School Lunches - Palatine,IL

I just use a regular lunch box (waterproof cloth/vinyl on the outside) with her favorite character (barbie) on it. It came with a thermos bottle (not a real "Thermos" hot cold type)

I went a bought an small lunch box size ice brick at Target for .99 and if there's anything that can spoil, I put that in there too. So far works great.

As a routine teacher, I would not spend a lot of money on a lunchbox for a 1st grader. We so SO many lunchboxes in the lost and found.

A lot of children bring sack lunch, many bring a thermos with something hot.. noodles, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc, some bring insulated lunch boxes with an ice pack to keep it cold. I see a lot of ziploc bags and small disposable plastic containers.

We just use the vinyl lunch bag w/ water bottle. An ice pack for any thing that needs to be kept cold.

We tried the the plastic sandwich holders but if you don't have two or three of those you have to make sure to get it clean daily. (and if you're as busy as I am it's not as easy as you think)

With my daughter and only 25 minutes to eat lunch she shoves uneaten food back in and doesn't empty anything. When I go to re-pack I'm often finding more work for myself. So plastic baggies work best...less mess to clean up.

I personally wouldn't spend a lot on lunchboxes. My daughter had to bring her lunch for K (she's going into 1st too) and she left them at school, so you need a second box until she brings the other one home, if she remembers at all - I've had to go into the school and get it myself. She lost them, I had to visit the lost and found a couple times. They get very dirty, she's thrown out the plastic containers I'd use and put a half drunk juice box back in and it drips everywhere (I went through 3 b/c I couldn't stand when they got yucky), and usually they see something their friends have (some trendy character or something) and all of a sudden the lunch box they picked out isn't so great anymore.

I'd use paperbags too, except she likes things the chicken salad that have to stay cold. I would recommend an inexpensive box with insulation and let her pick it out.

I checked on the Pottery Barn box and it says it's not available anymore, plus it looks like a lunch box for an older kid.

Our school lunches were packed in brown paper bags. They were kept in a stack near the rotary phone. Mom and dad would doodle on them while on the phone. We loved seeing their doodles and thought they were great fun. Occassionally there would be a note or a phone number on them as well.

We didn't have cold packs, insulation, etc. Lunch was something simple like a sandwich and apple and a cookie. Sometimes we'd get mac & cheese or soup in a thermos. Other times it would be something in a tupperware. We did alright.

You can do a packed lunch without much money at all if you want.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

Sometimes Asian food stores have bento boxes, usually metal or plastic, for reasonable prices. Old Navy had some good ones at reasonable prices last year, but they broke by the end of the year -- the metal bento boxes will go on forever, I think! To me, the price of reusable containers was well worth it compared to the price and waste of plastic bags or single serve portions. The one reusable product I didn't like was the oil cloth sandwich wrappers -- they have velcro closures and they seem like a good idea, but I never felt like I was able to get them good and clean -- I ended up not using them, so they weren't worth it.
ETA -- reading through the other responses -- I bought two sets of containers for both kids and devoted a kitchen drawer to holding them (as well as other kids cups and containers). The kids became more involved in the packing and cleaning up once they realized that if they didn't unpack their lunch box they wouldn't have clean containers for the next day. Wasn't that hard.

My daughter has an insulated cooler type lunch bag and if I am send something that needs refridgeration, I throw in 2 of the frozen ice brick things. As long as the lunch bag is not in a really hot place, it actually stays cold all day.

Also I agree with using zip lock bags, unless you have a lot of reusable containers (with a place to keep them all) you will feel like you are always washing them out.

Target usually has some nice bags that are no terribly expensive and so does TJ Maxx on occasion.

Good luck!

I have two daughters, one will be starting third grade this year, and the other will be entering Kindergarten (sigh...).

I have never spent a lot of money on lunch boxes because she has left them at school, dropped them in the mud, lost them (though always eventually finds them, lol) spilled food/drinks inside of them, etc. I have spent anywhere from $5 to $15 on lunch boxes, and they all last the same. The best one I've bought so far cost $5 at Old Navy.

I just pack their foods in ziploc bags or tupperware containers, and an ice pack or two, and they are good to go.

I have no idea of what those products are but there are things you need to consider before you sink a fortune into anything. Lunch boxes get lost a lot! Kids tend to prefer buying their lunches, I think it is a peer pressure thing. I would get something cheap and see how it goes.

For little snack-type stuff in lunches, I like the TakeNToss stuff. From the baby aisle. I think they are supposed to be for formula - they are durable enough to sash them, but they are also somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 for $2, so if they get thrown away, no big deal. They are small, but perfect for sending things like grapes, sunflower seeds, goldfish crackers, hummus, baby carrots... Just toss 'em in an insulated lunchbox.

I really dislike using so many plastic bags and disposable things because it's really bad for the environment. That being said, young kids constantly lose their lunchboxes and such!

When my SD was a little bit older we used to have her put one of her favorite toys in the "collateral" bin before school. If she brought back her lunch box she received the toy back. If she forgot her lunch box the toy stayed in the bin until the lunch box was brought home. That was a great way to encourage her to be more responsible for her lunch things.

If you're handy at all you can make reusable sandwich and chip bags.

I learned this trick a long time ago. The night before, take a paper towel, fold it and wet it. Then put it in the freezer. Use it as a cold pack inside the lunch box, and by lunch time it will be defrosted and can be used as a wet wipe!

This is a great question- I went through this situation last year. I ended up taking my son to a few different stores to test opening and closing various lunch containers for his new lunch box. Believe it or not, he had trouble opening many of the containers. We ended up buying a set from Whole Foods. Personally I thought $16 for a lunch box container set sounded expensive but it was BPA free so I bought it. It was totally worth it! The set held up, looks like new and we're still using it constantly- no need to buy a new set again this year. I wish I could say the same thing about his lunch box!

Last year I bought my daughter a squishy foamy type lunch bag from Target. It has a strap like a purse and a Velcro flap closure. It looks like a ladybug and came with a ladybug-shaped ice pack. They had a number of other styles as well. There's an inner plastic liner that snaps in/out for easy cleaning if something leaks or spills. I loved that it was squishy because I could always fit it into her backpack. It was not expensive and worked great all year!

I have been using lunch cubes for my kids. One container with separate compartments for each food. Costs around $5 and fits into any lunch box. I buy mine at Container Store. (Check out the link below.)
For a sweet treat in their lunch, I include one hershey kiss every day. I tell them that when they eat it, they are getting a "kiss from mom". It's a fun tradition and they really enjoy it.

http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10025083&amp...

I love the ez lunch boxes. I think glad make something similar now too. It has a storage area big enough for a sandwich or main course then two smaller spaces comected to it. All under one lid. Your first grader may not be able to open the samall lids of the laptop lunches. I tried them and felt limited in what I could pack.

You may want to check with your PTO. Ours encourages green packing and has offered some deals on lunch systems. They wouldn't work for us as my kids vary what they eat, and thus, the size and shape of container every day. I don't spend a lot of money on containers as they inevitably get lost. I use either Ziploc or Glad containers from the grocery store. One brand is BPA free (sorry, don't remember which off the top of my head). I also like the snapware containers. I buy the smaller sizes as the kids tend not to eat that much during lunch. Plus they can fit a variety of food into their lunchboxes at the same time. The square ones are the perfect size for sandwiches. I also get each child a good Thermos for hot food. If you pre-warm it, soup/mac& cheese... will stay hot until lunch. I do try and separate cold food with an ice pack from the Thermos so I tend to use them on alternate days. I've invested in cheap flatware that they can use and bring home. If that gets lost, I don't care.

Unless you like to wash dishes daily, buy enough containers to last at least a couple of days. I've got two kids who not only pack for school but also have to pack meals for after school practices. Needless to say, we go through a lot of containers. Even with all that lunch packing, we only used part of one bag of sandwich bags last year.