At the beginning of the year I packed my son’s lunch with apple slices, orange wedges, carrot sticks, a sandwich and an array of treats. His 10 a.m. snack was like a brunch buffet. But after several weeks of him retuning home with his sandwich and produce still intact and all of his treats and juice devoured, I changed my game plan. Now I just send a sandwich, applesauce, juice and a snack. But it feels boring and kind of like a cop out. Although he doesn’t complain, I know that no one likes to open their lunch box up to the same thing everyday. Here are a few ideas to add a little surprise to that boring brown bag.
- Let kids help. Decide what you are going to put in their lunch. For example one fruit, one veggie, one treat and a drink. Fill a bowl with different fruits, one with different veggies, etc. Then when you have to pack lunches let your kids pick which fruit, which veggie, etc that they want. This ensures that they will eat their choice and it will make lunch packing go faster with all of the extra hands.
- Make a chart. Make columns on a dry erase board for each food group. Have kids fill in their favorites for each group. Then make a deal that you can pack their lunch with anything that is on that board and they will eat it. You may even discover some ideas from your kids that you might not have thought of yourself.
- Make a theme. Bust a rut by packing lunches with a theme. You can pack all things that are all round, square, green, orange, etc. Or you can pack a cowboy lunch with BBQ fare or a circus lunch complete with kettle corn.
- Get Crafty. Stick Con-Tact paper on the inside lid of a lunch box and, voila!, you have an instant dry erase board. You can write messages, jokes or interesting facts for them to read to fellow classmates. You can even include a dry erase marker and draw up a game of tic-tac-toe or hang-man for them to play.
- Give Sandwiches A Face Lift. If your child has a habit of ignoring your sandwiches, try this quick fix. Pull out your cookie cutters and cut their sandwich into fun shapes, making them instantly more appetizing to little peepers.
