Ideas for Healthy Snacks and Policies in a Montessori Environment

Nutritious snacks and lunches can be a challenge in a world full of fast and convenience foods. Having a policy in place at your Montessori school is often helpful to assist parents in determining what are appropriate foods to send with their child.

It is helpful to have these guidelines published in the parent handbook and posted in each Montessori classroom as a reminder to parents. It is also important to talk to the children about which foods are acceptable to bring to school.

Some Ideas on Policies and Healthy Snack Foods for Your Montessori Classroom

The Montessori curriculum encourages children to pack their own lunches.

• Fruit
• Vegetables (with or without dip)
• Cheese and crackers
• Graham crackers
• Low or no salt pretzels
• Goldfish or other cheese crackers (low salt/reduced fat)
• Mini bagels with cream cheese
• Pita bread and humus
• Popcorn, air popped - no butter (not for infants or toddlers)
• Hard boiled eggs
• Yogurt
• Cottage cheese

In addition to the healthy food policy, Montessori teachers may wish to have an environmental policy as well. Some Montessori schools request that children bring food packed in recyclable containers, with their drinks in either thermoses or reusable containers. They discourage the use of juice boxes, “lunchables”, or yogurt in plastic “tubes”.

For previous blog topics related health and nutrition, please see the following post:

• Modeling Good Nutrition in the Montessori Classroom

For more information on Health and Nutrition, consider purchasing NAMC’s Health Sciences, Art and Music curriculum manual. View a sample lesson today!

As much as possible, NAMC’s web blog reflects the Montessori curriculum as provided in its teacher training programs. We realize and respect that Montessori schools are unique and may vary their schedules and offerings in accordance with the needs of their individual communities. We hope that our readers will find our articles useful and inspiring as a contribution to the global Montessori community.
© North American Montessori Center - originally posted in its entirety at Montessori Teacher Training on Tuesday, June 19, 2007.