Back To School Lunchbox Ideas

1.    Eating fruit can be fun:   Make it easy for your child to eat fruit by making colourful skewers with bite-sized pieces of fruit. (Wrap in plastic film to keep it fresh.)

2.    Keep salads crisp:  Keep the salad dressing separate in a small tub so your child can pour it on himself just before eating.

3.    Cut down on salt:   Many lunchbox specials such as cheese strings or crisps are very high in salt. Keep these as special treats and help balance the effect of the salt by including food that is high in potassium such as banana or apricot.

4.    Increase your child’s enjoyment:        Talk to you child about what he particularly enjoys. Ask if other children are bringing any foods that he would like to try. Find out why anything that comes back untouched wasn’t eaten.

5.    Keep food warm:  If the weather is cold there is nothing like a cup of homemade soup to warm and nourish. A wide mouth mini Thermos flask is a great addition to your child’s lunch box equipment.

6.    Keep food cold:  To keep salads, fruit and raw vegetables cool and fresh include a frozen drink in the lunch box. By lunch time it will be defrosted having done its job of keeping the contents of the lunchbox cool. Choose pure fruit drinks or smoothies , not fruit juice ‘drinks’ which tend to be high in added sugar.

7.    Fresh is best:  Vegetable sticks can be dried up and wilted by lunch time. Wrap them in damp kitchen paper to help keep them moist and fresh.

8.    Junk the junk:   Processed foods tend to mean too much junk and not enough lunch so keep these to a minimum. If your child likes crisps give him a few in a small bag or wrapped in foil occasionally.

9.    Stop the morning rush:    Make the lunch the night before and pop into the fridge to keep it cool and fresh. Just don’t forget to grab it before heading out the next morning.

10.  Add a personal touch:  Tuck in a surprise – a note, a joke or stickers. Hide a special treat at the bottom. Pack fun napkins or decorate the lunch box with stickers. Draw a face on a banana or orange skin with a marker pen. Use biscuit cutters to make interesting shapes with the sandwiches.