What do you put in your young grade schooler's lunch?

Question

I have a 6 year old who is in school and I'm running out of ideas of stuff to put in her lunch. We don't give chips and stuff like that in lunches. I'm looking for some somewhat healthy things to put in her lunch. What do you put in your kid's lunch? Also, do you think that if I put a yogurt in her lunch with an ice pack would it stay good?

One more thing, I'm also always running out of ideas of stuff to pack in my husband's lunch. Besides leftovers, what do you pack in your husband's lunch?

Answer 1

For your daughter- The ice should be fine, just check what time they eat to double check. You can switch her sandwiches up sometimes, and cut them out with some cookie cutters. They make mini apple slices you can give her, or the mini carrots. Maybe pack a sweet on special days. Also throw in a note, with I <3 you.

Husband- You can do sandwhiches, also when it gets colder you can get a thermist and make soup.

Answer 2

I have a seven yo and we try to keep lunches pretty healthy around here. We don't do chips or many pre-made/store bought stuff and are vegetarians to boot. Today she asked for a peanut butter and banana sandwich, yogurt, and rice crackers. Some of her other favorites are hummus with pita wedges and carrot rounds, trail mix, pizza (leftovers or pita), pb&honey sandwiches, veggies & ranch, sesame sticks, pasta salads, and fruit. I use a cold pack in her lunch daily -- we bought three so I could rotate them and have an extra on hand, just in case. I also freeze her yogurt. I buy the 4 oz cups and keep them in the freezer until they are ready to go to school with her. By lunch time (about 2.5 hrs into her school day), it is slightly soft, but still super cold. She thinks it is more fun to eat this way - more like ice cream!

An alternative to the cold pack is a partially frozen water bottle. We did this last school year and it work out well most of the year. I'd fill a 1/2 litre water bottle half way and freeze it. The morning I was to pack it, I'd fill it the rest of the way with water. This kept her food pretty cool and gave her cool water to drink with her lunch as well.

Hubby gets a lunch every day as well. They always start out the same -- salad of some sort and sliced fresh fruit. Throw in leftovers and usually some rice or other grain dish and he's happy. He likes fresh juices so I usually put 2 -3 of those in there as well, or smoothies, so he can have something quick to grab on a break if he's hungry. I usually put an ice pack in his lunch and during the scorching Vegas summers I put in a frozen water bottle or two as well.

Hope this helps and best wishes to you!

Answer 3

Here are some of the things I pack for my son:

Apple Slices

Frozen Grapes

Frozen Go-Gurt (it's the yogurt that comes in a sleeve)
I find that by freezing it the night before, it stays cool all day and is easy to eat by lunch time.

Sandwich Crackers or SunChips

Of course a Sandwich! What bag lunch is complete without it?

To keep everything cool, I will freeze a half full bottle of water, and then add water to the ice. This way, he has a cool drink at lunch, and it keeps his lunch cool.

Capri Sun is good frozen too, it'll be thawed by lunchtime and nice and cool.

Answer 4

There are 2 Q here.

A banana is a very good meal or substitute for both specially for the child.
Gives all nutrients.
Make 1 a habit besides the ideas you get.
Yogurt is also a very good idea.

Make sandwiches. Chicken slices on salad ,lettuce, tomatoes.
Vary the ingredients and sauces.

Keep and cut veges ready for use previous day. Pack in morning.

An Omelet with a bun like a sandwich is another option.

Keep other seasonal fruits as desert. Besides the yogurt.

Hash browns at times.
Always have some bread, fruits, juice to go with it all.

Answer 5

Does your school have a microwave that they allow the children to use? If so, there's tons of possibilities, such as individual soups and chef boy r dee stuff. Also, pizza rolls or mini pizzas. If not, they're are other choices. My kids school requires healthy snacks and meals, so it is hard to find something that fits the requirements, but I use fruit roll up and yogurts....yes, they do keep well w/ an ice pack, or you can freeze them so they can thaw before eaten. I also pack fresh fruit and vegetables in small containers. As far as main meal, if they don't have a microwave, I would just vary the sandwich making....they're are tons of sandwich ideas besides the regular pb&j and bologna. Plus, the kids really have fun picking stuff out for their sandwich.....GOOD LUCK!

Answer 6

Remember that most grade schoolers have less than a half hour to eat and they spend about 20 minuets of that talking, so pack things that are brain food and fun, to be honest I know for a fact they trade lunches like trading cards if one does not like what they have they will trade it out! I put a note with either a joke or a fun fact in my daughters lunch everyday for her to share with her friends, I forgot to put one one day last week and she said all her friends were disappointed (okay not food related but a good idea to share). Try putting in different things to dip, veggies and dressing, apples and caramel sauce, a small salad, (I am lucky my daughter loves salad) Get a thermos that will stay hot and put soup in it, by the time they eat it will be warm. Also have your child help decide what they want with in reason of-course, that way they feel special! Good luck!

Answer 7

I peel an orange and put it in a bag for my daughter. I give her grapes with just a dusting a sugar to make her want to eat them. I give her string cheese and I do put an ice block in the lunch box and it stays cold enough until lunch time. The ice block would do great with the yogurt too. I slice up carrots really thin and my daughter loves that. I give her small applesauce cups too. I bought frozen cheese ravioli in a bag and I cook it and put a tiny bit of tomato sauce on them and send it in a very tight container. I bought mini bagels and put cream cheese on them and she loves that. Good luck! I asked a friend for ideas once and she said her son eats peanut butter and jelly every single day. That was no help.

Answer 8

Food safety issues are huge for me, so keeping it safe is as important as what you put in.

Peanut butter sandwiches are for several hours without keeping them cold.

Any fruit is ok without refrigeration as well.

Carrot, celery, broccoli, caulaflower, etc are great for kids lunches. and are ok if not kept cold.

For something sorta sweet, cuz you kids would like it, get come honey graham crackers and spread peanut butter or frosting between them and make little sandwiches.

If you put a yogurt in her lunch with an ice pack, yes i think it would be ok. Maybe take it a step farther and buy gogurt and freeze them, they should be thawed out at lunch, or almost, and that would be something fun to eat.

Another idea is to freeze a water bottle, something the child can drink that will also keep her food cold. (I suggest putting it in a zip lock bag, so it does not sweat on other things that you don't want wet, and reuse the bag several times)

When I packed lunch for my kids I would write a small note on their napkin. It got to where my son's friends would ask what the note said. ( I would try to do something funny, like a joke or a scrambled message, nothing sappy, unless you are sending your husband a secret message at work, to help lift his spirits until he comes home to you)

Answer 9

I make huge pots of soups or beans and then freeze it in individual servings. I pull one of these out of the freezer the night before to defrost in the refrigerator. In the morning I heat this up and put it into a thermos so it will stay hot until lunch time. This is the basic lunch...some fruit, a yogurt, etc. fills out the final lunch. I send a treat every Friday (a few m&m's, a homemade cookie, etc.)

I try to include protein, vegetables/fruit, and a dairy product in every lunch. Sometimes if don't have anything new or interesting, I try to cut or serve the same things in a different way. My kids like melon balls, or a sandwich that I've cut into puzzle pieces or with cookie cutters. I also send everything in cute, efficient containers or decorate wrappings with a drawn picture or even sometimes a sticker. My kids like for me to "hide" the stickers from fruit somewhere in the lunch and they have to find it.

Try: nuts and raisins, fresh cut-up veges and a little bit of dressing to dip them into, hot oatmeal in a thermos (especially if recovering from flu, etc.), scrambled eggs in a thermos, hard-boiled or deveiled egg

If your kids want a sandwich, try using different types of breads: pita bread, dinner rolls, any sort of bun.

Answer 10

Healthy school lunches that kids will eat is the key.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "The percentage of children who are overweight has more than doubled, and among adolescents the rates have more than tripled since 1980." Being overweight can be associated with diabetes and other physical and mental health issues for young people such as bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem.

Whether or not we want to hear about it - and most of us don't - we need to start thinking about what we feed our kids.

The CDC found that 4 out of 5 teens don't get enough fruits or vegetables, over half get too much saturated fat, and most adolescents, particularly girls, don't get enough calcium in their diets.

Here are some resources and ideas for what to pack for lunch:

http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/healthy-school-lunch.html

http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/schoolsnacks.html