I always get asked questions about what to put in children’s packed lunches to take to school. Too often see the difficulties parents face with sending children off to school with what they feel is a delicious healthy lunchbox only to have the whole lunch return, uneaten and slightly warm after school. This is part of the reason I was so excited when representatives from World of Warriors (WOW) got in touch asking me to help them come up with some fun ways to get kids eating well at school.
WOW were launching a new back to school campaign complete with World of Warrior lunchbox, drink bottle, snack pot and back packs.
They wanted to give parents a bit of peace of mind when making up lunches and provide them with some fun, tasty and new ideas to include in their children’s lunches that were not only good for them, but were more likely to get eaten up!
A different Warrior, and a different lunchbox menu, represented each weekday from Monday to Friday. This helped to give the lunchboxes (and the food in them) character and make them more appealing to children. It also helps to make lunchtimes at school even more exciting.
See below the lunchbox ideas and the pictures of each of the lunches.
Along with the menu ideas the lunchboxes came with top tips and advice from me on how important balanced lunches were for children. I felt this was a really important aspect of the project, as, not only did the children benefit from these exciting lunchbox characters and ideas but parents got some information and advice from them too.
Some of my top tips for getting children to eat healthy lunchboxes are as follows:
- Make lunchboxes fun with colourful straws, napkins and cutlery. You could even try including a little game or a note in each day for your child to read to make lunchtimes even more special
- Cut foods such as vegetables, fruits and breads up so they are easier and more convenient for your children to eat at school
- To keep food cool, freeze a bottle of water and place it in a plastic bag in the lunchbox. By lunchtime it will have melted for your little one to have as a cool drink too
- Vary the food you offer so your children don’t get bored with the same lunch each day
- Use seasonal foods, especially fruits and vegetables, which are cheaper and more nutrient-dense
- Use up lunchtime leftovers when you’re at home to reduce food waste, or try and encourage your children to eat their leftovers as an after school snack on the way home
- Get your kids involved in making the lunch box – right from helping you write your shopping list, to choosing foods at the supermarket and packing it all up the night before
- Talk to your children about what foods they like and don’t like in their lunchbox. Give them options and choices to get them involved and give them some independence
- Try not to overfill lunchboxes, especially if your children have small appetites. It’s better to offer smaller amounts of ready to eat foods and encourage them to eat as much as they can
- Don’t forget to communicate with teachers at the school who can help feedback on how well your little ones are eating at lunchtime
If you have any lunchbox ideas to add to this or some top tips for making lunchboxes fun please do send them in to me at charlotte@srnutrition.co.uk and for more information and to find where you can get yourself a World of Warrior lunchbox set visit – https://www.worldofwarriors.com/en-GB