Favorite Packed Lunch Ideas for Kids

Are you wondering what you are going to pack in your child's lunch this school year? A well balanced lunch is the key to keeping your child healthy and attentive during the long hours of school. However, what parents think is a good lunch might not be as fun for kids. If it's a challenge getting your kids to eat at home, it will probably be a challenge getting them to eat their lunch at school. Although you won't be there to see if they are eating or not, here are some ideas to help you out and to make lunches a little more exciting for your child.

My first tip is to include your child in the lunch-making process. Let them choose the foods they would like to have in their lunch, within reason. Include them in decision making at the grocery store, by letting them pick out 2-3 foods for lunch. If they pick out something full of sugar, like pudding, balance it out by having them choose something healthy, like yogurt or cheese and crackers. Also, disguise healthy foods as being the unhealthy foods your child likes. Opt for fat free or sugar free pudding or baked chips instead of the fatty and salty ones. If you put these healthier foods into your own containers, it's unlikely that your kids will know the difference.

Sandwiches and Main Meal Options

Peanut butter and jelly is the most popular sandwich for lunches, but it is possible to change it up a little bit. For a healthy option, use whole wheat bread instead of white, reduced fat peanut butter and sugar free jelly. Instead of jelly, you could try using sliced bananas, raisins, thinly sliced apple or even marshmallow crème with the peanut butter. For a fun change, cut the sandwich into a shape that your child likes, by using a cookie cutter. Instead of buying the Uncrustables in the frozen section, make your own. Not only is it cheaper, but you know what's going into your sandwich.

Instead of peanut butter and jelly, you could try to make your own sub sandwich. Have your child pick the toppings they like, such as meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, peppers, etc. Use a soft roll instead of sliced bread to make a sub sandwich, and you could even give it a name such as 'Super Sub' to make it seem a little more interesting to your child. Bologna, ham, turkey and salami are all good lunch meat options for the sub sandwich.

The majority of kids love pizza, especially for lunch. Instead of spending the money on the more expensive Lunchable Pizzas, make your own. Fill a pita pocket with pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni or veggies, or make a mini pizza on an English muffin. Pizzas like these don't need to be heated up, and are fine if eaten cold. With a pizza in your child's lunch, it's sure to get the approval.

Besides the sandwich, you could fill a thermos with chicken noodle soup, Spaghettios, mini ravioli, macaroni and cheese or anything that your child likes that needs to be eaten warm. Some schools, depending on the age, even have microwaves to heat up foods, but a thermos should keep foods warm for at least a few hours until lunch time.

Fruit and Veggies

Cut up fresh fruit or veggie sticks are a good way to pack nutrition into your child's lunch. If your child is a little hesitant to eat 'healthy' foods, you may want to try something a little different. Cut the fruits into fun shapes, or make a small fruit salad. Include dressing for dipping with the veggie sticks.

Yogurt is another healthy option, and there are a variety of different yogurts to choose from. Drinkable yogurt seems to be pretty popular with kids these days. Yogurt can sometimes substitute pudding.

Drinks

No lunch is complete without some kind of beverage. Stay away from sugary soda. Instead, include 100% juices or milk with your child's lunch. Capri Sun now has a 100% juice variety, in the same juice pouch as the other kinds. Most drinks are available in small drink container, which are perfect for lunches.

Snacks and Desserts

Pretzels, crackers, chips, granola bars, Goldfish, raisins, fruit snacks, cheese sticks, pudding, snack cakes, cookies and popcorn are among the most popular snacks and desserts for kids' lunches. A great idea for sugary snacks, like cookies, is to find the 100 Calorie Pack alternative. They taste very similar, but are much healthier. You don't have to buy small bags of chips, pretzels or crackers to get smaller portions. Instead, just buy larger bags when they go on sale, and use snack sized zipper bags to divide it up for lunches.

Most lunches should always include some kind of snack or dessert, no matter how healthy your family eats. There are always healthy options available to you and your child.