With school looming just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about the back to school rush. From meet the teacher nights and shopping for school supplies, there are lists and lists of things to do that seems unending. It can be an exciting and stressful time for the family as they begin to create new schedules and bounce back from the summer break. One of the many important decisions when it comes the daily scheduling of of back to school, are planning school lunches. Sending our children back to school with healthy lunches that the kids will love, is a crucial part of our planning day.
When it comes to school lunch success, there are a couple of tips you’ll want to follow to ensure a smooth planning process.
1. Pack Meals They Like
Talk with your child before school even starts about what kind of foods they like and enjoy. This way when you are planning, you can easily eliminate food choices that you know will not be eaten out of their lunch bag. While you will want to throw in different choices of food that are new to them, making sure there is something that is their favorite, will keep them full for the rest of the day.
2. Lunch Bags & Containers
When you are making your children’s lunch, you want to make sure that you are not missing anything. Stock up on a couple of their favorite lunch bags and boxes so that if one goes missing and you are in a hurry, you can easily grab a second option. To save money and waste on ziploc bags and aluminium foil, buy some colorful containers that can be reused for sandwiches, fruits, and snacks.
3. Easy To Eat Items
For a school lunch, you’ll want to make their meal easy to eat and easy to dispose of. Children now do not have enough time to eat their food and are limited on time to spend socializing with their classmates. Pack meals that are relatively easy to eat like sandwiches, bowtie pasta, diced fruit, and wraps.
4. Whiteboard Planning
The easiest way to organize your child’s lunch for the week is to plan out the menu item for each day ahead of time. Placing a small white board in the kitchen, with a daily list of the school lunches is a great way to keep you on track. This way, you already know what to prepare, what ingredients you’ll need, and what may need to be added to the shopping list for the week. When next week comes around the corner, you can easily erase what you have written, and start all over again.
5. Plenty of Fluids
Children need plenty of fluids for their busy days. Lunchtime usually comes before or after recess, so making sure that they have a large amount of fluids to go with their lunch is an important thing to remember. Using their favorite refillable container, be sure to get one large enough for your child to drink for when they are thirsty, but also enough for them to have plenty left for their meal. There are a ton of great designs available that will make sure your child doesn’t toss their container in the trash as well. Water or juice are the perfect lunchtime choices that ensure they get full of of their food, instead of high calorie drinks.
Following these simple tips will ensure that you are ready for the back to school lunch rush, and save time on your planning. Be sure to have your plan and menu items ready before the week, and prepare as much of the lunch the night before to save you time in the morning.
easy to open containers are so important, especially for little hands.
I’m having anxiety about going to back to school soon – my son will be going to preschool full day for the first time and I’m a nervous wreck! I just want his lunches to make him feel comfortable and at home
My kids all do the school lunch thing, though I’m not thrilled to fund the account I do like that I don’t have to make anything. Great tips if one of them change their mind.
Love this post! Great advice!
I hadn’t thought of the whiteboard planning – that’s so helpful!
Great tips. I really like the whiteboard idea. I hate when I have made a lunch and then they say they don’t want that. I don’t like wasting food or wasting our time in the morning fighting about their lunches. Thanks!
Thanks for these great tips.
These are great tips.
Good tips. 🙂 We plan our bentos out a week a time too — make it so much simpler!
my kids are so picky I can hardly ever plan anything but enlisting them to help might be an idea