Snack Mixes

When I did my student teaching, I worked with a fantastic kindergarten teacher. I learned many wonderful things from her, and one of them was a simple trick. When the snacks were getting low in her classroom and there was a little of this and a little of that at the bottom of each box, she would take all of them and make one big snack mix.

When I need a quick snack for a bunch of kids, I go to the pantry and see what I can find. I usually pop some popcorn, then add any combination of raisins (or any other dried fruit), chocolate chips, cereal, mini marshmallows, crackers, nuts, seeds, or anything else I find. I've made different mixes several times in the last few weeks and each time, the kids have been thrilled. There's something about the variety of ingredients that gets them really excited and they eat it all. A few mini marshmallows and chocolate chips will get them to eagerly eat healthier ingredients like plain popcorn, whole grain cereals, and dried fruits. It's also a great way to make a fun snack out of the last of the cereal or crackers left at the bottom of the box or bag.

With this particular mix, we had fun making mini smores with the Chex or Cheerios, a marshmallow, and a chocolate chip.