School Lunch Ideas for Kids

Prepare Nutritious Sack Lunches with the Variety Children Crave

Sep 6, 2009

Transform "ordinary" sack lunches into a fun and tasty meal grade schoolers will look forward to eating by swapping the traditional sandwich for meals with more pizzazz.

Packing daily school lunches for kids can needlessly become a stressful task for parents, especially for the picky eater. It doesn't have to be this way though.

Children who bring lunch from home to school don't have to settle for eating the same boring sandwich every day. With a little bit of creativity, it's simple to whip up a school lunch to satisfy kids' appetite for variety! Ditch the PB&J occassionally, and opt for an alternative, more enticing, cost-effective meal instead.

Sandwiches with a Twist

Sandwiches have always been a sack lunch staple. They're easy to make and easy to transport. But, eating a sandwich every day for an entire school-year can bore the taste buds after awhile. That doesn't mean the whole sandwich concept has to be thrown out the window though. It's just time to give it a jazzy makeover.

Finger-sandwiches: Make peanut butter and jelly or cream cheese sandwiches as one normally would, only use a cookie cutter in a whimsical shape to cut out fun-sized sandwiches bites.
Tortilla rolls: Swap the bread for a flour tortilla to create tortilla roll-ups that can be stuffed with a variety of fillings. Peanut butter and jelly, cream cheese, turkey or ham and American cheese and melted Cheddar cheese are just a few of many filling options.
Cracker sandwiches: Add variety to school lunches by replacing bread with crackers. While any filling goes, using a "sticky" spread like spreadable cheese or peanut butter works best cause these ingredients will bond cracker pieces together, keeping the sandwich intact when it's transported.
English muffin pizzas: Use an English muffin to whip up mini pizzas. Just spread a light layer of pizza sauce on the muffin, sprinkle with grated cheese and top with crumbled bacon, sausage or pepperoni pieces to create this fun pizza snack. Heat for 20 seconds in the microwave to melt the cheese, let cool and wrap up for the perfect school lunch treat.

Kid-Friendly Salads

Although a more traditional green salad can be prepared if it's the child's preference, there are tons of other salad variations that are certain to jazz up any school lunch. Why not whip up one of the following salads for a little lunch-time variety:

Taco salad
Pasta salad
Bean salad
Fruit salad

Store-Bought Lunch Packs

Local grocery stores carry a wide variety of pre-packaged lunch packs perfect to add variety and save time when packing kids' school lunches. Everything from hot dogs and tacos to sandwiches are available complete with sides.

Healthy Sides

Complete the lunch meal with one or two healthy sides to keep kids' stomachs full and satisfied. It's easy to add sides to kids' lunches these days with the influx of individually packaged snacks available at the local grocery store. However, if a healthier snack is preferred over chips and cookies, opt for a side of yogurt, mini pickles, apple or orange slices, mini carrots and ranch dip, peanuts, raisins, apple sauce and/or popcorn instead.

Tools of the Trade

Before packing any sack lunch, it's important to have these supplies on hand:

A lunch box: Kids are more excited to bring lunch from home when they have a lunch box embossed with their favorite character or design.
A thermos: The perfect accessory that allows you to transport and keep hot foods warm. Thermoses can be filled with soups, pasta, etc.
Ice packs: Adding an ice pack to lunch boxes works magic to keep food and drink cold until lunch time.
Zip-loc baggies
Small, disposable containers like Gladware: Sending kids to school with disposable containers saves mom the grief and worry that her pricey, reusable containers will accidentally be tossed in the trash can.
Plastic forks and spoons
Individually packaged Wet Wipes: Sometimes a dry napkin just isn't enough to get the job done for grade schoolers. A Wet Wipe guarantees messy, sticky "lunch" hands and faces stay clean and sanitized for class time.

The Finishing Touch

Moms and dads can let kids know that they're thinking about them even when they're at school by adding a small personal note that says "I love you," or "Have a good day" to students' lunch boxes. Kids will love discovering this special message that's sure to brighten their day.

Turn boring school lunches into kid-approved meals with these easy, budget-friendly and delicious sack lunch ideas.

The copyright of the article School Lunch Ideas for Kids in Lunch Recipes is owned by Julie Pirkle. Permission to republish School Lunch Ideas for Kids in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.