Healthy Snacks

Healthy snacks to make with kids

In a previous blog we explored many ways of encouraging healthy eating in your children, and involving children in the food preparation process as well as having kid-friendly healthy snacks on hand can be an important way of discouraging binging on biscuits, sweets or crisps when hungry. Whether it’s just as an after-school snack, or for an upcoming kids party, here are a few of our favourite healthy snack recipes for making with your kids!

Octopus Houmous

Kids eat with their eyes just like we do, so this fun and healthy dip can be a great way to get some veg into your kids with no complaints! You will need: one bell pepper, houmous (shop bought or home-made) and one olive!

1. Take a bell pepper (any colour you like as octopuses come in all shapes and sizes!) and cut off the top 1/3 of the pepper. De-seed the bottom 2/3rds and put to one side.
2. Chop the top of the pepper into strips to make the ‘tentacles’!
3. Spread houmous – shop bought or home-made – into a shallow bowl.
4. Place the bottom half of the pepper in the houmous to make the body of the octopus, and use 8 of the pepper strips around the outside to form the tentacles.
5. Chop the olive into round slices and stick two to the pepper with a little houmous to make the eyes! Kids love doing this bit too.

Done! Recipe and image courtesy of https://www.superhealthykids.com/will-your-kids-eat-this-octopus/

Avocado Boat

Another way to make a heathy food appeal to your kids! You will need: tortilla chips, one avocado, a wooden skewer and small piece of paper, half a lemon, and some sour cream.

1. Half the avocado and take out the stone. Spoon out the avocado from the skin and put in a bowl with a dollop of sour cream, and squeeze in some lemon juice.
2. Mash the avocado, sour cream and lemon juice together to form the dip
3. Use the skewer and piece of paper to make the sail for your boat. A great tip is to let your kids decorate this while you are busy making the dip!
4. Surround with a ‘sea’ of tortilla chips, and a lego pirate or two if you have any handy!

https://www.superhealthykids.com/avocado-boats/

Cucumber Sandwiches

A super quick one, and a great way of getting more veg into your kids! This idea uses cucumbers as the ‘bread’ of mini sandwiches, and are fun for kids to assemble however they want them too! You will need: a cucumber, fillings of choice: eg. slices of cheese, soft cheese, ham, slices of tomatoes

1. Slice cucumber into slices a few mm thick.
2. Use a cookie cutter, or just a knife if you don’t have one to hand, to make slices of the fillings such as cheese and ham a similar size to the cucumber. If you’re feeling brave you could use tuna mayo!
3. Assemble your sandwiches! Soft cheese is a great way to make the layers stick together too.

We hope you enjoy these snacks, and getting creative with your kids in the kitchen! Find out more about the food we offer at our summer camps here.

10 questions to ask your child after summer camp

Ever wondered what questions to ask your child after summer camp? Camp can be an exciting time for children and all campers, especially those on residential programmes, often find a new level of independence. Whether your camper is about to start their first day camp or is an old-hand at residential camp already, they are experiencing a world that is quite different to their normal lives at home or the familiarity of school. Your child will have experienced a lot over the camp session, from participating in new activities, exploring new places and learning life lessons about cooperation and friendship. They will have absorbed so much that when they see you again, sometimes it’s difficult for them to know when to start in telling you everything! Here are a few questions you can ask your camper to get the conversation flowing and learn a bit more about their camp experiences.  

1. What was your favourite activity at camp this summer?

 

2. What activity did you try for the first time at camp that you would like to do again?

 

3. Tell me about your favourite staff member, why were they your favourite?

 

4. Tell me about 2 new friends that you made at camp?

 

5. How are you going to keep in touch with your camp friends from this summer?

 

6. What did you do this week to help someone else out?

 

7. Where did you go on your excursion day each week?

 

8. What was your favourite food at camp, did you try anything we don’t have at home?

 

9. When did you feel most proud of yourself at camp this week?

 

10. What was your favourite game at camp and can you teach me how to play it?

  Your child will love sharing some of their experiences, stories and games with you once they get started! You will be surprised about how much normally untalkative teenagers will have to tell you once they start remembering some of the things they did at camp, and some of these may even turn into new hobbies they want to keep going once they’re back home. The world is your oyster when it comes to summer day camp and if we look specifically at day camps (a camp where you don’t stay overnight) you can pretty much choose anywhere in the world to head to. Likwise, you can probably “do” most things you can think of, there are many camps out there all with different concepts and focuses. Ultimately, what camp to choose and what you do when you’re there depends on your requirements and your budget. Day camps are often booked alongside a family holiday, with the whole family traveling somewhere for vacation and the children attending camp in the daytime however for some families, the camp is the biggest priority. In this case, they may first find the right camp and then work out the rest after. For example, some families choose our day camp specifically for its language programme of adventure programme, and then work out plans for the rest of the family once this is booked, something we can help you with too. From accommodation to airport transfers to concierge, we can assist you with all elements of your trip. Our camps in Verbier are available from 1 week up to 7 weeks so you can spend as little or as long as you like here with us!

Who can I expect to meet at a day camp?

Here at Altitude, we are based in the mountains so as well as local Swiss kids, we also welcome expats and tourists. This makes for a very international environment, with many nationalities, cultures and religions each week, a great experience for children!

What do I do at camp and what are the classes like, will it feel like school?

Summer camp shouldn’t be too focused on the academic side as its main agenda. Summer camp should give kids a feeling of escapism, a new environment, a sense of fun, and a way of discovering new exciting activities. If a camp promises you that your kids will excel in say their language skills within one week, it’s likely going to feel like school and may not be what you are after so just bear that in mind! Here at our summer day camps, we aim to provide a fun and positive environment where kids can meet others from around the world, experience the mountain environment, get out in the fresh air and enjoy a sense of challenge and achievement. We very much focus on encouraging children to gain confidence, independence and to learn leadership and teamwork skills as part of their experience. All whilst having fun! Whether children choose our adventure camp or language camp, the aim is to learn through fun and play, to stimulate their minds, and to make them feel that they WANT to learn without even realising that they already are. We are as active as we can be with our mountain adventure camp being run outdoors every day, (so long as the weather is dry) and even our language camps focus on conversation as much as possible, to ensure the kids don’t feel like they are writing and reading too much. We even spend some sessions outdoors in the fresh air with our language campers, just to teach the kids in a different way and to avoid that school like feeling. Likewise, language lessons are always only in the morning, the afternoons are always spent enjoying sports and excursions so that kids can get a mix of language learning as well as being in the outdoors and keeping active.

What activities will I do?

Our campers will all enjoy a mix of sports and excursions including activities such as tennis, swimming, ropes courses, crazy golf, climbing, hiking, hockey, football and more! Language campers will then also develop language skills whilst our mountain adventure campers will also take part in activities such as fire building, raft building, rocket making, orienteering, shelter building and survival skills. You can find out more about our activities available here.

How is each day structured?

On a Monday morning, we welcome everyone to camp, double-checking their dietary/medical needs, camp choices and emergency contact details as they check in. Our team will give a short welcome talk before we head off for morning activities. For our language campers, they will head off with their language teachers for their first session which runs from 9am-12, with a short break in the middle. Our mountain adventure and marmot campers will head with their teachers, for their first activity of the week, often involving some ice breaker games to get to know everyone. At 12pm, all of our campers will head back to base for lunchtime and then come 1pm, our marmot campers will head home and our mountain adventure and language campers will enjoy sports and excursions until 4pm when they go home.

How do meal times work?

Our summer camps run Monday to Friday from 9am-4pm and we include a nutritious and freshly prepared lunch every day, this takes place between 12pm-1pm and campers will all meet together at our base for this. Our team of chefs provide fantastic meals with hot and cold options available, all in a buffet-style providing children with a choice of healthy food each day, catering to all dietary, medical, and religious requirements. On a Wednesday, children will take an excursion so on this day, they will take a packed lunch with them and we will prepare this freshly that morning.