For some reason in January I noticed there were a lot of searches on the blog for snack ideas and school lunch ideas. Usually I see those searches at the beginning of the school year but since people seemed to be looking for inspiration, I decided to put together a post with all sorts of lunch and snack ideas for the kiddos.
I do put some effort into lunchboxes. I usually spend 15-20 minutes per night making them for my girls and then I make something very similar for my husband and myself. I want my girls eating good food so they have energy to get through the day and so they can concentrate and focus on schoolwork in the afternoon. It is also important that they are excited to eat lunch- those of you with little ones know what a big deal lunch and snacks can be for children. Mine get extremely excited to open up lunchboxes and see what waits inside.
I usually pick my battles with food for the kiddos- dinnertime is when we arm wrestle over what they will eat- for lunch I prefer to stick to things I know they like. That eliminates waste and also they haven’t reached the stage yet where they just throw things away and pretend to have eaten it 🙂 I can see exactly what they eat and for the most part these lunchboxes come home completely empty. Sadly my girls don’t like so many things– lunch meat (with the exception of salami or roast beef), avocados, most vegetables… the list goes on and on.
Oh and this school year the kids have been really excited for lunch– they actually open it in the car on the way to school and it is so fun to hear them chatter. “Oh look Addy we got watermelon today!” or whatever and I can hear them already sneaking a few bites of this or that. So I do feel the small amount of time at night really pays off.
Some things I take into consideration- I don’t pack things that will potentially get soggy like quesadillas or things that really are better hot like English Muffin pizzas. I also try not to pack things that will take too long to eat. The kids like to hurry through lunch to get to recess time so nothing fussy or they miss recess.
Anyhoo– these aren’t perfect lunches (we eat cookies and crackers and chips in moderation) but they are examples of things I have packed over the last month or so. I do wish I could have lunchboxes filled with broccoli and avocado and beets and tell you my little ones ate every bite- but sadly I tend to stick to cucumbers and carrots as I know they will for sure eat those. One of my kids is allowed peanut butter and one is allowed peanut butter but she has to sit in a specific section of the cafeteria so I try not to use it in her lunchbox. Otherwise, we don’t have any food allergies or other dietary concerns.
My girls love those little Bento Boxes from Starbucks so this was a copycat of one of the bento boxes- sliced apples and peanut butter, grapes, hard boiled egg, crackers and cheese cubes. For the no-peanut butter kid, I use the almond butter recipe here instead.
This particular box was actually not for lunch but was what I packed for an airplane trip. The girls ate every bite.
Kiwi, Oranges, crackers, Applegate salami, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and a homemade marshmallow 🙂 (recipe for marshmallows here)
Cheese, crackers, strawberries, celery with peanut butter and raisins, Greek yogurt and the very best gummy bears ever (from Sprouts in the bulk bin)
For my little girl that can’t take peanut butter to school, strawberries, tomatoes, cheddar and crackers, Greek yogurt and amazing gummy bears 🙂
Cucumbers, sandwich soldiers, pretzels, grapes and a homemade peanut butter cup (the no peanut butter daughter got a solid chocolate cup instead) Recipe for homemade peanut butter cups here
Macaroni and Cheese – we like Back to Nature box mix and I usually make it the night before, put it in a large bowl and in the morning heat it up to extremely hot. Pop into a thermos and the girls say it is still warm at lunch. Carrots as a snack. This is hands down their favorite lunch 🙂
“Nachos Lunch” with brown rice chips, shredded cheddar, tomatoes, oranges, kiwi and blueberries. My big girl prefers shredded cheese to cubed or sliced cheese. Go figure.
Raisins, watermelon, cucumbers, Pirate’s Booty, oranges and a chocolate dipping sauce. I had this in the fridge overnight so the chocolate was warmed slightly before we left for school to make it a sauce. (Chocolate sauce recipe here– it is DELICIOUS but the chocolate hardens when it gets cold.)
Banana Coconut Oatmeal with maple syrup (used the recipe here and it was fantastic) and kiwi and mango for a snack.
Blackberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, cheese and tortilla wrap, celery with Boursin cheese and a homemade gummy candy (recipe here)
This was a big hit as you might guess 🙂 Pumpkin seeds, cucumbers, strawberries, watermelon, mini buttermilk pancakes with almond butter and pure maple syrup for dipping.
Papaya with lime and coconut, homemade oatmeal cookie, Roast Beef sandwich, tomatoes and mozzarella and blackberries
Pirate’s Booty, our favorite Sprouts gummy bears, homemade pretzels (my husband made these for Superbowl), cucumbers, rainbow carrots, red pepper hummus and strawberries.
Nachos again- tomatoes, olives, shredded cheese, brown rice chips, Girl Scout cookie, strawberries. Salsa in a little cup would have been good too or black beans.
Andes mint (Christmas leftover- ha!), blackberries, oranges, carrots, hard boiled egg and Ritz crackers with Boursin cheese. Sometimes I do hummus or peanut butter in cracker sandwiches- my kids love them.
Cashews/almonds/chocolate chips, carrots, hummus, frozen blueberries, kiwi and BLT sandwich skewers. *I only include frozen berries because the kids LOVE them and eat them at snack around 9am. Otherwise they would melt in the lunchbox and create a mess.
Pretzel roll with pickles, lettuce, tomato and cheese and shredded carrots, apples with cinnamon, Aussie Bite, homemade coconut marshmallow (recipe here), Greek yogurt.
Strawberries, cheese sandwich, brown rice chips, milk with a drizzle of vanilla agave syrup (delicious!)
Crackers, colby cheese cubes, pepperoni (cut with mini cookie cutters), carrots.
Every so often I make chicken nuggets for the girls– these I make in the morning before school and I like to cook them just slightly too long so they are very crispy. I wrap them in foil and they seem to stay fairly warm for lunch. If they are crispy they won’t get soggy but the time the kids eat them- our favorite is the Rocky Free Range Chicken Nuggets from Costco. I also included BBQ sauce, apples with cinnamon and cucumbers.
Yogurt covered pretzels, cantaloupe, black olives, plum, cucumber and cream cheese sandwich and a blueberrie/spinach and pineapple smoothie with apple juice.
I can send the smoothie with my 7 year old to school- she won’t spill and she will close the lid tightly. My 5 year old, I bring the smoothie for an after school snack on the way home since she will spill and blueberries stain 🙂 Some people get upset that I give children mason jars but we have never had a broken mason jar and they have used them since they transitioned out of sippy cups. If you have a plastic cup or thermos that works just as well.
And here are a few supplies I use when packing lunches–
We use the Pottery Barn Kids All in One Lunchbag (I got them for $37 on sale)
Thermos Funtainer-– these seem to be the Thermos’ that work best and the kids like them.
I try to use real forks to avoid waste but sometimes I send mini cocktail forks– I get these at Walmart in the party supply section.
Sometimes I use these plastic containers instead of the metal lunchboxes or sometimes I use the green Goodbyn lunchbox you can see above.
And a few other tips:
Skinny Peanut Butter Fruit Dip
I’d love to hear what your great tips and ideas are for great school lunches!
Amazing entry! So helpful!
Your kids have to have the most creative and healthy lunches at school! I’m impressed. 🙂
Impressive! They eat everything in those lunches?
Hi Christine- yes. They love cucumbers and most fruit. My littlest doesn’t love kiwi but I love it and it is packed with vitamin C so I force it on them in winter. She eats it 75% of the time. My big girl loves kiwi- otherwise everything I pack I know they will eat. I’d love more variety in lunches but they are picky and I don’t bother packing what they won’t eat because it just wastes the food. I save the fights over snap peas and such for dinner :). Cucumber sandwiches are hit or miss- the little wierd-os aren’t huge on cream cheese but otherwise yes the lunchboxes come home empty 99% of the time. Otherwise they eat what remains in the car on the way home. They are STARVING by 3pm and they don’t get anything else until lunchboxes are empty 😀
How do you like the Pottery barn lunch boxes? I’ve seen other metal ones similar to that one and it didn’t have the best reviews. What are the pros and cons?
Thank you for posting all of these great ideas! 🙂
Hi Jill- I like them ok. They are hand wash which is the biggest downside. They hold a good amount of food- my 7 year old eats a lot. It is good if you have kids that want a lot if variety because there are lots of slots. I can’t always put as much as I want of things though- like I’d add tons of watermelon but unless I put that in the center I can’t put a lot in there. Oh and it is narrow- so no huge chunks of melon. Last I wish it had a slot for a water bottle. I pack those separately. HTH! I am not disappointed in it but I wouldn’t rave either 🙂
Oh for sure they don’t– I wish veggies weren’t such an issue but thank you Dodi.
Great lunch box ideas! I am so glad to hear that you love my oatmeal recipe!
So awesome! I would never have thought of putting Mac and cheese in a thermos ha ha. Such a good idea that’s why I love this site!
Rachel- I hope it works for your little ones. Mine say it is still warm but I heat it up steaming hot in the morning, add a little more milk to keep it creamy and then pop in the thermos. My girls love macaroni day 🙂
Such a helpful post!!! I was running into a lunch rut with my 5 year old. Thank you for the inspiration!!
Many thanks for this – my kindergartner has just realized how awful the school lunches are, so my grace period of not having to make lunch has ended. I knew it was just a matter of time!
Pottery Barn Kids website has some of the all-in-one lunch bags on sale right now – I just got one for $31.
Baked beans mixed with frozen spinach is another favorite meal; send it with grated cheese to mix and melt when it’s lunchtime.
You are welcome Ariana! Glad you got some ideas.
Meghan- you’ll have to come back and let us know what you think of the lunchbox 🙂 It is nice to skip a bunch of baggies on little containers.
Thanks for posting this. It made me think about when my mom use to pack lunch for my sister and I. We use to be excited like your kids to see what we got for the day. I did not like school lunch very well since my mom made everything from scratch, and the school food was no where as good as hers. Our friends were so jealous of our food. She would get asked by our friends sometimes for her to make their lunch too. She got creative like you do to give us good healthy lunches. I remember she would put corn on the cob in our lunch box occasionally. I do not have kids yet, but I have to pack a lunch a lot for school and work, and this gave me some good ideas for myself. It is so hard to come up with food ideas.
Stephanie- I think corn on the cob is a brilliant idea 🙂 My little monster does not love corn so that is something we argue about at dinner or I would totally do that myself. 🙂
Thanks for putting this together. I just took notes after reviewing it with my picky eater. I’m excited to mKe lunches again (and will make mine at the same time). Thank you!!
Oh if you come up with fun ideas please come back and share 🙂 I try not to get discouraged with things. They say you are supposed to try things 10 times before you give up on a food. With my 5 year old she doesn’t love Kiwi but I still pack it all the time in winter and she eats it probably 70% of the time. 🙂 That is a win to me for sure.
The PBK all-in-one lunchbox has been a big hit! The only minor drawback thus far is its weight – it seems heavy to my five-year old. But otherwise it has been great; thanks again for the recommendation.
Really? I have a 5 year old and she doesn’t have any issues but she is almost 6 so maybe that is the difference. I am so glad you like it 🙂 Much cleaner and easier than a zillion little baggies.
Thanks for the great ideas for picky eaters! I love the thermos funtainers and one suggestion I had read is to put boiling water in it for a few minutes before filling it to warm it up. I just pop it under the keurig and let it sit while I heat up the mac. Has worked great for keeping food warm until lunch!
Oh Erin that is an awesome tip. I will for sure try that!
Where do you find those Chobani yogurt tubes and the vanilla agave syrup? I haven’t seen either of those anywhere, but maybe I’m oblivious!
Jill the Chobani was from Target or Costco- I buy them both places. Agave can be found at stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts for more commerical stores like Target but they don’t tend to have as big of a selection. You can find strawberry agave, cinnamon agave… all sorts of flavors. 🙂
These look great!!! Can you come pack my kids lunches?? LOL!!! Where do you find the little plastic containers with lids for syrup, chocolate sauce, etc?
Ha ha! Heidi those are little snack cups that I found at Walmart. They are disposable ones from Diamond.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Diamond-Multi-Purpose-Mini-Cups-With-Lids-2-oz-50ct/17056809
We try not to be wasteful with disposable stuff like this but I haven’t found the perfect size reusable cups that fit in lunchboxes.
Who cares if these are meant for kids. I am going to use these for myself!! Haha!!!!
I totally agree 🙂