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Today is the day! My kids are going back to school which is mind boggling to me. I have no idea where the summer went and I have mixed emotions about watching them go back to school. I have one leaving the house at 6:00 am, one at 7:00 am, and two at 8:00 am which means it is a non-stop busy morning.
I am one of those Moms. I organize up a storm leading up to the first day of school and have a goal of packing healthy lunches all year long. By the time May comes around, their lunches barely resemble lunch. But I start off real strong! Haha!
I do have a theory though in our home and it works for us. My kids pack their own lunches. Here’s the thing — kids are fickle. One day, they love a certain granola bar and the next day they despise it, for some odd reason. They tire of certain foods and so I switch up their choices often. I give them a lot of different options to keep lunch interesting. So I am sharing a list of some healthy school lunch ideas for kids.
BACK TO SCHOOL KIDS LUNCH IDEAS:
OPTION #1
Turkey + Cheddar Roll-up
Fresh Berries
Yogurt
Trail Mix
OPTION #2
Hummus
Pita Bread
Grape Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Sliced Oranges
OPTION #3
Cheese Quesadilla
Guacamole
Salsa
Tortilla Chips
Strawberries
OPTION #4
Deli Meat + Cheese Kabobs
Red Pepper Slices
Apples
Fruit Leather or Snacks
OPTION #5
Hard Boiled Eggs
Baby Carrots + Ranch
Pretzels
Peaches or Applesauce
OPTION #6
Pasta Salad
Yogurt
Granola Bar
Raspberries
OPTION #7
Almond Butter + Jelly (or PB +J)
String Cheese
Fruit Cup
Chips
OPTION #8
Crackers
Cheddar Cheese Cubes
Grapes
LaraBar or Cliff Bar
OPTION #9
Bagel + Cream Cheese
Yogurt Tube
Baby Carrots
Fruit Snacks
OPTION #10
Veggie Wraps with Hummus
Edamame or Snap Peas
Clementine
Granola Bar
MAIN MEAL:
Pita Bread + Hummus
Cheese + Crackers
Turkey + Cheese Roll-ups
Almond Butter + Jam Sandwich
Cheese Quesadilla
Hard Boiled Eggs
Pasta Salad
Meat + Cheese Kabob
Chips + Guacamole
Ham + Cheese Sandwich
Bagel + Cream Cheese
Veggie +Hummus Wrap
FRUITS + VEGGIES:
Oranges
Apples
Strawberries
Grapes
Peaches
Blueberries
Raspberries
Natural Applesauce
Mangoes
Melon
Baby Carrots
Cucumbers
Grape Tomatoes
Edamame
Snap Peas
SIDES and SNACKS:
Chips
Granola Bars
Pretzels
String Cheese
Yogurt
Trail Mix
Lara Bar or Cliff Bar
Fruit Leather
Fruit Snacks
Popcorn
Crackers
Chips + Salsa
Fruit Cup
Pudding Cup
Graham Crackers
Cookies
Rice Krispies Treats
DRINKS:
Water Bottle
100% Juice Boxes
Capri Suns
Bolthouse Smoothies
Milk — Strawberry or Chocolate
Here are some suggestions for kids lunchbox containers:
Rubbermaid LunchBox Sandwich Kit and Rubbermaid Take Alongs Food Storage Container (Set of 6) and EasyLunchboxes 3-Compartment Bento Lunch Box Containers, Set of 4
Here is a suggestion for a kids lunchbox:
Rubbermaid LunchBlox Small Lunch Bag, Blue
KIDS SCHOOL LUNCH IDEAS PRINTABLE OPTION:
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Back to School Kids Lunch Ideas
Ingredients
- MAIN:
- Pita Bread + Hummus
- Cheese + Crackers
- Turkey + Cheese Roll-ups
- Almond Butter + Jam Sandwich
- Cheese Quesadilla
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Pasta Salad
- Meat + Cheese Kabob
- Chips + Guacamole
- Ham + Cheese Sandwich
- Bagel + Cream Cheese
- Veggie +Hummus Wrap
- FRUITS + VEGGIES:
- Oranges
- Apples
- Strawberries
- Grapes
- Peaches
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Natural Applesauce
- Mangoes
- Melon
- Baby Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Grape Tomatoes
- Edamame
- Snap Peas
- SIDES and SNACKS:
- Chips
- Granola Bars
- Pretzels
- String Cheese
- Yogurt
- Trail Mix
- Lara Bar or Cliff Bar
- Fruit Leather
- Fruit Snacks
- Popcorn
- Crackers
- Chips + Salsa
- Fruit Cup
- Pudding Cup
- Graham Crackers
- Cookies
- Rice Krispies Treats
- DRINKS:
- Water Bottle
- 100 % Juice Boxes
- Capri Suns
- Bolthouse Smoothies
- Milk -- Strawberry or Chocolate
- OPTION #1
- Turkey + Cheddar Roll-up
- Fresh Berries
- Yogurt
- Trail Mix
- OPTION #2
- Hummus
- Pita Bread
- Grape Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Sliced Oranges
- OPTION #3
- Cheese Quesadilla
- Guacamole
- Salsa
- Tortilla Chips
- Strawberries
- OPTION #4
- Deli Meat + Cheese Kabobs
- Red Pepper Slices
- Apples
- Fruit Leather or Snacks
- OPTION #5
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Baby Carrots + Ranch
- Pretzels
- Peaches or Applesauce
- OPTION #6
- Pasta Salad
- Yogurt
- Granola Bar
- Raspberries
- OPTION #7
- Almond Butter + Jelly or PB +J
- String Cheese
- Fruit Cup
- Chips
- OPTION #8
- Crackers
- Cheddar Cheese Cubes
- Grapes
- LaraBar or Cliff Bar
- OPTION #9
- Bagel + Cream Cheese
- Yogurt Tube
- Baby Carrots
- Fruit Snacks
- OPTION #10
- Veggie Wraps with Hummus
- Edamame or Snap Peas
- Clementine
- Granola Bar
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What do you love to serve in your kid’s lunchbox? I would love to hear your favorite things! I hope this list of back to school kids lunch ideas helps you pack those school lunches. Have a great day, my friends! xo
Hope your kiddos have a fabulous first day!
I truly love the recipes. Thank you so much!
These are great suggestions and super helpful! Thanks for taking the time to share!
awesome so many great ideas
Thanks for these ideas!I’m kinda worried about the food that has cheese, my son is not allowed to refrigerate his lunch at school. Is it advisable to bring food with cheese without refrigerating?thanks
Hi Anne! I always like to put a cold pack in my kids lunch. I just have several that I freeze ahead of time so they are ready to go. I place the cold items directly by the freezer pack to keep them cold throughout the day. Hope that helps! 🙂
I use a plastic water bottle and fill it half way with juice and freeze. When packing lunch I fisnish filling the bottle with juice. This keeps lunch cool and the juice thaws to a perfect drinking temp by lunchtime.
Thank you so much for putting this document together. I love the idea of the food groups you have put together and I am going to have my kids highlight the ones they love best with each of the food groups. I will then always have their favorite on hand for them to pack their lunches. We are a vegetarian family and even your menu options can all work for us by easily substituting the lunch meat products for plant based. Again thank you for the chart.
I have a constipated child who is picky eater like his Dad so I avoid cheese ideas and dairy. PB and all nuts these days are not allowed in any school I know of or even the work force. That limits choices too. I’m looking for something can prepare within 10 mins that isn’t cold leftovers as there is no way to heat meal. He likes meat, apples carrots, celery, watermelon and of course cheese dairy but right now too much dairy is the issue. Drinks lots of water daily
Ask your pediatrician about magnesium chews to help with constipation-it works! Can get on Amazon-1 gummy( 100 mg) given at dinner works like a charm. Also-I give lactase for lactose intolerance. Helps my kids eat dairy without stomach aches! Great ideas for lunch. My kids are so picky and get bored with the same food for lunch. Hope my reply helps someone.
Hi. So I actually got a thermos for my girls and make them soup or heat up leftovers and put it in and it keeps it warm for them by lunch time. I do make it really hot when I put it in so it stays pretty warm.
love these ideas and the printable with it
What a lifesaver! Thanks for this…especially the printable!
Love this post. My kiddos need to be out the door by 7am next term. So we will be making ahead on the weekend. Any ideas on keeping it fresh for the week?
This post was so incredibly useful. I really love the list by food group. I also have my kids pack their own lunches and I have them pick at least one food out of each group.
This post helped me so much! It was the first thing to pop up too on google when I searched “school lunch ideas!” I am in college & have zero time to grab lunch between classes, so I needed some quick & easy ideas for cold lunchbox lunches! Thanks so much!