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empty muffin tin with snack ideas listed

Turn around a complain-y day by serving your kids “Snunch”!

We’ve all had those long days where it seems like it’s been a 16 hour day and it’s only 11 a.m.! The toddler’s fussy, the older one is bored out of his mind, you’re getting nothing done, and you think you might just lose your mind. 

And then lunch rolls around, nothing sounds good to anyone and all there is, is complaining.

My magic solution on days like this?

Snunch!  …And, no, I didn’t just mess up on my keyboard. 🙂  It’s a word I invented with my oldest when he was a toddler, and is a combination of “snack” and “lunch”. 

It’s been sure to entice my kids each and every time we have those long, rough days and I needed something to turn the day around, get us successfully through lunch, and get rid of the grumpies, boredom, fussiness, etc. They’ve loved it just as much at 8 years old as they have at one-and-a-half years old! 

How to serve “Snunch”!

The key is the fun name and that you serve it in muffin tins! This snacky lunch is super easy for me to prep which is awesome, because when the kids have been having a long day, it’s pretty much guaranteed my day hasn’t been the greatest either… 

All I do is pull out a 6-hole muffin tin for each child, (If you just have larger muffin tin pans, you can still use them – 6 holes just seems to be the right amount of food for my kids.) and fill each hole with a different easy snacky item. 

I try to balance it out to make a “complete” meal – a fruit (perhaps some grapes, blueberries, a couple orange wedges, or raisins…), a veggie (baby carrots, short celery sticks, a pickle…), a carb (crackers, tortilla chips, pretzels, dry cereal, etc), a protein (some almond butter for dipping, a folded up slice of deli meat, some shredded chicken – whatever we have around). I may put some cheese or yogurt in one hole, add a sweeter treat to another hole… 

I really just grab whatever is in the kitchen that’s easy to throw in the muffin tin. It can be practically the same thing that they would have complained about when I served it to them on a plate, but there’s something magical about calling it “snunch” and putting it in a muffin tin. 

Yes, I did…

And, full confession, I may or may not have even taken a muffin tin and several baggies of snacks with me to Nordstrom Rack one day a few years back and served my then-preschooler “snunch” in the back of the cart! (eyes wide!) To my credit, I did make sure they were non-messy snacks and I watched behind our cart to make sure he didn’t drop anything.

And guess what? It occupied him for a good half hour… a half-hour more that I got to spend blissfully bargain hunting (and you know there’s nothing that I love more for me-time than bargain hunting or organizing something!!). 

Of course, you can’t do this every day, but on those random days when things need a reset, this is an awesome way to make it through lunch without complaints, arguing and tears… And on days when you’ve run out of steam, this is a way to be a “fun mom” while simultaneously making it more fun for you!

When will you try a “snunch” with your kids? Do you have those days where this would come in handy? I’d love to hear from you! 

Much love, 

I'm Allison Blair, and I’m so honored you are here. I am a teacher at heart who can never pass up an opportunity to share information with someone. Luckily, that teaching compulsion comes in handy — I am a first-grade teacher of over 15 years, a teaching/parenting blogger and (most importantly!) a mom of two little ones. I have especially strong passions for: • early literacy learning and classroom and home libraries • creating a love of learning and reading in children • behavior management and child development • building classroom communities and family closeness • using purposeful teacher and parent word choice with children You've already got the love. Now here's the background knowledge you need to support your child's academic and emotional growth and create a strong family connection. I'm here to ease your mind and help you confidently raise your children in the way you've always wished you could. Welcome!

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