Packing School Lunches Made Easy

This post is sponsored by Danimals but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

I cannot believe that I am the mother of an almost 4th grader! Even though we are soaking up the last days of summer, I am in mom planning mode in my head, making lists of all the things we need to get done to be ready for school. While shopping for new school supplies and clothes are on most people’s lists, parent of lunch bringers also have to think about lunch ideas for the 180 lunches that will get packed this school year. Since I’ve been packing lunches for over four years, I consider myself a bit of lunch packing veteran and I’m sharing some tips to make packing school lunches easy.

KEEP IT SIMPLE
When I started packing lunches for Alex, I tried to be creative. I would spend lots of time packing lunches that were Pinterest-worthy, but found that lots of the things I was packing would come back home untouched. Since the goal is to keep my child fed and ready to learn, I quickly learned what to pack to make sure that lunch is eaten. I follow a formula of entree, fruit, crunch, treat and drink. For the entree, we do a sandwich or leftovers from the previous nights’ dinner in a thermos. For fruit, Alex loves berries, apples and grapes. For crunch, I try to include veggies like carrots or cucumbers, but Alex prefers veggie straws or crackers. For his treat, Alex loves Danimals Smoothies and Squeezables! He loves the taste and I love that they are a good source of calcium and vitamin D, and that they are more nutritious than some of the other foods my kids usually go for.

PREP LUNCH AHEAD OF TIME
Mornings are hectic enough without having to worry about packing lunches. Instead, I make the entrees and pack the snacks into containers for a few days at a time. I keep our Danimals Squeezables in the freezer so that they keep the rest of the lunch cold and thaw right in time for lunch. In the morning, all that has to be done is transferring everything to the lunchbox and out the door.

GET HELP
Alex is at the age where he can take on more responsibilities and be more independent. That is why it is his job to make sure his lunchbox is packed, his water bottle is full and that his backpack had everything he needs. By pre-packing things for his lunch, he is able to easily pack his lunchbox and feel like he is making his own decisions about what he is bringing for lunch. I make sure to keep the fridge stocked with Danimals Smoothies and Squeezers, so that he can choose which Danimals to pack in his lunch that day.