That time of the year is back upon us, where we struggle to think of kids’ lunchbox ideas every single morning! Lunchbox ideas for kids can be super tricky as parents as we are navigating food preferences, nutrition concerns, plus school requirements and avoiding the soggy sandwich dilemma. Let me help you. I’m going to detail 3 main things we need to do with our lunch boxes and some practical ideas on how you can achieve these things for your kids. Before I get into it, I have a whole free lunch box guide here, that you can access at any time that has all this information for you as well.

Variety

Variety of each of the food groups is super important in lunch boxes. We want to make sure we have a fruit, a vegetable, a grain, a source of protein and a source of healthy fat. Variety gives them choice and allows our kids to assert their independence. It also gives them more exposure to different foods as we’ve just talked about. Variety of different plant-based foods helps us build a diverse gut microbiome which is crucial for long term health outcomes. 

Protein

Protein is one that’s generally missing from our kids lunch boxes but it’s crucial to help them feel full, satisfied and have a nice steady stream of energy from the food that they eat. If your child is happy to have egg cups or roasted chicken in their lunch box – then great! If not, don’t fear as kids don’t need a huge amount of protein. 1-2 slices of wholegrain grain bread will give them a decent amount of protein in their lunch box. Other lunch box friendly options include hummus and greek yoghurt.

Healthy Fats

Getting healthy fats into lunch boxes for our kids has gotten harder since most schools are now nut-free. If you’re making a lunch box on holidays (or if your school isn’t nut free) then nut butters, or nuts for older kids are a great addition to help them feel satisfied and full throughout their day. A great way to serve nuts for younger kids is also homemade (or store brought!) bliss balls (cut in quarters) and nut bars. Other than nuts, our other options are olives, avocado and full fat dairy products like yoghurt and cheese.

If you’re struggling with meal times, my kids course might be for you. Happy Little Eaters is a self-paced course that gives you simple, practical advice on what to feed your kids and little tricks to make mealtimes easier, calmer and less crazy!

It’s never going to be perfect, but I promise you it can be easier. Videos in the course are 6 minutes or less, so you can binge the course in one night and get back to Real Housewives the next! Simple handouts that you can stick to the fridge and keep on your phone will help you in the day-to-day chaos. The course will help your family mealtimes go from chaos to calm.

Jade Harman

Jade Harman is a Clinical Nutritionist, educator, and speaker helping people make sense of nutrition. With a Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine and experience supporting more than 500 clients, she’s seen firsthand how misinformation can derail good habits. Jade doesn’t do fads or guilt – just practical advice that works in real life with real people. You can find out more about Jade here.