Schools

What Do You Pack in Your Kids' Lunches?

Patch readers share their tips for packing a school lunch that travels well, is relatively healthy and, perhaps most importantly, the kids will eat.

Written by Jennifer Marangos


Let’s face it, getting kids of any age out the door and off to school in the morning is tough. Whether the child travels to school on foot or has to make it to a bus stop, it’s often a game of beat-the-clock.

And, that clock seems to count down even faster when you have to add packing a lunch to the laundry list of tasks that have to be accomplished.

So we reached out to our Patch Facebook friends for their school lunch box ideas

Missy Moyer Schneck, whose daughter never wants to buy the lunches offered at school these days, says that when she packs the lunch box she tries to "switch up" the standard sandwich on bread with a wrap "and usually a note from mom.” 

Beth Loring's 9-year-old brings also brings to school a slightly different twist on the standard lunchbox sandwich: cinnamon raisin bread with cream cheese and jam. One the side, he gets "a few sun chips," she says.

For those looking to get a head start on packing that lunch boxSchneck says that she makes some sort of a pasta salad at the beginning of the week and her daughter brings a little bit with her each day.

Here are some specific easy-pack school lunch ideas from the Patch Facebook pages:  

  • Hummus and crackers
  • Grapes
  • Cheese sticks
  • Salsa and chips with extra dipping veggies
  • Strawberries
  • Cold pasta
  • Yogurt
  • Granola
  • Cereal 
  • Crispy Chicken
  • Soup
What are your tips for packing school lunch boxes? Got an interesting sandwich twist? A time-saving trick? Share what works really well for you -- as well as what doesn't. Post your suggestions in the comments.


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