4 Healthy Montessori Daycare Snacks That Children Love

Healthy snacks are encouraged in your child's Montessori daycare. This means that things like sugary treats are discouraged, but sweet treats like fruit or fun taste sensations are great. We have selected these 4 daycare snacks with a focus on nutritional value and appeal to children of all ages.

DIY Snacks

The snacks presented here were chosen because they can be prepared at home from fresh ingredients. More importantly, these snacks can also be used as practical life experiences for your children. Allowing children to help prepare snacks is one way to teach valuable life lessons, promote the development of fine motor skills, and encourage critical thinking.

1. Banana Slices

Bananas are excellent snacks for daycare children. They are easy to manipulate with small hands, taste great, and clean up easily afterward. A small bowl with round slices of banana is a healthy and exciting option for snack time.

2. Cheese Bites

Cheese comes in many flavors, colors, and textures, and cheese is a favorite among small kids. By mixing cubes of a few favorite varieties of cheese, your kids will experience a taste explosion. Plain crackers make a good complementary item for daycare cheese samplers.

3. Citrus Segments

All types of citrus can be easily peeled and divided into segments for easy consumption. You may need to de-seed the segments before putting them in a resealable bowl or plastic bag, but citrus is an excellent snack, and at least one type of citrus will appeal to every child.

4. Celery Sticks

Celery sticks are a crunchy, tasteful treat that is easy to prepare and fun to eat.  Celery sticks can be topped with peanut butter or cream or cottage cheese, or dipped into ranch or other delicious sauces. Eating celery is also good for developing teeth and digestive systems.

Healthy, exciting snacks make snack time a fun time in your child's daycare. eating nutritious foods that fuel them for the rest of the day should be an enjoyable experience, and participating in making their own snacks gives a little extra flavor to every mouthful.

5 Important Pool Safety Tips for your Montessori Preschooler

All preschool children should be taught the basic pool rules before summertime arrives. From knowing when to avoid the pool to learning what must be done if someone in the water is in trouble, understanding teaches your kids to be pool safe sets the foundation for summer full of worry-free fun.

1. Never Swim Alone

Preschool children should be taught that an adult should always be present before entering the pool area. A fence should be installed around the area, with a locked gate. It is best to take this a step further and make sure the key itself is not accessible to young hands.

The "Buddy System" is one of the most important rules of pool safety, and kids should be taught to abide by it as early as possible. The idea is that no one, not even adults, should spend time alone at the pool because bad things can happen. 

2. No Running in Pool Areas

The frequency of accidental Slips and falls on wet surfaces is a great example illustrating the need for safe pool conduct. Running and horseplay are great physical activities, but they should be reserved for appropriate locations.

3. Don't Swim In Dangerous Conditions

Pool areas should be cleared anytime a storm approaches. Even if the thunder and lightning are miles away, it may be coming closer and random strikes can occur up to 10 miles from the main storm. In colder places, unheated outdoor pools are best emptied or at least covered during cold weather, and children are taught that entering cold weather can affect their muscles and physical abilities in a negative way, making the water especially dangerous when it is cold outside.

4. Learn to Offer Safe Assistance

There is a right way and a wrong way to help someone in trouble. First and foremost, preschool-aged children should alert an adult. To make this easier, purchase a cowbell and mount it with an easy-to-reach pull rope near the gate leading to the pool and teach your kids to ring rapidly in case of emergency.

Keep approved pool safety gear inside the pool fence where it is easily accessible. This should include a lifesaver ring on a rope, and a long pole with a soft curved end. It is vitally important to teach children not to try to reach a drowning person physically because a person in panic can put the helper in trouble as well.

5. Put Away Pool Toys

Keeping the pool area neat and orderly is an excellent way to prevent trips, slips, and falls. This approach to safety and personal responsibility is in line with the Montessori Method and relies on a child's innate desire for order and organization.

A pool is great to have and offers hundreds of hours of good, clean fun, but it is important that preschool children learn to follow pool safety rules anytime they are near the pool. Whether at home or at a public pool, adhering to these tips will provide a better time for everyone.