sugarfree treats for GCs -any ideas?

I was going to say pop corn. Fun value too. What about some musical toothbrushes? That might provoke discussion!!

I downloaded the App to check on sugar content last week, but lots of foods and drinks are not listed, including Drench drink as supplied by my GDs secondary school which contains 12g of sugar per 250ml, which is nearly 18g per 440ml bottle.. I am at a loss as to why a secondary school needs to sell such sugary drinks (at 70p per bottle) when primary schools simply provide free water. BTW, a bottle of water costs 50p, which seems pretty expensive in comparison with the Aldi/Lidl bottles!
So why do 11 year olds need to be temped with such sugary drinks as soon as they reach secondary school?

They don't

I give my grandchildren dried apple rings, dried plums, and mixed fruit leather strips they love them and there is no sugar added when I prepare them. The dried fruit tastes sweet as drying concentrates the natural flavours, but there is fruit sugar which is just as bad for teeth maybe? Letting them eat too much however has consequences!

hear hear, Nonnie

hear hear, Nonnie

There is haps of stuff on the internet about toothfriendly snacks.

plain popcorn
plain yoghurt, or yoghurt mixed with unsweetened fruit puree or chopped fruit
hard-boiled eggs
cubes of cheese
oatcakes with peanut butter
fresh fruit
raw or cooked vegetables
hummus and pitta bread
cream cheese with mini-breadsticks
www.babycentre.co.uk/a569373/tooth-friendly-snacks-for-toddlers#ixzz3wq8NWkwS

or
Suggestions for healthy snacks from one year old
Fresh fruit - grapes, melon, a banana, strawberries, a tangerine, a pear, a peach, a plum, an apple. Fresh fruit kebabs can be fun to make and eat.
Fresh vegetables - tomatoes, celery, carrot and cucumber sticks, sliced peppers, sugar snap peas. Tomatoes, grapes and similar choices should be halved to avoid the possibility of choking for younger children.
Sandwiches - try various fillings: cold meat, tuna, grated cheese, egg, salad items, tomato or banana.
Some other choices - bread sticks, oatcakes, crackers, rice cakes, a plain or cheese scone, a crumpet, a bagel, a potato scone, a pancake, a toasted teacake.
www.child-smile.org.uk/parents-and-carers/birth-to-3-years-old/healthy-snack-ideas.aspx

Colgate Toothpaste gives advice:
www.colgate.com/en/us/oc/oral-health/basics/nutrition-and-oral-health/article/smart-snacks-for-healthy-teeth
Also the NHS:
www.nhs.uk/Livewell/dentalhealth/Pages/Goodhabitskids.aspx

Hope you can find some good ideas. I rather liked the fruit kebab.

Just a warning that dried fruit (like raisins and such) are particularly bad for the teeth! (voice of experience here <sighs and glares at raisins>)

Cheese cubes/pieces of cheese apparently reduce the sugar acid in the mouth or something like that, according to our dentist. So perhaps a small sweet, followed by a couple cheese cubes?

We make air popped popcorn, as it gets a bit crazy when it's popping all over the place, and the dcs like to nibble on it while watching films.

Snacks here are generally cheese, cherry tomatoes (cut in half), sliced peppers, carrot batons, apples, bananas, grapes, rice cakes, toast, hummus and breadsticks. They particularly like a little plate with a mixed up assortment of some of those items listed. I only give them dried fruit when they have other foods along with it, to keep it from sticking to the teeth too much.

And ice pops. lol We'll never shake that particular snack, especially in the summer.

DS and Ddil are very strict about dgs not having sweets and it's very rarely that they have homemade cakes. They give him oatcakes with peanut butter, chopped celery with hummus, cherry toms, eggy bread if he's particularly hungry between meals, fruit (he loves bananas or grapes sliced in half), cheese cubes and carrot/cucumber batons etc.
He only drinks water or milk last thing.

Like annodomini my grandson loves cherry tomatoes and cucumber also grapes. I ashamed to say that until recently knew nothing of the choking danger now extremely careful to always cut in half before before serving.

I have started making cheese scones using spelt flour and mashed cooked butternut squash (which is quite sweet when roasted) , there are recipes on the internet. All i add to flour is baking powder, the squash and grated cheese plus a little milk if it is too dry. I sprinkle sesame seeds on top. The problem is that it is hard not to eat too many!

Home baking with fruit and veg is quite popular nowadays - dates, dried apricots etc can be added to banana cake. Honey or maple syrup can be used as sweeteners, but are they any better than sugar?

We didn't have many sweets as children but when we started secondary school we walked home and spent our bus fare on mid morning snacks sold at the scool (mint yo yos my favorite) or at the sweetshop. Once we started a paper round at 13 and had our own disposable income, there was no stopping us - sweets and tizer every Saturday!

I'm trying to persuade DD3 to reintroduce the concept of "pocket money", so that the LDs have a fixed allowance to spend once a week & THAT'S IT! Up to them what they buy & how long it lasts. There is a bit of a delay while she negotiates with DGD2 (7) how she is going to earn the money.

The little babybel cheeses are fun and sweet treat sized. Not only do you get fun from peeling the fruit shaped cheese open to get tothe cheese inside you can then warm the wax in your hand and form it into all sorts of shapes and sculptures.

Mine like dried fruit. raisins,prunes,dates,figs, also olives,bread fingers with Hummus,charry tomatoes. I know its fruit but they have always thought of these as treats.