Creating a delicious and tasty school lunch doesn’t have to be difficult.
In this post I’ll give you some easy lunch ideas you can use at home with your kids!
Try out the tips below to help make packing your child’s school lunch a breeze!
Get the kids involved
Let the kids choose what they’d like to have as a snack included in the lunch box. The simplest and most efficient way to do this is to set up a basket containing prepackaged snacks that you know your kids will enjoy. Snacks can be store-bought if you wish but the most inexpensive way to do this is to package snacks individually yourself from a larger quantity.
Kids love to be able to feel involved and this will help prevent kids from getting bored of having the same snacks at lunch every day. If you allow your child to choose some of their own lunch items you will be less likely to have as many leftover uneaten items.
Make it Fun!
Making your child’s lunch exciting each day doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming. Here are a few ways to make it fun:
Add a surprise note or joke in their lunch box as a surprise for your child.
Cut meats and cheeses or other items into fun shapes using cookie cutters. You can even use a large cookie cutter to make custom shapes for your child’s sandwiches. Never underestimate the power of fun shaped food! 🙂
Prep in Bulk
If there are certain foods that you know you child enjoys try preparing them in bulk and freezing then in individual portions. Place the item in the fridge to thaw out the night before. You can try this with a different variety of foods your kids enjoy.
Repurpose Leftovers
Consider making a roast chicken for dinner one night and then use the leftover meat in sandwiches or chicken quesadillas.
Keep it Cool
Freeze you child’s juice box or drink and it will double as an ice pack for their lunch bag. The juice box should be thawed and ready to drink by lunch time.
You might enjoy these ideas:
Easy Lunch Ideas!
Below are some ideas on items you can add to your kids school lunches.
Snacks
Fruit and veggies with dip (baby carrots, etc.)
Pita chips with dip/hummus
Crackers and cheese
Apples, Oranges, grapes, etc.
Banana with peanut butter
Celery with peanut butter and raisins
Crackers or veggies with hummus
String cheese
Main
Quesadillas
Mini pizzas
Grilled cheese sandwich
Classic peanut butter and jelly
Veggie Wrap or roll ups
Leftovers
Soup in a thermos
Chicken strips/nuggets
Burritos
Ham/turkey, cheese and lettuce wraps
Pinwheels (meat and cheese rolled up in tortilla and sliced into small circles)
Homemade “Lunchables”
Macaroni and cheese
Tacos – provide the ingredients and let the kids put them together
Sides
Any variety of salad
Pasta salad
Potato salad
Granola bars
Berries
Rice with veggies
Chickpea salad
Desserts
Yogurt
Slice of banana bread
Fruit parfait
Cookies
I hope you enjoyed this post and that it will help you make packing your kids school lunches less of a stress! 🙂
Do you have any tricks that you use to make packing lunches less of a hassle?
I’d love to hear from you so please leave a comment in the comment section below!
