Packing Your Kids a Healthy Lunch

Whether you are packing your children’s lunches for a fun day at the beach, a play date with their friends, or school, adding healthy choices in their lunchbox is important! You want to make sure they are growing strong and healthy. A healthy lunch can be a challenge to prepare. Kids are susceptible to pressures from their peers and the media when it comes to food options. Overcoming these influences is difficult, but it can be done! Here’s how!

Have a Conversation

The first step in creating a healthy lunch is having a conversation with your children about healthy food! Help them understand what “healthy” means and how healthy choices will be good for their bodies and brains! Kids want to grow, and they want to be strong and smart. Tell them about the healthy aspects of certain vegetables, fruits, nuts, and proteins. The more they know, the more they will be interested in the food they consume.

Decide what kinds of foods you would reasonably be able to pack in a healthy lunch. Make a list. With the list of foods that you have created, ask your children to pick their favorites! Involving your children in the preparation will make them more excited about the process! Then, you can pack nutritious lunch options based on their healthy preferences.

Know the Basics

It is important that your children eat well-rounded meals. What constitutes a healthy lunch? There are many ways to get proper nutrition, but the basics come down to protein, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy. Putting the basics into each healthy lunch will give your children a nutrient dense diet, helping them grow strong!

Now that you have a general idea of what to pack, it’s time to pack it right! A healthy lunch is only healthy if it is properly stored and maintained. To create a portable lunch, you’ll need ice packs, a lunch box, a stainless steel thermos, and air-tight microwave safe containers.  To involve your children even more in this process bring, them along when you go shopping for these essentials. Let them pick the color thermos they like, the shape of the ice packs, and the design of the lunch box! Just make sure the lunch box is well-insulated and roomy enough to store the containers and the thermos.

Fun Food Ideas

To keep things interesting for your kids, here are some fun food ideas for healthy lunches. Kids tend to love finger food! Try making your own healthy version of pre-packaged lunch snacks. Pack whole grain crackers, fresh deli meats, and slices of your child’s favorite cheese. Then, they get to put all the food together as if it is their own creation!

Another great finger food option is a pinwheel wrap. Take your whole grain wrap and put in the ingredients that your kids desire. Tightly wrap and then place toothpicks through the wrap about an inch apart. Cut between the toothpicks and you will have bite-sized pieces that have all the colors of the ingredients! It is a pretty finger food that your kids will love, too.

You can also try using long kebab sticks for a variety of lunch options. You can make fruit kebabs, meat and cheese kebabs, or vegetable kebabs. It is a simple way to add variety to your kids’ healthy lunch.

With these ideas in mind, planning and packing a healthy lunch for your kids is easy and fun. You may even want to pack your own healthy lunch! If you are looking to pursue a healthier lifestyle and improve the lives of your family, please contact me! I can help you get on track with food, fitness, and a healthier approach to living!