School’s coming up and it’s always so hard to come up with new creative lunches kids will enjoy. Though peanut butter and jelly is always a great back up plan, it’s hard to find a child that will eat it every day (no matter how badly we wish they would). Here are a few tricks to packing delicious healthy lunches for your little ones.

Lets gather up a few things before we get started. I suggest getting a bento box or a lunch container that you plan to use just about every day. It’s ecofriendly and they’re so cute! Next, I would look into getting different shaped cookie cutters to cut out cute cheese slices or sandwiches. I also love to use silicon cupcake liners as little separators in the lunch container so wet foods don’t get dry foods soggy and such.

You can put so many fun things into these boxes! I suggest one fruit, one vegetable, one grain, one protein and one treat. Grains can be so easy whether you choose to go with something simple like gold fish or exciting like pasta salad. If you’re making pasta for dinner one night, set aside a little bit for your kiddo’s lunch the next morning and they have a delicious grain that is different from the usual bag of chips. As far as a protein goes, you can have so much fun with this! Take a small, fun shaped cookie cutter and cut out pieces of salami and cheese, pair with crackers and put them in your bento box. There are also so many great sandwiches that are even more appetizing when you cut the crusts off with a fun shaped cookie cutter too, I have a dinosaur one that I think would be perfect! Dessert is the part your kids look forward to the most so you cannot disappoint! In one of your silicon cupcake liners, put some chocolate or vanilla pudding and top with a few sprinkles to add some color to their lunch (and sprinkles just make everything better).  Chocolate covered pretzels are also a great little treat.

It is so important for children to stay hydrated and get in the habit of drinking lots of water. Buy a fun colored water bottle and some paint pens or sharpies and let your little one decorate it! This way they’ll be excited to carry it around everywhere and show it off to their friends all while drinking lots of water. Happy kids, happy parents!

I hope you enjoyed today’s tips and tricks and feel a little better prepared for the beginning of school!