Taking the time to get organized and plan healthy lunches for your kids not only ensures they have something nutritious to fill their little tummies – research shows that children’s attention span, concentration and memory are all impacted by the daily nutrition they receive, which makes packing a healthy lunch all the more important.
Yet, if your house is anything like ours trying to come up with a variety of nutritious lunch options that the kids enjoy can be a real challenge.
The good news is packing a wholesome lunch doesn’t have to be difficult. All it takes is a little preparation and some great ideas to build your healthy lunchbox repertoire. Read on for a list of some healthy family-friendly lunch recipes and snack inspiration.
Wrap it or Ditch the Witch
Pinwheels (a.k.a. wraps) are a tasty, fun and attractive alternative to the traditional sandwich. Apparently, the cute little roll-up makes everything look and taste yummier and there are tons of options for even the pickiest of eaters.
Non-sandwich lunch options are not only great for those who are gluten-free or grain-free, but they also provide a healthy escape for anyone experiencing sandwich boredom, plus they can be super fun for the kids.
Alternately if your kids are into sandwiches and you don’t have a lot of time you can jazz things up by cutting out their sandwich into a cute shape with a cookie cutter.
FROM LEFTOVERS TO LUNCH
A favorite at our house and talk about convenient! Packing dinner leftovers for lunch is one of the easiest methods for ensuring a delicious healthy lunch.
HEALTHY HOMEMADE “LUNCHABLES”
Kids are always excited to try the unhealthy packaged lunchables and they can be tempting as they are convenient. But there’s no need sacrifice good nutrition when you can create easy homemade lunchables that are far more nutritious and affordable!
GO FOR A DIP!
Looking for a change of pace? Nutritious dips and spreads make a great light lunch, or add several satisfying sides for a heartier meal.
Fruits and Veggies
How to sneak the dreaded fruit and veggies into the brown bag. For most kids this is the least favorite part of their lunch. More often than not the fruit always makes its way back home, a little bruised but not eaten. 🙁
I can’t blame them the standard apple or banana can get boring real fast. Change things up by cutting their fruits and veggies into fun shapes, or better yet create fun kabobes to win them over.
Snacks:
Adding a healthy snack makes lunchtime extra special. Here are a few quick and easy recipes that are sure to be family favorites.
I recently tested these recipes out with my Step-son and can happily report that they are kids approved. The homemade fruit roll up is still a work in progress, I am going to try making it in a foot dehydrator to see if i have a bit more success.
So there you have it, healthy lunches don’t have to be tasteless or boring, hope you found some lunchbox inspiration to help you on those busy school nights. Have something to add, would love to hear from you.
This post is awesome. although I’m looking for lunches for the hubs and myself, I think I’m going to have to use these idea. it’s making me hungry just reading about them.
Thanks for stopping by, glad you found some inspiration.
Thanks for sharing. I will send your post to my sister In law dir my niece
Thanks Nicola for stopping by and sharing.
I love the fruit kebab idea! Great way to get them to try different fruits and they look fun!
Always on the lookout for new ideas! Even though I eat lunch at home ( work evenings) i get stuck in a rut of what to eat 🙂
Preparation seems to be the key 🙂
Preparation really is important but once you have a system it’s easier.
Thank you for this wonderful tips and guides, I’m sure kids will really love this one. I don’t have kids but I could try to for myself 🙂
Leftovers are KEY, for any household lol. I am loving that puzzle sandwich cutter, that’s super cute!
So fun right
That sandwich cookie cutter is such an awesome idea. I think I’m going to use it for my own sandwiches. But where to find them? Or do you just use a standard issue cookie cutter?
I got one in a local store by my house but I’m sure you could find one online.
THese are cool ideas!! I also like the puzzle sandwich cutter
jane @ http://www.thismamablogs.com
I blog about meaningful living and my journey to financial freedom
OOh! Homemade fruit by rhe foot? I’m so trying that recipe. I just went back to college and I’ve been bringing my lunch. PB&J gets old! Thanks for these ideas.
It’s really good. They key is to make sure it’s evenly distributed in the pan so it cooks evenly.
I swear Americans have the worst lunch options ever. Thanks to blogs like this, Pinterest and just the overall internet I am so happy parents can help their child eat better when they go to school.
Thank for stopping, so happy you found some imputation.
That puzzle sandwich box is the cutest thing ever!!! Thanks for all the fab ideas xx
No problem! Thanks for stopping by.
homemade fruit roll ups! I would never have thought!
They are delicious and easy,..just take time
I have always wanted to make my own fruit roll ups. I am all about healthy snacks. I’ll also have to check out your KIND bar recipe.
Not my recipes but they are really good. I recommend checking them out.
Love it! Great ideas and we’ll be putting a couple of these to use in our house next week! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by, glad you found some inspiration. Let me know how it goes.
This is such a great idea. I really love those fruit kebab and homemade fruit roll ups. It is important to have an fruits in lunch boxes, especially for kiddos.
Yes!! I saw this on Pinterest and knew I had to pin it. I love making healthy food for lunch/dinner. I’m all about eating healthy. It also saves time and money!
The color of your food is amazing and the description is crazy. Added to my list of must try soon.
I don’t have kids yet but I wouldn’t mind trying those wraps myself! ahah It’s great that you take the time not only to make such incredible lunch boxes for your kids but to share it with us as well! I will definitely forward this to a couple of my friends who actually struggle to get their kids to eat fruits and veggies!
Everyone struggles to get their kids to eat fruits and veggies myself included. Thanks for stopping by & sharing!
They’re all beautiful and yummy looking goodies! I love deserts so much!
Wow some of those foods look divine and yummy to eat! I wish I had the time to do all that it looks more like an art! And what a great way to get kids to eat veggies. Interesting read.
I would’ve enjoyed my lunch if they looked like that ! great tips thanks.
How creative! My girls have just fallen in love with bento box lunches and now I have to come up with a hundred different combinations to keep lunchtime interesting lol.
These are really great ideas, definitely an effective way to add variety to kids meals. Thanks for sharing!
these are amazing ideas! i cant wait to have kids so i can try some of these out with/for them!
Do let us know how the fruit roll-ups experiment goes! I’d love to be able to make those at home (they cost so much at the shops to buy!)
The oven ones were a bit uneven and took a long time. Food dehydrator was much more convenient but both were delicious.
It is very difficult to make these kids eat something, specially regular healthy vegetables and fruits are something they avoid! But using above tips I am sure they will love to try them out. Thank you for these great tips! I am sure every parent will find it helpful 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!!
Love the lunch box inspiration! So many wonderful ideas for the kiddos. Can’t wait to give some of the ideas a try.
These are great ideas! Your mention of roll-ups reminded me of when I helped my daughter prepare food for a bridal shower in August. One of the things we made was roll-ups with ham, cream cheese, and dill pickles! They tasted delicious! We also made caprese bites with grape tomatoes that we cut in half, and mozzarella cheese cut into chunks. We briefly marinated the cheese chunks in balsamic vinegar and basil first, then used toothpicks to spear the half tomatoes onto the cheese chunks . Yummy!
Wow those sound amazing!
LOVE this post! These are all great lunch ideas my daughter would love. She’s not always big on sandwiches so I love the wrap idea! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by glad you found some inspiration.
I love the puzzle cutout for the sandwiches. I have to food prep it is so helpful to keep up with food for the week.
I don’t have kids but will actually use these tips for myself! I love the idea of putting adult lunchables together – healthy little snack boxes I can bring on the go.