How to Build Healthy Brown Bag Lunches for Your Kids

Summer is almost over and school is just around the corner. Moms everywhere are feeling a deep sigh of relieve. But they also got their kids eating healthy and wholesome lunches or snacks over the summer holiday and dread the influence they will face at the school cafeteria.

Healthy Brown Bag Lunches Kids Will Eat

First make the lunch fun. Healthy doesn't equate to boring.

Stick notes or small cards in the bag to let your child know you made this lunch with them in mind. They will start to look for the note first. Don't forget to look for replies when the lunch comes home.

Don't just put celery sticks in the bag spread some peanut butter on them. Give them some funny shaped bread like a heart for Valentines Day, pumpkin for Halloween or a tree for Christmas. Be creative.

Make a tuna sandwich with apples or grapes in the tuna. Cut orange wedges for a sweet desert. Use their favorite jam or fruit spread for the traditional PB&J sandwich.

In winter purchase a thermos so they can take soup or chili. Don't forget the Frito's for the chili as everything doesn't have to be healthy just most of what you give them.

Make instant chocolate pudding with marshmallows, nuts and fruit mixed in and call it Bavarian Moose Poop. They then have something cute to share with friends.

Before long your child begins to think of themselves as someone special. Their lunch reminds them that they have a great parent that thinks about them. Kids start to equate good food with their mom or dad. Confidence is what growing up is all about.

Discuss Good Health with Your Child

Once you have established a regiment of healthy meals with your child discuss good food and why its good food. If you don't know the answers yourself, start with the food pyramid. Learn together the value of good food and the good health it produces.

Talk with your child's teacher and see if you and your child can do an oral report on health in the classroom. Don't forget the handout to go home explaining the food pyramid.

Teach Your Child to Cook

We as a society have gotten away from good home cooked meals. Use to be, that we daydreamed about Mom's biscuits or apple pie. Today we pick up prepared meals from the grocery store or we go out to eat at restaurants that feed us warmed up prepared meals they purchase.

Teach your child how to prepare a meal from scratch. If you have never been a cook yourself, it could be a great time to bond with your child. Start with a simple recipe that you both like and you will be on the road to cooking and enjoying every minute with your child while teaching them a valuable life skill.

Families That Eat Dinner Together Raise Healthy Children

Its a proven fact that families that eat together raise children most likely not to abuse alcohol and drugs. I can't explain why this is a fact other then its the natural time for families to bond and build trust. This is important as kids get older.

So start dreaming up ways to make brown bag lunches fun and make food an integral part of your home.