Pack nothing or something you know she doesn't like until she wises up and tells you what she wants. My kids don't like granola or soft cereal bars anymore, one of them only likes fruit that is hard to pack (strawberries and melon). The default is a cookie pack & chips, I know, it is terrible, but I mix it up with popcorn, fruit slices, muffins, cheese and crackers, hummus pack, yogurt packed with a frozen juice pouch to keep it cold. I notice some things just keep coming back uneaten so I stop buying them. Ritz minis, fruit chews, ham sandwiches and bagel halves did not go over.

Carrots
Cheese sticks
Celery
Pirates booty
Apples
Blueberries
Banana

Bring her grocery shopping. Tell her that it's her responsibility to pick something out that is reasonably healthy for her snack. If she doesn't, then she doesn't get a snack. (I'm assuming that you aren't financially constrained, which makes the task harder.)

Anonymous wrote:We do fruit everyday and have been for 3 years for my 2nd grader with no issues. Found out my K has been saying I forgot to pack her a snack to her teacher (which is not true) so she could get the animal crackers the teacher gives out when kids forget snack. I got a note home from school "reminding me to pack a snack" since I seemed to forget the last 10 days. 10 days this 5 yr old has been telling this tale!!! We had a LONG talk! So, I too need to revamp. I guess fruit everyday, even varied fruit, is too boring for this kiddo.

LOL my K told her teacher that the lunch I packed was her snack so she could buy lunch. So sneaky!

Anonymous wrote:My 8 year old used to have no issues with the snacks I packed for her when she was in kindergarten and first grade. Now she calls them baby snacks (goldfish, for example) and doesn't want them anymore. But she also can't tell me what she DOES wants, all she says is that she wants "something else".
The other part of this is that we are trying to eat healthier as a family but the healthy snacks that she does like usually have nuts in it (celery and PB) so she can't take it to school.

Can you substitute sunflower seed butter? Granted, my kids have never eaten much PB, but they couldn't tell the difference.

Anonymous wrote:We do fruit everyday and have been for 3 years for my 2nd grader with no issues. Found out my K has been saying I forgot to pack her a snack to her teacher (which is not true) so she could get the animal crackers the teacher gives out when kids forget snack. I got a note home from school "reminding me to pack a snack" since I seemed to forget the last 10 days. 10 days this 5 yr old has been telling this tale!!! We had a LONG talk! So, I too need to revamp. I guess fruit everyday, even varied fruit, is too boring for this kiddo.

You would think after a day or two, teacher would send a note home or email if you had been packing it every day.

Brownie and Oat bar from Trader Joes
Kind bar
Plain crackers (oyster crackers, Ritz, triscuit etc)
Cheese stick
Cherry tomatos
Sliced apple

Take her to the grocery store and pick something

2nd grade boy
Belvita
Graham crackers
saltines
Cheese-its

nothing that needs to stay cold since snack is at the end of the day. He says his friends are bringing things like packaged mini-muffins and chips. No way he would eat cut veggies.

Dried seaweed
Popcorn
Cashews
Pretzels
Banana

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you bake muffins together and she can pack one for snack. They freeze well and thaw by snack time. You can put a lot of healthy foods in a muffin--carrots, zucchini, oats, sunflower seed butter...

+1. we do this every Sunday evening before the school/work week. you can make these pretty healthful as you can control sugar amounts, substitute applesauce, etc.

Regular items in rotation for my K DD:
-Babybel cheese
-Cheese stick
-Clementine
-Apple slices
-Grapes
-Banana
-Chobani yogurt tube (freeze the night before)
-Sesame sticks
-Pirate's booty
-Terra veggie chips
-Belvita crackers
-Kind bars
-Clif Kid's bars
-pretzel mix (plain, chocolate, yogurt)
-Mini bagel with cream cheese
-rainbow baby carrots
-shelled pistachios + craisins

Her latest thing is making her own "trail mix" which entails grabbing small portions of whatever pretzels, sesame sticks, dried fruit, and nuts we have on hand. Sometimes I'll throw in a few M&M's or chocolate chips as a fun surprise.

We do fruit everyday and have been for 3 years for my 2nd grader with no issues. Found out my K has been saying I forgot to pack her a snack to her teacher (which is not true) so she could get the animal crackers the teacher gives out when kids forget snack. I got a note home from school "reminding me to pack a snack" since I seemed to forget the last 10 days. 10 days this 5 yr old has been telling this tale!!! We had a LONG talk! So, I too need to revamp. I guess fruit everyday, even varied fruit, is too boring for this kiddo.

pirate booty and apple slices

Luna bar and carrots

Goldfish and grapes

Today I packed pancakes, fruits and popcorn.