OBJECTIVE: to describe the visual memory of children with regard to the packaging of savory snacks and sandwich cookies, and to correlate results with nutritional status, school grade and gender. METHODS: the drawing technique was applied to 152 students enrolled at an elementary school in the city of Taubaté, São Paulo. Anthropometric data were collected, BMI calculated and the frequency of each component of the drawings was determined. The Chi-square test was used to analyze the relationship of each component with the variables studied. RESULTS: for savory snacks packaging, the components that appeared most frequently in drawings were brand (54.6%), the image of the product adorning the package (45.4%) and characters (27.0%). Colors used were predominantly red (36.8%), blue (30.3%) and yellow (22.4%). For the sandwich cookies, the elements that appeared most frequently were brand (62.5%) and characters (30.9%) whereas the colors used were predominantly blue (36 8%) and brown (26.3%). The colors identified by the children, both for savory snacks and sandwich cookies, were similar to those found on the packages available in the market. The girls remembered more imagery on savory snack packaging (p = 0.016) and depicted more characters in the drawing of the sandwich cookie packaging (p = 0.04). There were no statistically significant differences between the memory of the components of the packaging and nutritional status, or between chosen color and gender. CONCLUSIONS: Marketing strategies employed in packaging were retained in children's memory. This finding points to the need for authorities to regulate advertising of food to this population, with special attention to the packaging of these products.