Snack Planning for After School Programs; Ideas & Template

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Every child care center serves snack. Planning menus can be a daunting part of the weekly routine. Budgets are usually tight and regulations have become strict.  

I have been doing budget snack planning for after school programs for a long time, through the years I have gathered a few tips and tricks to make snack planning for your child care program a breeze. Below are the steps you can use to create a successfully and affordable snack schedule.

Key Components of Budget Snack Planning

You can provide a well rounded nutritional snack plan that adheres to national and state regulations with a few simple tips.  Here is a summary of the key components.

  • Utilize the CACFP child and Adult Care Food Program
  • Know the requirements set by the governing agencies
  • Use a food delivery or pickup service
  • Find a few simple staples such as bananas
  • Offer a “try it” addition to get kids trying new health snacks
  • Seek season produce
  • Use #10 cans to supplement fresh fruits and vegetables
  • Create a leftover Friday traditions to get rid of product from the week
  • Focus on cost per item
  • Create a simple budget snack planning rotation to save time

Utilize the Child and Adult Care Food Program

The child and adult care food program (CACFP) is a national program throught the United States Department of Agriculture that provides reimbursement to child care programs that serve healthy meals and snacks to kids.

You maybe eligible for the CACFP program if you rune a licensed non-profit child care program. Check with your state agency for specifics.

Know the requirements and limitations.

Make sure you know the regulations set by the CACFP and your state licensing agency.  As well as any potential food allergies of children in your program. The CACFP has recently tightened its reins on acceptable snacks for children.

The updated standards require you to offer two of the five components. The five components include, meat/ meat alternative, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and milk. Here is the current standard for snacks.

usda cacfp snack guidelines for budget snack planning for after school care.

​In addition to these updated guidelines, the CACFP has also implemented some new regulations.  They sets these regulations to create well-balanced meal plans throughout the day.  The major changes to the USDA meal requirements include:

  • Fruits & Veggies are now separate components
  • Juice is limited to once per day
  • One serving of grains per day must be whole grain rich
  • Grain-based desserts do not count towards the grain component
  • Tofu counts as a meat alternative
  • Yogurt must contain less than 24 grams of sugar per 6oz
  • Breakfast cereals must contain less than 7 grams of sugar per dry Oz.

Use a food delivery or pickup service

My program is large (180 kids daily) so we use a food delivery service, Sysco.  My center is located in a school that also uses Sysco as their food provider. This works out great for us and for Sysco.  One stop two drops!

While this works great for us it may not be a practical for your program. What I would recommend for smaller or growing centers is Walmart, SAMS or a local grocery store.  

These days most of these places offer grocery pickup or delivery. USE IT! Being able to plan your menu and do the shopping from the office allows you to be more efficient and save time.  As a director or administrator in child care, time is not something you have a lot of. 

Find a few cheap staples

For me I stumbled upon a little-known gem at Kwik Trip.  Our food delivery service did not deliver the bananas I ordered, so I needed to improvise. (This doesn’t happen often, I stand by my suggestion of a food delivery or pickup service!)   

I went down the street to Kwik Trip and asked if they sold bulk bananas. They brought out a 40lb box of bananas. Which was great! Then they told me the total was $15.40! That’s almost half of what I was paying for our delivered bananas.

Another affordable budget snack planning element I use is eggs.  Scramble them, boil them, poach them, eggs are a great protein to keep kids going strong for the entire day at a low price point.

“Try it” Additions for Budget Snack Planning

Find reliable foods you can serve that are healthy and that kids enjoy. This sounds like a no brainer, but it needs to be said.  I have learned the hard way that if I order a five-pound bag of red peppers and serve it as a produce NO ONE will eat it, then you’re out the cost of the snack and you still have hungry kids.

We are always looking to expand children’s pallets and get them to try new things.  What I found successful is instead of buying a five-pound bag, I get just a few peppers and offer it as “try it”. When we do this, I can get a gauge of how many kids are already familiar with the item, and if they like it. 

Seasonal Fruit

When fruit is in season, it is cheaper.  Research into what produce items are available in your area, and what time of year is best for harvest.  If you buy locally, it can reduce your produce cost.  Check out the lists below of  the seasons and a few abundant produce items during each times of the year.  

#10 Cans Snack Planning tip for After School 

Ordering #10 cans is a cheap and easy way to provide produce in a cost effective way.  Kids enjoy fruit from a can, and in my experience state licensing is ok with it as long as the liquid is 100% juice OR if I drain the juice from the fruit before serving.   

​Snack Bar Fridays

Every Friday I serve leftover produce and grains from the week. This allows me to get rid of the buildup of half boxes of snacks and use the produce before it goes bad.  Plus, kids love all the options! 

  • Heads up: If you offer a “snack bar” Friday, write everything you offer on your weekly menu. State licensing does not like the term “left overs” or “Snack bar”  they need to know the specifics of what was served for the day. 

Focus on the cost per serving 

When I first ordered from our food service, it was hard to see past the dollar sign for each bulk item.  $68.87 for goldfish crackers! That’s absurd! But that $68.87 got me 300 individually easy to serve snacks. That equals just $0.22 per serving.  Not bad at all. Yes, the initial invoice hurt a little, but we could serve goldfish multiple times before reordering.

My budget allows $500 per week for 180 kids for five days, that price has to include serving supplies such as bowls, spoons and paper towels. That equals a little over $0.55 per snack served. You can use our snack Snack Planning for After School Worksheet Excel download to help you calculate your spending.

​Create a rotation for Budget Snack Planning

Analysis snack prices and piece together a snack plan that fits your budget and tastes.  For example, I have something cheap like pretzels one day so you can have everyone’s favorite chicken nuggets the next! Then repeat.I use a four-week rotation to keep things balanced and interesting. You can check out My Snack Rotation  for some new ideas.

  • Note: I pay $13.52 for pretzels which equals about $0.08 cents per serving.  Chicken nuggets cost $79.34 which equals about $0.44 per serving. When you add in your second component of milk, meat or meat alternative or produce you can average the $0.55 per snack serving. 

Work Snack into a Project

Plan a project that can double as a snack.  Kids love working with food and providing a hand with cooking project can save you some pennies on program supplies and snack expenses.  Some fun ideas are dinosaur eggs and ice cream in a bag. At my program snack is the first thing we offer when children arrive. So food projects made one day, maybe offered the next day at snack.

Happy Planning!​​


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