Easy and Delicious Tips for School Lunches

Preparing school lunches for children can be stressful. As a parent, you probably would love to send a healthy lunch, but you also may have to follow a strict budget. While it may seem cheaper to buy processed foods to throw into the lunch bag, you might be surprised to learn that you can pack a healthy and fulfilling lunch for your children on a very small budget. There are many different lunch ideas, and you can alternate what you provide your children, giving them a great deal of variety.

Fresh Fruit

Fruit is a healthy addition to any lunch, and it is relatively cheap. However, purchasing the fruit cups in syrup is expensive and contains many added sugars that may not be the best choice for your child. Instead, consider cutting up a piece of fresh fruit and placing it in a plastic container.

You can even make your own little fruit salad. This is especially effective if you would like to send apples, since apples brown quite quickly. Add a citrus fruit such as grapefruit or orange to the fruit salad to help prevent this browning.

Fruit Sauces

Many children love applesauce and will welcome its presence in their lunch boxes once in a while. Again, these can be expensive when purchased, but it’s rather simple to make your own. Cut up the fruits you’d like to use, such as apples, strawberries, and peaches, rinse them thoroughly, and throw them all in the blender. Get creative and discover what flavors your children enjoy.

Pasta Salad

You certainly don’t need to go out and buy a pasta salad full of fat and unwanted additives. Instead, you can make a healthy and tasty pasta salad in your own home. Start with whole wheat pasta. While your children may prefer standard pasta, once the salad has been put together, they really won’t notice the difference. After the pasta has been cooked and drained, coat it very lightly with olive oil. Add some basil and two or three fresh vegetables and you have your salad.

The best thing about pasta is that it’s very filling. Pasta salad can be accompanied by a roll and maybe a single cookie for dessert, and your children should find themselves full after lunch. When preparing the pasta salad, make enough to serve for two lunches, but don’t serve the same lunch two days in a row.

Snack Mix

Children love snack mixes. But the ones you buy are very expensive. Save some money and make your own, but make something a little different than what your children are used to. Start with a base of oats and nuts, and whatever else your children might like. Sunflower seeds tend to be quite popular with children, but make sure they’re hulled first.

Don’t add pretzels or cheese puffs or anything else that’s really unhealthy (and expensive). Instead, consider adding a fresh fruit such as a strawberry or peach. If you do want to add a fruit, cut it into bite-sized pieces and make sure it’s a sweeter fruit. Oranges or pineapples probably won’t go well with nuts, seeds, and grains.

Vegetable Salads

Even if your children don’t like the traditional iceberg lettuce and other assorted vegetables, you might be able to come up with a salad they will enjoy. Take a moment to think about what vegetables your children do eat on a regular basis. Do they love tomatoes? Maybe they prefer squash or spinach. Make a list of the vegetables that they will actually eat, and purchase only those vegetables.

Chop or shred the chosen vegetables, mix them gently, and place them in a plastic container. If your children like dressing, make your own with olive oil and some seasonings. If you want to add some protein, chop up some cold chicken to throw on top.

Wraps

Most children love wraps. And they’re so easy to include in a lunch. You can put anything you like in these wraps. Try chicken salad, sliced turkey, bacon, cheese, vegetables, or any combination you think your children will enjoy. One popular wrap includes cubed chicken, cheese, honey dill sauce, and assorted vegetables.

Leftovers

Did you have a dinner the night before that the children just loved? Is there any left? If so, consider sending it to school as a lunch. If the school provides a microwave, this is even easier, as the children can have a hot lunch. Alternatively, invest in a couple of high-quality thermoses. The best ones will keep the food warm until lunch.

If they don’t have access to a microwave, get creative and find ways to serve dinner cold. Slice up yesterday’s roast beef for sandwich meat. Chop up chicken to add to a pasta or vegetable salad.

Bagged lunches don’t have to be boring, and they don’t have to cost a lot of money. Use leftovers, look for healthy ingredients on sale, and try pack something different every day. Get the children involved in making their own lunches and they’ll be more likely to want what they find in their lunch bag.

Back to School: Adjusting to Full-Time School

Whether your child is starting full-time kindergarten or moving from part-time kindergarten to grade one, the new routine can be intimidating and even frightening for children and stressful for parents. New teachers, more structured activities, and the other challenges that come with starting full-time school can sometimes seem like insurmountable hurdles, but with a little patience and some forethought, these challenges can become a thing of the past.

Motor Skills are Necessary

Fine motor skills are critically important in full-time school. They're also something that a lot of children lack when they start school. If your child plays a lot of video games or is involved in many sports, fine motor skills may not have developed enough for full-time school. To help with this, direct your child towards activities that will help with those ever-important fine motor skills. Lego, lacing books, drawing, coloring, learning to write their own name -- all of these things will help refine a skill that your child really cannot do without. I have my own preschooler working on fine motor skills for an hour a day, and he's still a year away from any kind of school. You don't have to start with an hour, but 15 minutes here and there can make a big difference.

Organization is Key

Nothing is more frustrating for a child than not being able to find that pencil they love or the eraser they picked at the store. A messy backpack or desk can be upsetting for your little one. Anticipate this by teaching your child to put things away properly. Have your child pick up with own coat and clean up their own toys. Then have your child neatly pack their own backpack. Hopefully, this regimine will continue at school at your child will always be able to find what they need.

Sleep is Important

Full-time school takes a lot of energy and this requires sleep. This is especially true during the first two or three months of school. Children who go to bed late or rise early will probably be too tired to concentrate at school. Adjust your child's sleep schedule so that they can get 8-10 hours sleep a night. Also look at how many activities your child is engaged in during the week. An overbooked child is a tired child.

Lunch is No Laughing Matter

Lunch is a big deal for children. They've been working hard for half the day and need to eat. Pack attention to what you pack. Make sure the lunch is nutritious, but also ensure that you're packing foods your child actually likes. Carrot sticks for a child who never eats carrots is not a good idea. So test drive the lunches you're thinking of before sending them off to school. Personally, I use weekends to test out new lunches. If they won't eat it at home, they probably won't eat it at school.

School is a Social Environment

School is not only an educational environment, it's a social one. Your child may have a friend or two before beginning full-time school, but these ties can be severed by classmates who become socially choosier without a little help from you. Arrange playdates with established friends and keep your ears open for mention of new friends. Also watch your child for signs of unhappiness. Your child may be socially isolated. Talk to the school about assigning recess buddies to try to help your child make friends.

Your Child Will Be Cranky

Be prepared for your child to be beyond cranky when they get home. They've spent all day being on their best behavior (you hope) and that takes a lot of effort for young children. To deal with this, know your child. An excitable child may require lots of activity to burn off excess energy and keep them from mischief. A quieter child may need some quiet time such as reading or coloring. But have an activity ready to go when your child comes home. Scrambling for something to do won't help your little one.

Help With Homework

Homework just happens when your child starts school. It might be a bit of reading or tracing letters, but it's important that the homework get done. Help your child establish a routine for doing homework, and check the homework before your child goes back to school. A little guidance from you can really help your child get ahead.

These are just a few things you can do to encourage your child and help him or her to adjust to the new routine introduced by full-time school. But the best thing you can do is listen to your child. Pay attention to what your little one has to say about school and make sure you know what's going on in that classroom.