Snacker.

Oh how I love snack time. In kindergarten, our snack time is a short ten minute break in our morning when sprouts get to socialize and practice fine motor skills as they attempt to open their snacks. Last year I did a group snack, but with the multitude of allergies in my room this year (really, there are allergies this year I wasn’t even aware of before… apparently people can be allergic to anything…), we each bring our own this year.

I usually walk around and help open items deemed too difficult for a five-year-old to open… which leads me to the question, why send your child with a snack they can’t open? Surely parents don’t believe teachers have time to open the snack of every child in the room… or maybe they do? I learned quickly to try and teach rather than do. Usually most kids are able to open their snacks, I get the feeling they’ve just never had to before. It’s quite empowering to see a child open a snack.

The other day I was helping with a particularly difficult Tupperware container… seriously, it was almost impossible for even me to open. When I finally pried the nasty lid from its nest, I said, “Phew, that was hard, I deserve a reward for all that hard work.”

Without missing a beat, Michelle lifted up a single tiny cheese cracker, “Here, take one.”

Now who am I to refuse the gift of a small child?

Naturally, the other kids wanted me to try their snacks too. I politely accepted anything healthy and declined sweets. I love sweets, but I’m a role model here and I do want to promote healthy snacking. I walked around snacking on this and that and by the time snack time was over, my heart was light and my belly full. Snacker… just one more job you take on as a teacher.