Sensible Snacking for Kids & Wise Yoda!

Hi everyone! I hope you’re having a great week so far 🙂

I had lots of fun this afternoon with the kids at my ‘Wednesday Workshops’ (the little Buddhist meditation classes I teach at our local primary school). After a beautiful meditation on ‘the kindness of others’, I thought it’d be fun to watch one of my favourite Star Wars clips.

 

When it ended, I asked them if they’d learnt anything from watching it. Their hands shot up in the air and they started reeling off the lessons they’d learnt including…

  • Never give up (even if you’re finding something difficult or have already failed in your first few attempts)
  • Don’t get distracted
  • Control your mind
  • Believe in yourself
  • Size doesn’t matter

All that wisdom from watching a 5 minute clip of Yoda! Just imagine how wise they’ll be after they’ve watched all six Star Wars films 😉

After watching the clip, we had great fun making paper fortune tellers and filling them with Yoda quotes and kind messages.

[Source]
Think you the relationship between Master and Padawan is only to help them?
Oh, this is what we let them believe, yes! But when the day comes that even old Yoda does not learn something from his students – then truly, he shall be a teacher no more.

 

WIAW – Sensible Snacking … Lil’ L Style!

 This month, the lovely Jenn over at Peas and Crayons has set ‘Sensible Snacking’ as the theme for our weekly ‘What I Ate Wednesday’ foodie parties. I think this is a great theme as it’s all too easy to reach for the junk snacks when we’re feeling a bit peckish. 

For me, the most important thing is making sure that Lil’ L has snacks that are going to sustain his energy levels. On weekdays, he has a morning snack at playtime and an after-school snack. I try to make sure that these snacks contain whole foods, complex carbs and minimal sugar so that his energy levels don’t peak and slump. I also want encourage him to develop healthy snacking habits for the future.

Now that he’s older, I involve him in the decision making about his choice of snacks. Here’s a run down of some of his current favourite snacks (all of which he’s eaten in the past week).

Morning Snacks

 

  • 2 seeded flatbread crackers with bean pate or houmous filling (his number 1 current favourite snack)
  • 2 wholegrain rice cakes with yeast extract (these taste like the Marmite rice cakes but they have the added bonus of being wholegrain)

  • 2 sesame wholegrain rice cakes with St Dalfour Strawberry spread or Manuka honey filling (the honey was a gift from his grandma!)

  • Packet of wholegrain mini biscuits with no added sugar or salt.

After School Snacks

 

  • Roasted pistachios nuts (salt free). 

 

  • Almonds and sunflower seeds roasted in a tiny amount of low-salt soy sauce (recipe here)

 

  •  Apple cinnamon pancakes with chopped pecans, ground linseed and a drizzle of maple syrup. 
    I make pancakes every Sunday and Lil’ L likes to have the leftover pancakes on a Wednesday before his swimming lesson (warmed in the microwave).

  • Wholemeal choc chip or almond cookie.

We also make a fruit smoothie after school. This week, he’s made smoothies with different combinations of pineapple, blueberries , banana and strawberries, non dairy milks and yoghurt, and chia seeds for an omega-3 boost (the seeds are completely obliterated in a high speed blender, so you don’t even notice them).

We’re always on the look out for new snacks, so do let me know if you have any suggestions.
If you have kids, I’d love to hear what their favourite snacks are.
And equally importantly, what’s your current favourite snack?

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone! 🙂 xx

 This time last year: Sugar Free Jam Tarts

 

10 thoughts on “Sensible Snacking for Kids & Wise Yoda!

  1. I LOVE that bit from Star Wars, I think you’ve used it to engage the kids so well 🙂 Great snacks for your wee one, my fave snacks at the moment include rice cakes with nut butter, carrots with nut butter or some fruit with a handful of raw nuts or seeds, yum!

    1. I love nut butters too … especially raw almond butter but I tend to buy them from the local health food store and they’re quite pricey. As soon as I buy the food processor I’ll have a go at making my own 🙂

  2. Yoda; a role model for everyone although i can’t believe he agreed to selling mobile phones in TV adverts; doesn’t seem very Jedi to me! I bet he gave his appearance fee to charity…

  3. Oh my goodness Lil’ L is a lucky lad indeed. I love all of his snack choices and at his age it is completely fun to get him involved in the foods he wants to eat. My 9 year old loves to be included and often will make a smoothie for him and his siblings (the confidence they get from this is phenomenal).
    Favorite snacks at my house are beans and peas fresh from our garden. The kids run outside and just help themselves. Also if they are ripe they will pick strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries (just a good time of year right now).
    I didn’t realize, but do you all go to school year round? I have always wondered if that was a better route for kids (easier for them to retain information and what not).
    Well this has been a wonderful, and healthy, WIAW. Enjoy the remainder of your day Sharon!

    1. Your children are so lucky to have a garden full of fresh produce that they can pick. And what wonderful, healthy snacks they make!
      Lil’ L breaks up from school next Wednesday and then he has 6 weeks off. I’m looking forward to the school holidays but there’s lots that I want to get finished before he breaks up. I’m quickly running out of time!

  4. I think that is my favorite few minutes of all the Star Wars movies! What a fun way to teach and discuss a lesson.
    Snacks have been something I am making quite a lot of lately now that the boys are out of school. They seem to want to snack more than ever, and they usually have hungry friends over too, so there are even more mouths to feed.
    I’ve been making lots of fruit/veggie smoothies and freezing them in popsicle molds, lots of dips for veggies and fruit, various types of healthy dough balls, and homemade granola and bars have been the biggest hits with everyone. The biggest surprise that Cameron’s friends thought was just genius and they went crazy for? Frozen grapes. The simplest of them all!

    1. Candy, I know you probably know this already but you are a GENIUS! Lil’ L has always disliked soft fruits because of their texture. He tried half a grape when he was 4 and even that made him gag! (He desperately wanted to eat it too as I’d bribed him with a toy boat. I’m so cruel!) Your comment about the frozen grapes inspired me to try him with frozen blueberries. And guess what? He ate them! 🙂 He’s even happy to have them sprinkled on top of his yoghurt. I can’t wait to try him with frozen grapes. For the first time ever, he might actually eat a grape. Yay! Thanks so much for the tip 🙂

  5. I love Yoda! Wise one, he is.
    The apple cinnamon pancakes look delicious, I have been craving apples! Now I have to make these. 🙂 My kids love pistachios too, and have them for snack quite often.
    They like homemade granola bars too as well as lots of smoothies!

    1. Hi Amy! I hope you’re doing well! Like you, I adore the apple cinnamon combo. After reading your post, I downloaded Mama Pea’s Apple Pie Smoothie recipe. I’m planning to try it out tomorrow. Really looking forward to it!

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