and pick up multi packs of items like chips, goldfish, cookies, etc.
This year since the girls are in 6th grade I decided to make an effort to have HEALTHY snacks. For our first meeting I just made a veggie platter and had Ranch dressing for dipping, plus I put out a bowl of Clementine oranges for the girls who refuse vegetables.
I'm trying to get the girls to come up with some ideas but haven't gotten any feedback yet. Our second meeting is tomorrow (yeah, I took a little time to get rolling this year!) and I'm needing some ideas on snacks that would be healthy and would have a wide appear (there are 9 girls). I'm thinking of cheese and crackers, but would like more ideas!
Edited to add: We have snacks because the girls walk over straight from school to my house and are usually hungry.
One more edit: The only reason we do snacks is because the girls are hungry. I've got too much other stuff to get done in the meeting (with the Journey we now have to get through this year) that if we are not actively working on a badge involving food I just need them to eat and move on. We have enough other activities for the girls to learn cooperation with and get done in our 90 minutes that the snack just needs to be quick and easy.
Thanks for all the great suggestions! We had three different kinds of bagels today with butter and two different cream cheeses.
And just some specific points:
@ChristyLee - It's not a body image/hitting puberty thing. I just always felt a little bad that we too often went the cookie route just because it was easier. I know the girls do a nutrition section in Health this year, so are a little more aware of what they are eating (my daughter was at least - not for weight gain but for overall health). We actually had one more meeting I'd forgotten about that we had cupcakes at because it was a birthday.
@GammaG - really there is no way I could feed them a small meal, both because of time constraints and because the parents would probably not be happy with me to send their girls home with a full stomach before dinner. My own kids just have a small snack after school each day to tide them over until dinnertime.
@Mammazita and @TwoPrincessesOnePrince - we used to have the parents provide snacks. But in our particular troop it is not worth it for us to add that extra job on ourselves of even following up and reminding the parent who is signed up. Believe me - we know this is better for how we run things.
For the parents saying this should be part of their badge work - only if we are actually working on a badge that needs it. Otherwise my 90 minutes is packed to the gills getting everything else done that we are working on. And the girls are old enough that they don't necessarily need to be hands-on to want to eat things - it's just nice to have something available with a few different options.
popcorn
trail mix
strawberries and whipped cream
fruit salad
pretzels
sliced apples and peanut butter
sliced pears and cheddar cheese
ants on a log (cream cheese filled celery sticks with raisins)
Serve seltzer with lemons as a drink. Its more fun than plain water. All my kids like it.
Homemade granola
Homemade snack mix
Hummas/pitas/vegetables
Popcorn (I like Angie's Boom Chicka Pop)
Ham/cheese rollups (or any deli meat)
Nutella and French bread
Squeezable yogurt
Homemade mini muffins
Mini cinnamon raisin bagels with peanut butter
Ants on a log
Every once in a while you could treat them to something like Bagel Bites.
apples and carmel dip
Yogurts
Toast. Cinnamon toast. Use cookie cutters to make shapes from bread make pb toast
Make ur own granola
Milkshakes
Airpopped popcorm
I don't think u need to pull out the flax seed jsut make some healthier versions of their favs.
Yep, you need to make it a project. Kids are invested in food they make.
Buy some avocados and make guac.
Make your own muffins and substitute applesauce and flax seed for oil.
Cut up apples and make a peanut butter dipping sauce.
Make Hummus.
Make salsa.
Taste the difference in real carrots, cut up and baby carrots in a bag.
Look on pintrest.
You could buy string cheese.
Do food art. Do veggie prints. Play with your food!
Next meeting: friendship fruit salad.
Each girl brings a piece of fruit to be chopped up and put into a fruit salad, shared by all.
Long time GS leader here.
You are not hosting a party.
While I get you say it's "easier" to do it yourself you're missing a big part of the scouting experience: cooperation and personal responsibility.
You don't ASK parents to sign up for snack, you post a sign up sheet and let them know if they don't sign up for a particular day you will pick a day for them.
Seriously, this is a troop, joint, family effort.
And for goodness sake don't offer alternatives just because a girl "refuses" something.
Unless there's an allergy, you get what you get and you don't get upset.
These girls should have learned THAT lesson back in second grade!
ETA: even working moms can provide snacks, they just plan ahead to leave it at my house the night before or morning of the meeting, or give it to another mom to bring. They know their participation is expected just like every other mom, and they do it gladly!
-pretzels
-mini subs (little tiny bread hoagies, turkey & cheese slices)
-mini carrots & Ranch
-fruit salad
-yogurt parfaits or small Yoplaits & Grapenuts to sprinkle on top
-Grilled chicken strips & dip
-Hummus & celery, carrot sticks & red peppers
-grape tomatoes (they are small & sweet)
-dried fruit
-mini salads w/diff dressings & toppings (sunflowers, croutons) & corn
chips or sliced baguettes
Wow, your nice. I was a leader for 8 years and the only time we had snacks was if we were working on a cooking or food related badge.
We have a fifth grade troop. Our leader makes a schedule and provides it to each parent. She also sends a reminder text when it is a parent's turn. You bring a drink and a snack. The leftovers stay at the troop leader's house in case there is a time the person assigned snack does not show up. Sometimes we get healthy, sometimes we get junk. It is whatever they bring. A lot of the girls bring cupcakes or something their birthday week.
small sandwiches or roll ups
peanut butter on crackers or celery
homemade chex mix
homemade trial mix
granola bars
yogurt with toppings
Actually this is something the girls should do as part of their badge work. I remember both of my girls needing to learn how to pack a healthy meal that could be carried in a backpack all day (no ice blocks allowed).
They need a small meal. Sandwiches, complex carbohydrates, high protein, something that will hold them over until they get done and leave to go home.
They do NOT need any short quick snacks. They need food. They've been without food for about 4 hours and it may be 2-3 hours more before they get to sit down and eat a meal.
They do NOT need fruit or other foods that will burn off in a few minutes. Please don't do this to these girls. They are hungry when they get there.
So, what is it about 6th grade that they suddenly need to only have "healthy snacks?" Be careful here that you're not perpetuating an unhealthy or unattainable body image.
Goldfish are healthy. They're baked, not fried. Veggies, fruit, multigrain crackers and hummus, little bottled waters (be super careful about Capri-Sun and other sugar filled juice drinks), popcorn, low sugar granola bars (stay under 8g per bar).
Occasionally, a less healthy snack is okay. Crispix or Chex Mix. A cookie.
I don't agree with the poster who said they need sandwiches and such. They're going to be going home for dinner. Don't spoil their appetite for a meal with their families by overfeeding them.
