Dear Mummy, I may only be at nursery at the moment but I know you enjoy making pack lunches for our days out. BritMums (a parenting network) have challenged bloggers to take part in the #FloraLunchbox Challenge in an effort to spread the word about healthy lunches (excuse the pun).
The aim was to create some healthy options for my lunch boxes, but I know you are clueless and haven’t the time to create ‘bento type’ masterpieces everyday! You are looking for ideas on how to make simple, healthy and cheap lunches for me, day-in day-out, so when I go to school next year you can hit the ground running. You want to make them fun and something that I look forward to eating.
A recent study conducted by the University of Leeds in partnership with Flora discovered that only 1.6% of lunches in the UK meet current nutritional guidelines and a massive 98% of the lunch boxes they studied were unhealthy. Flora wants to change that! I don’t want to be an unhealthy statistic either.
It’s hard to come up with lunches each day that are easy, healthy and exciting for little ones, no-one likes a dull lunch. I know you would hate for me to reject what I’m given and turn my nose up at your efforts. I’m not a picky eater but I like my food to look inviting and taste varied. I think your heart would sink if I came back from school having not even touched my lunch.
So here’s out tips for creating simple, healthy and cheap lunches for children – lunches that they want to eat and parents want to make!
Parents – Have a routine
Try and make the pack lunches the night before. Don’t rush on the day. Keep it in the fridge ready to go. My mummy likes to get all the ingredients together and add fresh bread or wraps in the morning. If she doesn’t plan out the night before, then she struggles, panics and grabs the most convenient thing in the morning for our rucksack which usually includes crisps and processed food snacks. It’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut and reach for the default opinions which aren’t the healthiest of choices.
Lunches – Have a beginning, middle and an end
Kids love eating in an order – back to front or front to back. Believe it or not I love having a structure to my lunches, I don’t usually request anything in particular and don’t seem to have favourite tastes or food groups at my age yet. I’m a relatively good eater and I’m open to eating anything that gets placed in front of me. Lunches are usually 1 x sandwich or wrap with filling, 1 x piece of fruit, 1 x sweet or biccy, 1 x yoghurt or jelly, 1 x water or juice. I normally eat my way through the journey of my lunch box, starting off with the sandwich and ending on a high with the sweet!
Kids – How to pack with a picky eater
Get them involved with making their lunches or ask them for a theme and incorporate it into their lunches. Let them take ownership for their choices (within reason – a chocolate lunch isn’t suitable!) Occasionally I like to help my mummy make lunches and I like wrapping sandwiches in shiny foil. One time I made a little silver heart and was proud to tell my pre-school friends that I helped pack my own lunch.
Parents – Keep looking for ideas and inspiration
Flora have developed a website full of hints and tips, as well as a lunch box packing guide to help parents create healthy lunch boxes for their children. We enjoyed browsing through the site and picking our favourite ideas. We can’t wait to try the Flora lunchbox recipes. Flora has created a meal planner to help you put together tasty and nutritious lunchbox combinations too – this makes it easier for my mummy.
Parents – Keep it balanced
My mummy is a firm believer that everything should be in moderation. Keep it balanced with fruit, veg or salad, dairy, meat and a sweet. Unfortunately a lot of people are making unhealthy choices for their children’s lunch boxes and don’t get the balance right. The study found that only 17% of children’s lunches contained any kind of vegetables or salad; while 52% of lunch boxes contained confectionery; 46% contained sugary drinks and 60% contained crisps. I know that one thing my mummy isn’t fond of is sugary drinks but sometimes its hard to spot the difference, so if in doubt check the sugar content (even on water based juices). Why not swap crisps for popcorn?
I can’t wait to start school next year and my mummy has a year to master the art of a perfect pack lunch for me, lets just hope its enough time and that I’ve caught her in time to change her mind on what a healthy pack lunch is all about.
Love Bella xx
Disclosure. This post is an entry for the #FloraLunchbox Linky Challenge, sponsored by Flora. Check out their lunch planner and recipe ideas here. All opinions are my own.
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Fab post and great tips. Lunch is so important, especially when the little ones start school. #twinklytuesday
Great lunch box tips. I always struggle to pack something that my kids will eat but you’re right, when I involve them, there is a higher chance they’ll actually eat it! #TwinklyTuesday
….unless they select chocolate mousse like I first suggested to my mummy!! 😉 I don’t think a whole lunch box of those would cut the mustard!
Aw Isabella, so good at picking out the food in the lunchbox 🙂 You’ll have one of the healthiest lunch boxes when you start school!
Thanks! My words are coming along 🙂
Great post, kids and packed lunches can get difficult and keeping it healthy and enjoyable and fun is so important x
Great posts and I love your tips, lunches are so important for everyone x
Lots of useful tips, and when I next get a packed lunch demand for the kids I’ll have a few extra ideas – they usually have the same thing every time!
Yeah it can get easy to get stuck in a rut, my mummy is with her own lunches, this has given her ideas too 😉
Great lunch ideas. My little one is too young but packed lunches are never the most exciting things for me, There are some tips here anyone could implement to make them a little more fun. Great post.
Thanks Ceri, you’ve got all this to look forward too!
I make packed lunches for work and always try (try!) to think about including healthier options!
It can be proper difficult Milly, my mummy always reaches for the nearest thing when it come to her own lunches!!
I agree about the beginning, middle and end. I don’t feel like I have eaten a proper meal if I don’t do this myself. Good job Mummy x
Thanks 🙂 we love ending on a high with a little treat… gives us something to work *eat* too
Routine is definitely the key to any part of life. Creating a good lunchbox is of course a must.
Oooh I think this is one thing I would struggle with, it is hard enough deciding what I want never mind someone else x
I don’t have kids but I am a firm believer in taking a packed lunch when I’m on a road trip to avoid unhealthy service station temptation.
I know this is aimed at parents and children, but there are some great ideas, even for adults. I love to snack, and there are some fun looking snacks here, I do think we eat with our eyes. Xx
What a colourful lunch! Makes me want to eat better at lunch time x
I don’t have children but this seems like a great way to introduce a healthier diet! The food looks so colourful and appetising!
I think this is great advice for building healthy meals for the kids. It can be kind of fun to be creative with their lunchboxes too.
Great to hear how you got on. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part
My parents had such a nightmare with me as a kid as I was such a fussy eater, great tips on how to cope with packed lunches x
Thanks Rhian, my daddy was pretty fussy too!
Great suggestions I will need this for when mini man starts having lunch a nursery.
These sound like great tips – and ones adults could use as well when it comes to packing lunches! I’m
I love all your helpful tips!! I always make lunches the night before it just gets so busy in the mornings!!
This packed lunch looks so much more appealing than lunch box food when I was a kid! xxx
That’s crazy that 98% were unhealthy! Some good tips and ideas here
This is a great way to make packed lunches! Very helpful suggestions
At the moment, T has school dinners most days during the week. But next year, we’ll be starting the school lunches and I’ll be needing these tips! 🙂
What a great challenge, and I love how many veggies have been packed in to that lunch box.
My son is SO fussy right now, I’m clutching at straws & just being proud when he at least tastes something new!
I hope he doesn’t end up a fusspot like I was till I was 18 😛
Fab lunch box ideas! My children are grown now but I plan on using some of these tips for my lunchtimes!!
Some great tips I always struggle to make packed lunches I never know what top put in or I put way to much in. Love how you have it all separated think I might try that.
Great tips, I always make such an effort with my daughters lunch, she isn’t even at nursery yet but I try to give her a lot of choice and she’s rather good at clearing that plate!
I really love the lunch box and that everything is deprecated or in their own little pot which makes it more fun.
Now this is a great challenge and there are some really good tips x
Fab tips! I think it’s nice to have a different variety to prevent boredom at lunchtime 🙂 x
Wow that lunch box looks very healthy. Well done.
These are such great tips – especially having a beginning, middle and end!
Fab tips! I’ve seen a few of these lunch box challenges about of late and every time I feel a little bit jealous that my daughter has school dinners!!
Fabulous tips, I need to up my lunchbox game 🙂
It’s nice to see that you fill the lunch box with healthy and well balanced food options 🙂
I love the idea of the ham wraps cut into little wheels. I think Miss Tot would thoroughly enjoy these at playgroup! I’ve never thought of trying her with some popcorn either. Our nursery has a “no sweets or crisps” rule which I totally respect and agree with, but as the only raw veg that I can get my Miss T to eat is cucumber, it becomes quite a boring lunch routine. This has given me some great ideas to try out. Thanks! #DreamTeam
Oooo we love a bit of cucumber too!
Great lunch box tips, the lunch look yummy 🙂
We really struggle with lunches as Emma is a bit of a fussy eater but yours looks very exciting indeed! Great tips here to mix it up and keep the kids interested in what they are eating too 🙂 Thanks for linking up to #dreamteam Hope to see you next time x
We did this challenge too – love the popcorn idea! #twinklytuesday
I really need this kind of inspiration, as I struggle with ideas for packed lunches.
This is really informative! I must admit I was dreading the whole organisation thing on packed lunches! Thankfully Mobkey gets school dinners but if for any reason that stops I am bookmarking this. Plus it’s great just for organising picnics etc – beginning middle and an end! Stopping by from #dreamteam xx
Great tips, I am definitely keeping this in mind for when my little guy starts kindergarten.