Need Lunch Ideas for Child for Back to School

Whatever she eats at home, pack for lunch. I would pass on the tacos. Though. I would think they would be gross.

Have her be a part of this and help with choosing what to pack. You can plan a lunch menu if you want for the week or just plan each evening.

I am in the elementary school subbing a lot and I see such a variety of items. For something hot, or to keep things warm, use a Thermos. I've seen dinner leftovers, nuggets, hotdogs, soup, spaghetti o's, and all sorts of things like that in a Thermos. The Thermos is great.

Other options are veggies and fruit with dip, cubed deli meats and cheeses, crackers or bread, wraps or sandwiches.

I see a LOT of food be thrown out as well. Last year a little girl in 3rd grade brought lunch daily and refused to eat it. She had no money in her lunch account because mom insisted to pack lunch. At the end of lunch period, she would throw the contents away. After we witnessed this a few times and trying to get her to eat something, she said.. "I don't like what mom sends everyday". She said she told her mom. The lead teacher sent a note to mom and asked her to please send something the little girl likes to eat so she would eat.

I saw a magazine over the weekend called All You. It was full of back to school ideas, lunches, etc. I received it as a freebie and it is geared more toward moms with little ones and great ideas for them.

Best wishes!

I like to send a hot lunch in the middle of the week sometimes twice a week. I send them in a thermos and do not send an thing that requires an ice pack that day.

Thermos items:
Chili, pasta dishes, nuggets, corn dog bites, soups, corny muffins, enchallidas etc

Cold lunches: wraps, cold pizza, pasta salads, chicken salads, home made lunch able, hard boiled eggs with fruit veggies abd crackers.

Basically you just feed her whatever she eats at home. Sandwiches are common of course because they are easy, healthy and hold up well, but you can pack almost ANYTHING for lunch, it's no different than packing a picnic. Veges, fruit, crackers, cheese, crackers, yogurt, granola bars, chips/salsa, etc. My kids also took leftover fried rice, pesto pasta, quesadillas and bean burritos (fine at room temp) slice of pizza, Asian noodles, sushi, fried chicken/strips, all kinds of things.

If your daughter wants variety, great! My kids don't, I never did and most of the parents I've talked to say the same thing. Most kids really want the same thing everyday or have just 2 or 3 things they really like that they rotate. My kids tend to wasn't the same thing for a few weeks and then something else for a few weeks.

Just don't be surprised if she had just a few things she wants. It's very normal at her age.

I got a hot food thermos, and send all kinds of stuff in it. Here are my son's favorites (obviously you will tailor to your child's interests/allergies):
Taco meat, cheese in a separate container, a few soft taco shells and cherry tomatoes
Pasta with meatball
Chicken fingers cut into pieces (paper towel in the bottom of the container so they don't get soggy)
Cut up pieces of grilled chicken or pork
sloppy joe in the thermos, bun backed separately

And, just in case you haven't used a hot food thermos before - the most important thing you need to do to make sure it keeps the food warm until lunch is to pre-warm it. Boil water then put it in the thermos for about 5 minutes while you get the food ready. When the food is hot, dump out the hot water, dry the thermos quickly, and then put the hot food in. It will stay fine until lunch this way.

One thing to keep in mind is that lunch times are very short. Sometimes as short as 20 minutes. Hardly ever longer than 30. My son was getting in the car after school having eaten just one thing out of his lunch. Then he would devour the rest of it in just minutes. When I really started looking into why he wasn't eating, it came down to the fact that he didn't have time to open each individual container I was sending. I started putting things in one larger container with different sections and he was all of a sudden eating everything at lunch. I would avoid sending things that take a lot of assembly until you are sure your daughter will have time to assemble and eat.

One thing my son loved was his own "lunchables". I have a small cookie cutter like utensil that cuts sandwiches into shapes. I would cut some bread, meat, and cheese into whatever shape he wanted (circle, square, heart, triangle) and also send some of his favorite fruits and veggies. I always snuck a little surprise dessert in, too. Sometimes a mini candy bar, a donut hole, a cookie.

My daughter loves taking mac and cheese or cheese ravioli in a thermos.

My kids only take lunch when they don't like what is on the school menu. I found that even though I try to send a variety of things, they always want the same thing. They always buy milk at school. I tried packing it once and in a thermos and it leaked all over. After that it was just easier to have them buy it at school.

Oh, and I always send a love note in their lunch boxes. A couple of years ago I bought some preprinted cards that had a joke on one side and a message on the other. Last year I just wrote a little note on a fun shaped sticky note. I did find the preprinted ones in the dollar section at Target again this year. If Daddy makes the lunches and forgets to put one in, my kids are sure to let me know!

I'd get her input into what she wants. Nuggets are very do-able. Tacos and such will only be warm if in a thermos. Get a good one. If she will eat soups, you're ahead of me. If your DD wants the same thing every day, IMO, just make the same thing so she actually eats it. My DD usually takes fruit of some kind, a drink, crackers or bread or a taco shell/tortilla, raisins/craisins and something like lunchmeat, cheese, yogurt or pudding. Pretty much anything that will pack and stay hot or cold as long as you need is fair game, even dinner leftovers. We buy the lunchbox milks that don't need to be refrigerated, though they will be cool by lunchtime from the ice pack. Consider different sizes and shapes of ice packs, to keep things cool with various sizes of food.

We have a thermos and my son takes a hot lunch a few times a week. It's often leftovers from the night before, so things like chicken and rice, pasta with meat sauce, etc (and usually a few veggies thrown in there too). He says it's hot enough. I usually make it around 7:15-7:30 and he eats at 11:45.

I do give him chicken nuggets in the thermos and they are fine. I've never tried tacos but I would think they would hold up ok if you wrap them tight in foil and the tortilla is a little crispy/heated up beforehand. I don't know for sure though.

Occasionally I send sandwiches, but her prefers the hot food.

Along with the hot food, he gets fruit and usually some kind of cracker, pretzel, chips, etc.

You can also contact your school or district office regarding the lunches sold at school. They should be able to provide you complete ingredient information regarding the allergies. Our district has a spreadsheet of every single food they offer and which of the 8 main allergens it includes. You would have to ask them about rice, bananas and tomatoes, but they could probably provide that info. My son is allergic to dairy, nuts and eggs and there are usually a couple of days per week that he could safely buy his lunch if we wanted to.

If you have a cold pack in the box, it will be fine. Some people even freeze bottled water and use it for a cold pack, with the bonus that it thaws by lunch time and the kid has cold water to wash down food with.
My daughter often took tuna with mayo for lunch and never had a problem with spoilage. I know yours can't eat fish, but that should give you an idea how good refrigeration packs or ice bottles work.
I kept lunches simple - a sandwich of some sort (her choice - she usually chose pb&j, ham and cheese, cheese and tomato, or tuna), chips, some sort of veggie or fruit that could be eaten with fingers. They usually don't have a lot of time for lunch (mine had twenty minutes) so time spent mixing stuff together or unpacking numerous containers was time that they didn't have to eat.

I don't think most kids can manage tacos - they're likely to break in transit and make a mess in school. Be sure the containers are easy to open. Hot foods work okay if you have a good thermos-style container you can put hot water in ahead of time and if the child can get the top off by herself. When I was teaching, I found so many kids in the lunch area just not eating because they couldn't open the tight lids or screw tops. Same thing for those prepackaged snack bags (chips, cookies, whatever) - kids can't open them, or if they do half the stuff gets launched out and on the floor. Make your own with reusable/resealable containers or even zipper bags.

My son used those ziploc containers with a space for the sandwich and 2 other compartments for other stuff - fruit, veggie sticks, etc. It provided an assortment which is great.

I hate juice boxes. Aside from their being expensive, they squirt all over and half of it gets wasted. There's no way to bring a partial juice box back home without soaking the whole lunchbox, so most kids just throw them out. I used a stainless steel water bottle (filled at the home faucet) that is refillable with plain tap water at school.

I labeled all the plastic with a black sharpie marker. After about 10 cycles through the dishwasher, I had to rewrite his name, but it was no big deal.

With about 180 days of school in a year, you're going to vary the food until you find out what works (and what she'll eat) and eventually get into a repetition of lunches to send in.
If she can't have nuts then cream cheese and jelly works out as a replacement for PBJ.
Roll up sandwiches are good too (you can use just about any meat (chicken,turkey, ham, beef, etc - even salami or pepperoni) or cheese and add in some spinach or lettuce leaves with cream cheese, mayo or sour cream.
Cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs (peel them for her), fruit (oranges, grapes, dried fruit (raisins, apricots, prunes)) are all good.

You have some good suggestions so far. I just wanted to add that my kid eats basically the same lunch every day and she's perfectly happy about it. So, don't feel like you have to reinvent the wheel. She likes what she likes and for the most part she eats it everyday. Sometimes I switch it up, sometimes she eats hot lunch, just go with the flow.

Other things my kid really likes is muffins and/or sweet breads like banana, pumpkin, etc., quesadillas (cold), yogurt, homemade lunchable, hard boiled eggs, cold pizza.

I will also add that although I do sometimes use cold packs, most foods will be perfectly fine from the time they come out of the fridge in the morning until lunch time. I always use a cold pack with yogurt or eggs, but other than that I'm not as strict.

very few foods will go bad by lunch, when packed in a lunchbox with an icepack. if she wants tacos or nuggets, and doesn't mind eating them cold, there's really no worry. but if she wants hot food, it needs to be something that will go into a thermos and get eaten with a spoon.
it's nice to want to vary her diet, but don't get hung up on it. if she likes chicken salad sandwiches, those really can be the base of most of her lunches. you can vary the 'same boring stuff' by switching up what fruit or cookies she gets, but the best time to be adventurous with children's menus is when you're with them. for her school lunches, make it a fun trip to the grocery store for her to pick out things she'd like, but don't go all iron chef on her. the main thing is to a) send things she'll eat and b) keep it reasonably easy on you.
khairete
S.

we send-

waffles with nutella and jam
hotdogs and corn
chicken and rice
left over pizza
mac & cheese
elbows with marinara and meatballs
hard boiled eggs
a cheese sandwich
hummos & crackers

My kid doesn't eat many things, but what he likes he will eat heartily. We send those fruit/ veg puree pouches too. It is a reliable way of getting something nutricious in him.

Best,
F. B.

Tacos-yes, I put hot taco meat in a thermos and then pack separately the shells, shredded cheese and sour cream. My daughter assembles it when she eats lunch. We use soft taco shells.

Thermos hot foods- make sure food is very hot before putting in thermos.
-pasta, soup, stew, hot dogs, mini crustless quiche, any hot leftover.

Cold lunch-
-Quesadillas- make sure to let it cool before putting in a container
-Wraps
-panini - make sure to let it cool before putting it in a container
- salad - dressing in a separate container

Make your own "lunch-able" (child assembles at lunch time) having little containers or containers with separate areas for each item work great.
- crackers, cheese squares, salami, turkey, ham
- toasted whole wheat English muffin, pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, turkey pepperoni
- veges and dip

it was important for me for my kids to learn responsibility and to be involved in packing their own lunches.

they pack the same thing everyday, they really like having the same thing over and over, they know what to expect and it's easy.

don't knock yourself out competing for mom that packed the coolest fanciest lunch, just let her help you and plan on having on hand things she likes.

we get as much as we can prepped the night before so that mornings are less hectic. that helps alot too.

While they don't have long to eat, I like to give choices of easy things to eat.
I make sure the packges are easy to open since the teachers aren't around to help open a gazillion packages/tupperware.
I take their foil lined lunch bag & keep it stored in the freezer w/an ice pack inside so it stays cool.

With nuggets, I heat in morning then double wrap in foil & sick in a thermos.
They stay luke warm, not hot.

I include these so they have choices:
-mini carrots
-pb&j
-mini yogurts
-crackers & cheese
-tuna & crackers
-salami & cheese
-turkey sandwiches
-pita pockets
-veggies & Ranch

I have packed my daughter nuggets or fish sticks and either rice, mashed potatoes, noodles, or mac & cheese in a container (similar to a thermos but shorter and wider that has a divided insert). Ravioli, Tortellini, or other pastas, or soups in same kind of container. I first put boiling hot water in the container for 5 minutes, then dump it out and immediate place hot food in it and close. It isn't HOT at lunch but it is still warm enough (lunch is packed by 7:30 and lunch isn't til noon). Sandwiches, wraps, and "lunchables" (I make my own rather than the pre-packaged ones) are a nice way to mix it up a bit. So is tuna on crackers...assuming she can't have tuna, chicken or turkey salad is good too.

Round it out with fruits/veggies, yogurts, etc.

One of the greatest things I have discovered for creating a "lunchable" is silicone cupcake cups .... Easy peasy to separate chips, fruit snacks, crackers, etc. from the rest of the lunch. They're amazing, dishwasher safe, and cheap if your kid accidentally throws them away. And, they have different shapes depending on your lunch container ...

http://www.walmart.com/ip/24547825?wmlspartner=wlpa&s...

My guess is that tacos and nuggets will both be a soggy mess. Here are a few things I send.

• Sloppy Jo’s - using a hamburger bun and a THICK sauce. Mostly containing meat. My daughter doesn't mind it cold.
• Hot dogs - My daughter eats more protein, so I send two hot dogs in one bun. I dig out a lot of the bread from the larger side of the bun.
• Deli sliced meat and cheese sandwiches. If you put mayo & mustard, spread it lightly, or it will be soggy.
• Pasta with meat and sauce with a sprinkle of cheese. My daughter doesn't mind it cold.
• Tortilla meat and cheese roll.
• Black olives.
• Chips
• Crackers
• Cheese & crackers
• Gogurts
• Pickles
• Chocolate milk (Hershey’s does not require refrigerating. I would not trust a cold pack to keep the milk)
• Gatorade on PE days.
• Fresh fruit
• Fruit and cottage cheese
• Granola bars
• Dried fruit

You've got a lot of good food answers below. My older kid prefers things like nuggets to be crispy outside and you can forget anything being crispy at lunchtime, even if packed hot inside a thermos--the heat creates steam and that makes breading and crusts soggy. So yes, nuggets or chicken fingers are fine to eat and tasty, but not crispy. Depends on your kid's preferences.

As a mom who has always packed lunch for my kid (and she's about to start high school!) I'd give these tips on logistics rather than food:

Buy at least one more lunchbox, probably two. One isn't enough because there will be days when you and she both forget it, it'll sit in the car or on the kitchen counter etc. and the next morning you have a damp interior to the box because the ice packs "sweated" in it as they thawed, etc. Or she will leave it at school one day and you have no lunchbox the next morning to pack--it will happen, it always does! It's so handy to have two. We actually have about four as they get used not just for school lunches but for snacks to take to dance after school, and we adults use them, etc.

We get what are really insulated soft-sided lunch bags and not rigid-sided boxes. That allows you to pack more things more easily. Available for anywhere from about $8 up at the grocery store.

Buy many more ice packs than you think you need and keep as many as you can in the freezer at once. Again, days will come when the ice pack doesn't get from the lunch box back into the freezer after school and the next day you're stuck with no ice pack for her lunch and have to scramble to send something that doesn't require being kept cold. Been there, plenty.

Thermoses are fine, but be sure that they fit inside the lunch boxes! Most are sold separately now and some are too large to fit inside lunch boxes/bags or they really strain the bag's zipper and you can't close the bag well around them.

You can find out her exact lunch time; the school has that listed right down to the minute so no need to guess. Ask the teachers. Be aware that depending on her grade, the lunch time can shift depending on the day of the week. She might have lunch at 11:50 on Monday/Wed/Fri but at 12:15 on Tues/Thurs if her schedule, for instance, means she has music on Tuesday and art on Wednesday....This mostly applies to older grades but I've seen it happen in older elementary too.

If her school has a program where you can put money into a lunch account for her to buy school lunch--in the event she loses her lunchbox or whatever--then do so. You don't have to put much in there--some programs let parents put as little as five dollars into a child's lunch account. It's just insurance, in case she leaves the lunchbox in the car as you drive away, or leaves it on the bus, etc. The only issue would be if she tries to use that money to buy pretzels, cookies or other extras and not as purely an emergency lunch fund, but many schools don't let kids buy "a la carte" items in that way. Schools usually have an "emergency lunch" for kids who truly have no lunch with them and no lunch money, but at our schools that was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich -- off limits to some kids including your own.

Most of all -- involve her in picking out the lunch boxes and the foods and helping pack whatever she can help pack! She'll love doing it.

My kids eat a lot of leftover dinners for school lunch. Pasta is great room temp as is pizza, they also do chili and soups sometimes.

They are mostly vegetarian, fish occasionally. Edamame, sliced cheese, hard boiled eggs, tuna salad w/o the bread, nuts and yogurt are all good sources of protein.

Toss in some whole fruit and they're good to go.

I send a frozen cheese stick with my son. We found that it was thawed and not cold enough just by itself so I freeze the cheese stick with some of those small flexible freezer packs wrapped around it and put it in a sandwich sized Ziploc to keep it together. It is thawed but still cold by lunch time.