Healthy Kids • Healthy Living
4 life skills you can teach your kids through snack baskets (while quelling their incessant “I’m hungry!”s)
28 April 2020 - by YMCA of Greater Toronto
The “snack basket” trend has taken off with families during COVID-19 school closures. While parents love it for making their stay-at-home days easier, the ones benefiting most may be your little snackers themselves.
In case your parent-friends haven’t sung the praises of snack baskets in your social circle yet, here’s what they’re all about. Each child starts the day with their own basket of healthy snacks. They eat the snacks whenever they want. But once they’re gone, they’re gone. No more snacks until the basket is restocked the next morning.
Parents began these baskets to quash the incessant snack requests that ramped up once schools shut down. Just like grown-ups, kids get bored when isolated at home; and just like grown-ups, they confuse that boredom with hunger. While adults can fight the monotony with trips to the fridge, kids who don’t have the permission or ability to get snacks on their own have to nag their parents. With snack baskets, grown-ups are relieved of their snack-gatekeeper role and the kids are handed the golden key.
For parents, not hearing “I’m hungry!” umpteen times between meals is the greatest reward of using snack baskets. But for kids, the baskets help them develop four valuable life skills:
1. Self-control
The first — and toughest — lesson kids learn is that once the basket is empty, it doesn’t fill up again until the next morning. Gobbling up every snack may bring instant gratification, but it also means a tough wait until the basket is refilled. By snacking in moderation, they learn to resist temptation and control their impulses.
2. Independence
Giving children the chance to complete tasks independently — whether it’s tying their shoes, choosing their own outfits, or getting their own snacks — teaches self-reliance. Self-reliant kids are more apt to try new things on their own and become more capable and competent as they grow.
3. Mindfulness
When kids are able to see their daily snack ration all at once, they give greater consideration to when and how much of it they eat. They learn to savour snacks, paying attention to tastes and textures. They listen more closely to what their body is telling them about which flavours they’re craving or how full their stomach is. The baskets teach them to be present while they eat.
4. Sense of Agency
Children gain a sense of agency when their choices make an impact in the world around them. Choosing which snacks to eat and when to eat them, or helping their parents plan what goes in their basket, are choices that have real impact. And when a parent allows them to make these choices, they send a positive message of trust, letting their little ones know they are capable and competent people.
Happy snacking! Let us know what goodies your kiddos choose to pack in their baskets on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter @YMCAGTA.
In case your parent-friends haven’t sung the praises of snack baskets in your social circle yet, here’s what they’re all about. Each child starts the day with their own basket of healthy snacks. They eat the snacks whenever they want. But once they’re gone, they’re gone. No more snacks until the basket is restocked the next morning.
Parents began these baskets to quash the incessant snack requests that ramped up once schools shut down. Just like grown-ups, kids get bored when isolated at home; and just like grown-ups, they confuse that boredom with hunger. While adults can fight the monotony with trips to the fridge, kids who don’t have the permission or ability to get snacks on their own have to nag their parents. With snack baskets, grown-ups are relieved of their snack-gatekeeper role and the kids are handed the golden key.
For parents, not hearing “I’m hungry!” umpteen times between meals is the greatest reward of using snack baskets. But for kids, the baskets help them develop four valuable life skills:
1. Self-control
The first — and toughest — lesson kids learn is that once the basket is empty, it doesn’t fill up again until the next morning. Gobbling up every snack may bring instant gratification, but it also means a tough wait until the basket is refilled. By snacking in moderation, they learn to resist temptation and control their impulses.
2. Independence
Giving children the chance to complete tasks independently — whether it’s tying their shoes, choosing their own outfits, or getting their own snacks — teaches self-reliance. Self-reliant kids are more apt to try new things on their own and become more capable and competent as they grow.
3. Mindfulness
When kids are able to see their daily snack ration all at once, they give greater consideration to when and how much of it they eat. They learn to savour snacks, paying attention to tastes and textures. They listen more closely to what their body is telling them about which flavours they’re craving or how full their stomach is. The baskets teach them to be present while they eat.
4. Sense of Agency
Children gain a sense of agency when their choices make an impact in the world around them. Choosing which snacks to eat and when to eat them, or helping their parents plan what goes in their basket, are choices that have real impact. And when a parent allows them to make these choices, they send a positive message of trust, letting their little ones know they are capable and competent people.
Happy snacking! Let us know what goodies your kiddos choose to pack in their baskets on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter @YMCAGTA.
