Are you in a bit of a lunch box ideas rut? Perhaps stuck for ideas on what to pack, or sick of that ‘what do you want for lunch?’ conversation that seems to go round in circles?🤯 Help out your future self! Starting is the hardest part, so let’s start small. List your child’s lunch box favourites.
If you’ve landed on this page, it’s safe to assume you have school-aged children. Fun fact: If you pack a lunch box for one child, every school day for their primary school years, that’s 1400 lunchboxes made. If that thought makes you shudder rather than rejoice, I’m here to help! As a teacher and now school mum, I’ve gathered some fantastic tips to make life easier, and that ridiculous number of lunch boxes seem not so bad.
Tip: List your child’s favourite packable foods
We know there’s little point in trying to send foods to school that are disliked or at best, tolerated only when you’re supervising the meal and/or using bribery. We want our kids to refuel during the day, and sending preferred foods obviously increases the chances of that food being eaten. Ask your child what they like most, and get them involved in making the list.
This is within reason of course! Children need good nutrition, and I’m not suggesting sending a candy-filled lunch box if that’s what they want! 😆 You might need to negotiate what makes the list – when I asked PK, at first everything began with ‘chocolate …’😁. I’m lucky it wasn’t hard to steer him back in the fruit and veggie direction!
When PK started Prep (the first year of school here in Australia), he would bring home his uneaten lunch box – there was no time to eat, he was too keen to play! Unless there were preferred items packed in there, my chances of him eating anything were slim at best. So we listed what’s liked, I gave him choice (within reason) and variety (a must for him!). It’s taken some work, and he often still brings half home for afternoon tea. But life (especially afternoons) is easier for everyone when he’s fed! 😆
Making the list of lunch box ideas
I find it helps to organise the list with these headings:
- Lunch item
- Fruit/Vegetable
- Snack (savoury or sweet)
Keep in mind that children should have a balance of fruit and vegetables, grains, protein and dairy. The Australian Dietary Guidelines set out the recommended servings for children.
You might like to add dairy to the list, or another category that’s important to highlight in your child’s diet. Make the list your own!
Lunch box printable: Free lunch box list blank printable
Download your own blank list here, for you or your child to fill out.
Easy school lunch ideas
Here are the three main categories I use to plan and pack a lunch box for kids. I hope some of these bento lunch box ideas help if you’re a little stuck!
Lunch item (main course)
- Sandwich / wrap
- Homemade pizza
- Rice cakes with deli meats and/or cheese
- Veggie nuggets
- Meatballs / sausages
- Pork or chicken sausage rolls
- Pasta salad
- Quiche or egg muffins
- Vegetable frittata
- Sushi
- Dinner leftovers
Fruit/Vegetable
- Any kind of fruit or veg!
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Oranges
- Apples
- Mandarins
- Bananas
- Melon
- Grapes
- Pear
- Dried fruit e.g. apricots, sultanas
- Fruit kebobs
- Carrot
- Tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Veggie sticks and hummus
Snack
- Crackers
- Cheese stick
- Trail mix
- Muffin
- Energy balls/bliss balls
- Cookie
- Pikelets
- Muesli bar
- Yoghurt
- Scroll/pastry
Ideas come first. Planning come next!
Once you have your list of lunch box ideas, you can use it to plan out a week of lunch boxes. Seriously, meal planning lunch boxes is so useful! Check out the next lunch box tip and get the free lunch box printable for meal planning too.
Happy list making!
Chloe x
