Call me weird, but one of my favorite mom duties is packing my kids’ lunches for school. There’s something about putting a little extra love into their meal and knowing they’ll have a midday reminder that I’m thinking about them. I’m sure my kids won’t always want me to pack their lunches, but in the meantime, it’s a nice way to stay connected through their day and get them excited about eating.
Now, let’s not confuse extra love with extra time and extra effort. Our school year schedule stays pretty full, so I have a small arsenal of tools that help me quickly add special touches to lunches. Even if you don’t consider yourself creative, you can pick one or all these simple ideas to make your little ones smile when they open their food.
1. Cute Lunchboxes
Of course, you’ll want to start with a cute, practical container to hold all their fun eats. My kids are now in the first and third grades and we’ve had the most success with Bentgo Kids. They come in lots of playful designs and bright colors, and the latches are awesome for little fingers. We also appreciate that the bento style means no worrying about unwrapping tricky packaging during lunchtime.
2. Cookie Cutters
If you thought cookie cutters were just for cookies, you are missing out. I’ve used them for my kids’ sandwiches, quesadillas, pita bread, waffles, pizza, brownies, fruit, veggies, cheese, and crackers. The possibilities are endless, and it only takes a second to create a food shape.
There’s no need to stock up on cookie cutters for every holiday or occasion, especially if you don’t have the storage space in your kitchen. Just find a few shapes that’ll interest your kids. Amazon has everything from dinosaurs to Minnie Mouse!
3. Edible Markers
Whether you want to draw a smiley face on an orange or write a heartfelt message on a tortilla, edible markers are instant game changers. They can be used on most dry foods and you just write or doodle with them like regular markers.
4. Seasonal Accents
Most of my favorite childhood memories are associated with holidays, so I love to incorporate seasonal shapes, colors, and flavors into my kids’ food. One way I do this is with store-bought snacks, like Jack-o-Lantern pretzels, pumpkin spice crackers, or snowflake gummies. In my opinion, Target and Trader Joe’s are the best places to find seasonal snacks.
I also look for colors associated with holidays. For example, cherry tomatoes and celery are great for Christmas and strawberries are so cute for Valentine’s. You’d be surprised how easy it is to find the colors you need already in your fridge or pantry.
5. Notes or Jokes
I used to write my kids reminders to be kind and try their best, but now they look forward to corny jokes in their lunch boxes. You can use edible markers to write on their food or try reusable Post-it notes. Here are a few jokes that always get laughs:
- What is more impressive than a talking parrot? A spelling bee!
- Why did the golfer change his pants? Because he got a hole-in-one!
- Why is Peter Pan always flying? Because he Neverlands!
- When is your door not actually a door? When it’s ajar!
- What did one ocean say to the other ocean? Nothing, they just waved!
How do you make lunches more fun for your kids?
