The clothes are pressed and carefully laid out, the infamous #2 pencils are sharpened and the brown paper lunch sack is ready to be filled. The first days are new, full of excitement, and the peanutbutter and jelly combine easily but it doesn’t take long before you and your child are bored with what goes inside that brown paper sack. There are plenty of ways out there to keep lunches fresh and interesting throughout this school year.
If your child doesn’t think it is lunch without two slices of bread slapped together you can change it up by rethinking what goes in between those slices. I found some great inspiration in this post from Stylish Correspondence featuring everything from hummus and peppers to cream cheese and berries.
For an older child or more adventurous palate consider a tortilla wrap, salad or even a healthy chicken and waffle sandwich featured on People.com along with other great lunch ideas.
For gluten free lunches check out these great suggestions check out Rage Against The Minivan.
Keep in mind that the lunch hour for kids is far less than an hour and includes socializing and or recess so foods need to be varied and easy to eat. Fruits and veggies should be peeled and cut up or in slices and entrees with little assembly required. Blogger Keeley McGuire offers 20 non-sandwich lunch ideas that are quick and easy to eat and look so fun.
Besides nourishment, kids often need a bit of reassurance or encouragement come lunch time and a little note from home can mean so much. I came across these free printables at Make and Takes and Alphamom to get you started.
Photo Credit: Make and Takes
I hope your family has a healthy, successful school year filled with the wonder of learning, the confidence of growth and a brown bag that is never boring!
Mindy,
Those amazing looking lunches make me want to go back to school!!!
xo