My kids have reached an age where they now pack their own lunches. It’s awesome and challenging all at the same time! Why? Because without a bit of organization they have no idea what to pack. I used to pack epic Bento Style lunches for them but they often came home having only eaten a few things (if anything at all). Now that they pack their own lunches one of the benefits is that they chose foods that they like and will eat at school. Today I am sharing a few of the things that I prepare for them to put into their lunch kits…
I do a lot of this prep work on Sundays so that we are ready for the week ahead. Now, you can see that most of our lunch foods are portioned out into snack size ziploc bags. I am not a huge fan of all of the waste that this creates so I get the boys to bring the bags home and reuse them. You could utilize reusable bags or plastic containers of course. These are just the most convenient for us. They make it easy for the boys to see what foods they have to choose from and are perfect for lunch sized portions.
I have one bin full of fruits and vegetables. Grapes, raspberries, strawberries, celery, peas and carrots were all choices this week. Another bin houses cheese strings, pepperoni sticks and pickles. Finally a bin in the cupboard has crackers, popcorn and sometimes nacho chips. The possibilities are endless really! I have friends who also give their kids guidance around how much of each food item they should take (ie. two fruits, one veggie) but my kids are pretty good so I let them have at it on their own.
In the fridge I also have yogurt, dip and homemade applesauce (in containers) for them to pack. In the freezer they can snag pizza buns or chocolate chip banana muffins. On the counter they can grab a banana, apple or pear. It’s nice to have a system to lunches and teach them a little bit of independence.
How do lunches get built at your house??
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