Need Lunch Ideas for 3 Year Old.

Here's a list of things I like to pack:

Whole grain crackers
Hummus (with an ice pack)
Cheese slices or string cheese
Applesauce (either the cup or a small container)
Hard boiled egg, peeled (remove yolk if not preferred-- kids seem to have opinions on this one)
Celery sticks,cut into thinner strips (because of the strings)
Carrot sticks
Apple slices
Leftovers that will keep (spaghetti, pizza, potatoes)
Thermos of soup, if child likes it
Silver-dollar pancakes (add jam or syrup before packing)
Bagel with cream cheese; you can cut the bagel into thin 'coins' and do cream cheese sandwiches--thinner bagel is easier to eat

Be sure to ask if there's a policy about sweets and yogurt. At my preschool, we asked parents NOT to bring sweetened yogurts, cookies,candy, chips, etc. Kids tend to eat the sweets/chips first and then don't eat the more healthy food, which is what they need to participate in daycare/school. Go-Gurt is also a big mess and granola bars are mostly sweet (little nutritional value), so we just asked parents to save those for when the kids were at home.

Things I pack for my son:
Edamame
Hummus and brown rice cakes
Grilled cheese
Left over pasta
Steamed Chinese dumplings
Yogurt (plain with chopped fresh fruit)
Fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, kiwis, grapes, melon, figs, clementines, strawberries, blueberries, etc)
Vegetables - green peppers, green beans, corn, peas, seaweed salad, broccoli (raw or steamed), celery (loves it), carrots, kohlrabi

I try for one grain/protein/dairy item and then 2 fruit and 1 vegetable or 2 vegetable and 1 fruit serving. Plus milk. I try to avoid highly processed and high sodium foods so we don't do deli meats, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc.

Get a good thermos and then you can send him with raviolis or soup or pasta. My son likes crackers and pepperoni and carrot sticks or apples. Will he eat a turkey or chicken sandwich? You can cut it into 1/4s. You can also make wrap sandwiches with tortillas with a toothpick to hold it together. My friend's daughter likes cream cheese and jam sandwiches. Good luck!

My little ones favorite lunch (of the moment) is meat and cheese rollups. I put a slice of deli meat (chicken, turkey, ham, etc) and a slice of cheese together then roll it up and stick pretzel sticks through it and then cut so there are little roll ups each with a pretzel. Then I put a little mustard on her plate for dipping. I'm sure you could send a little tupperware. She LOVES it.

When my son was a first grader he went through a stage where he took his lunch almost every day. I hated sending him a cold lunch every time, so I got a thermos (one of the squatty ones for soup and such). Every morning I would heat his meal (usually a can of Chef Boy-r-de Ravoli, his fave at the time) up really hot then pour it in the thermos. It would still be toasty warm at lunch time.

I've also seen students (while subbing) that would have a burrito in their thermos. Warm it up, wrap it in foil, and put it in the thermos. Stays warm until lunch.

My son loves to have yogurt, carrots/cucumbers/broccoli with ranch (and I don't buy those high dollar individually packed ones, I put ranch dressing in a little cup that he then brings back home), crackers with cheese, a granola bar, applesauce, apple (or any other fruit), fruit cup. Those are just some ideas. I try to switch it around if he takes lunch days in a row.

Luckily, his school has always had really good food and a nice selection. They offer 2 entrees a day, plus vegetables and fruit, or they can choose a sandwich pack.

Crackers and cheese, string cheese, water or juice, fruit cups, grapes in half, carrot sticks and dip, rolled up ham or turkey slices, pretzels sticks.

Raviolis or tortellinis in butter or olive oil, plain pasta with parmesan cheese, tortilla sandwiches or quesadillas, chicken leg left over from the night before, pizza. Those are some of my boys favorites.