Packing Lunch for My Pre-schoolers

I work lunch duty at preschool. My biggest suggestion is keep it simple and not a lot of food. Make it so they can open most things if they can. (I have 2 boys and all they will eat is PB & honey - just make a sandwich that is healthy and that they will eat) 1/2 sandwich is the is the best or even make cheese quesadilla and wrap in foil, small juice or milk, string cheese or small fruit cut up. With the amount of time they have to eat this is about all they can handle. If you have to pack snacks make that simple as well. Don't pack sugary snacks or dessert as they will want to eat that first and then tend not to eat the important food, and the lunch helpers spend more time trying to get them to eat the right thing then time flies and lunch is over. Hope this helps!

My son actually loves the PJB, so I do that most days...but I also add in yogurt. (I put two little freezer packs in there to keep things cool.) I also put in fresh fruit and then an apple sauce cup or fruit cup thing most days.

I've also done chicken nuggets, meatballs, leftovers from the night before, stuff like that. I've found that honestly, he doesn't mind the repetition and if I leave anything out, he gets annoyed. I think he likes the routine!

Good luck!
-M

Check out weelicious.com. There are great ideas for pasta salads, sandwiches, and more!

J. D

That is what my mother had done with me. I now hate pb&j. I would try to use lunch meat, or tuna. You could rotate the pg&j with lunch meat, tuna or their favorite food. I would be especially anxious to add fruits and veggies as well this way they will eat a balanced meal. You may consider letting them eat the hot lunch as well if the school they are going to has one. Just make sure the food is hot when they get it, visit the school and check every now and again to be sure. Hope this helps.

My son doesn't eat at school that often, but has needed to this week. Here are the lunches we have sent so far:

Day 1: Smart Dog (all veggie hot dog), string cheese, edamame, grapes

Day 2: PB&J, peas & corn, string cheese, apple, banana

Day 3: Turkey sandwich, brussel sprouts, grapes, crackers

Leftovers are also great for lunches. You can send some baked ziti, chicken & rice, beans & rice, macaroni & cheese, etc. Google "bento lunch" and you will get some fun ideas.

I have involved him in the decision making which helps too.

Here's a link:
http://www.laptoplunches.com/

I would also recommend an insulated Thermos that is for cold/hot items, and those "blue ice" things for their lunch box to keep it nice and cold, and of course a water bottle.

Good luck,
Susan

Sandwiches: Almond butter & Honey, cream cheese & jelly, egg salad with cut up tomato, chicken salad w/ walnuts & celery, turkey wraps w/ cranberries, avocado & tomato with cheese...

Mostly I use flax seed or whole grain bread but I like to use tortillas & pita bread to mix things up a bit.

Also you should buy a thermos and ice packs.

Stay away from processed meats and stuff and especially boxed food like Lunchables. Try to send fresh fruit instead of canned. Same goes for vegies. Fresh is always better!

Trader Joes, Henry's & Mother's Market have all this stuff.

Celery & almond butter are a great hit with my kids as well as cut up apples, cheese & NUTS. Bell peppers are good too since they come in a variety of colors.

Good luck!

Hello! We send things like string cheese, raisins, craisins - they are easy. Also, applesauce cups, fruit cups(drained) and frozen vegetables are good. The frozen veggies are nice because they thaw during the day! We also send pasta .... at first I was uncomfortable with something like that thinking it needed to be hot until I realized my daughter prefers to eat food cold. :) Good luck!

Hi J.. We had issues with peanuts and the fungus attached to them, so we switched to sunflower seed butter, easily fouond at Trader Joe's and the sugar content of jelly is too high for our comfort, so we use either honey or agave nectar. Here's some smaple lunches:

Sunflower seed butter and agave nectar sandwiches
Rolled up slices (usually 5-8) of turkey or ham which are easy to eat and solid protein.
Egg sandwhich (scrambled egss with a little cheese and maybe a little ketchup for vest)
Homemade chicken nuggets (Tosca Reno's Eat Clean cookbook for kids)

We also add a water bottle and encourage them to drink more.

A fruit or veggie snack as well. We have an apple tree and the kids LOVE that they can go outside and pick any apple, apricot, strawberry they want and eat it.

We try to stay away from anything pre-bagged or boxed. A friend of min has been carrying around an unrefrigerated Lunchable for the past 2 years and it looks exactly like the day she bought it. Scary to think about what's in most "food."

What was the in-home daycare gal making for them everyday? Maybe get some ideas from her?

Ok, it's not so far from PB&J, but we really like almond butter and grape jelly. I also had great luck with chicken bologna (whole foods) and yogurt cheese slices (trader joe's) cut into shapes with little pastry cutters, if you want something kind of special. Flavored cream cheeses work good for sandwiches, too.

Squeeze yogurt was a good protein source for awhile (my daughter's attention span for food is short). Peanut butter and celery works. I've also enjoyed the ideas I've seen in Parents Magazine over the years. Here's the link to their recipe page -- http://www.parents.com/recipes/.

Don't make yourself crazy. I happened to have one child and she is a girl and a picky eater, so lunch has always been a hot button for me. As your boys get older, ask them what other kids have in their lunches for ideas.

We have a 2nd grader and in the past we have packes her a sandwich, Juicy Juice box and some kind of side. Most of the time, much of the food came back uneaten. (Reading the mom who responded, it now makes sense.) Anyway, we ran out of her favorite lunch meat so we had to improvise. We started packing a Juicy Juice Box, banana or grapes, a granola bar. Once in a while a fruit snacks. She has told us that she loves her lunches more this way and usually it all gets eaten. She even mentioned that most of her friends only have "snacks". So I highly suggest fruits like bananas, grapes, granola bars (if kids can't open them, put in a zip lock bag) and some healthy organic cheese and crackers.

Good Luck,
R. H.