Afterschool Snacks

By the time children arrive at their afterschool program, lunch is a distant memory. Their growing bodies need food in between lunch and dinner just to get through the afternoon. Without it, they feel run down, their attention span shortens, their ability to learn diminishes, and they have difficulty fully participating in afterschool activities.

Healthy snacks allow children to be fully engaged in the educational and enrichment activities at the afterschool program. Food also helps attract children to afterschool programs, especially older children who have more of a say in determining whether or not they participate.

Two federal nutrition programs exist to feed children after school:

The National School Lunch Program
NSLP is best for afterschool programs that are school sponsored and have a food service department that is willing to provide healthy snacks and meals. This is also the best option for afterschool programs that do not have the capacity to administer a nutrition program themselves and are only interested in serving snacks, instead of snacks and meals. (learn more)

The Child and Adult Care Food Program
CACFP is best for afterschool programs that are run by nonprofits and government agencies like Parks and Rec and allows individual programs to have control over the menus. This program is also good option for school sponsored afterschool programs that want to serve meals in addition to snacks. (learn more)