Are you looking for some packed lunch inspiration for back to school? Well, look no further! Check out the video below or keep reading for some of my best lunchbox tips, tricks and hacks.
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Plan Your Lunch Boxes The You Meal Plan & Grocery Shop
Think about school lunch boxes when you are doing your weekly meal planning and grocery shopping to avoid that “Oh God, what Am I going to give the kids for lunch tomorrow?” moment the night before school. Check out my Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping Tips blog posts using the buttons below.
Invest In Dishwasher Safe Boxes
Make packing lunch boxes easier and (and cleanups are too) with dishwasher safe lunch boxes. Choose boxes that will stack both in your fridge and when they are away in the cupboard too.
Dishwasher Safe Labels
Make sure that you label anything that goes into your child’s lunch box that you ever expect to see again. In fact, make sure that anything at all that you send into school with your child has their name on it.
I use these amazing labels from My Nametags. They are dishwasher safe on hard surfaces and washing machine safe on the care labels of clothes just 24 hours after they have been stuck down. Think about using your family name and adding your phone number to the labels to make it easier for thing to be returned to you.
Food Clips
Invest in food clips to reseal opened food items that haven’t been completely used yet.
Reusable Food Bags
These reusable food bags are great for putting dryer items into such as bananas, as well as grocery shopping with less plastic bags and other household organisation such as toys too.
Prepare The Night Before
Make your school mornings easier by preparing everything the night before. Place any items that do not need to be refrigerated directly into the lunch box and store chilled items in the fridge once you have prepared them.
Dedicated Fridge Space
Keep everything that is to go in your child’s lunch box in one place in the fridge. If you leave things dotted on various shelves, it will be easy to forget to pack everything in the morning.
Snack Station
Have a basket (or two) dedicated to kids snacks in your cupboards, making it easy to grab what you need for your child’s lunch. Check out my kitchen tour below where I show you how I organise my cupboards with baskets.
Buy Backups
Implement the “one to use and one as a backup” system for anything that does not go off juicily and that you use for your child’s lunch. Once the opened item is empty, open the backup and add the item to your shopping list, meaning you will never completely run out of what you need.
Sandwich Alternatives
Think about using alternatives to traditional sandwiches. Check out the video below for some ideas.
Trial New Foods At The Weekend
If you have an especially fussy eater, try out new foods in the house to avoid sending in a “new and exciting” lunch that comes home completely uneaten. Check out my fussy eater tips post for more tips for encouraging fussy eaters.
Make Extra At Dinner
Use your evening meal time prep time to make lunches while you have everything out anyway. If what you are making lends itself, make a little extra for your child’s lunch the next day. For example, an evening pasta dish could become a cold past salad for a lunch box.
Create Bite-Sized Food
Cutting your child’s food into smaller bite sized pieces will encourage them to eat more.
Use Fun Cookie Cutters
Take the bite sized pieces a stage further and turn sandwiches into fun shapes with cookie cutters.
Scratch Message Into Banana
Using a cocktail stick, scratch a picture or message into the skin of a banana. By lunch time, the design will have “appeared” for your child to see.
Lunch Box Notes
Leave your child cute messages on sticky notes in their lunch boxes to make them smile even when you are not with them.
Buy Larger Packs & Decant Out
Consider buying larger packs of things such as crackers for your child’s lunch box, rather than the “snack sized” alternatives. Decanting out from a larger pack will save you money and be more environmentally friendly when it comes to wasteful packaging too.
Ask Your Kids To Put Rubbish In Boxes
Ask you child to put any rubbish and dirty cutlery inside your dishwasher safe boxes to come home. This will make cleaning up your child’s lunch box so much easier.
Pack Lunches For Pre School Kids Too
If you have any pre school children that eat lunch at home, make their lunch when you are preparing lunch boxes for your school kids. It is so much easier to prepare things all in one go, plus you will then have a packed lunch ready for any outings you decide to take that day.
Freeze Kid’s Water Bottle In Warmer Weather
Freeze a half filled water bottle on it’s side as a home made ice pack and to keep your child’s lunch cold.
Send Drink In Addition To Lunch Drink
Think about sending 2 bottle of water into school with your child, one for lunch and another for them to sip throughout the day. I like these Twist N Sip bottles. Simply refill them when they have been washed out and pop them in the fridge ready for the next day.
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