6 Tips for Packing School Lunches that are Stress-Free, Fast, and Healthy

We’ve all been there: the last minute rush to throw something in a lunch box before running out the door to school, seeing that same lunch box come home with its uneaten contents, and all the while wondering if any of that food was healthy anyway. Kids easily get bored with home lunch. (“Peanut butter and jelly again?”) But we don’t want to worry about gourmet food every day. Packing school lunches can become stressful or even a contentious point between parents and their children. But it doesn’t have to be that way. These tips for packing school lunches can make the process stress-free and healthful.

Five Tips for Packing School Lunches

1. Get Organized

-Find or Buy Your Materials

Decide if you’re going to use brown bags or lunch boxes.

I recommend using a lunch box, thermos, ice pack, and reusable Tupperware to be environmentally and budget friendly. These also allow for a lot of variety in lunches.

Buy sandwich bags and anything else you prefer to have on hand for lunches.

Take care of it now! (Click image to shop.)

(The AZ Ice Pack in this set is awesome, the best reusable ice pack I’ve seen. It comes home after the school day still cold.)

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-Set Your Organization System

Decide where in the kitchen all these items will be. Make it known to the whole household how lunch supplies will be organized. When kids get home from school, they should immediately remove leftover lunch food and then put their lunchboxes where they belong. Teach and then be consistent with this routine.

This simple organization will eliminate a lot of hassle from missing lunch boxes, not realizing the sandwich bags are gone, moldy food hanging out over the weekend, and overall chaos.

You don’t have to have a giant kitchen or fancy labels. Some people have success taking all their bulk foods and bagging them at once into single-serving sizes. They have cute baskets for each different type of food. However, I have found this takes more space than I have. Additionally, it really doesn’t take that long to pour one bag of crackers for a lunch.

Remember, the best organization systems work well because they are simple.

Related: Organize Your Kitchen

2. Keep School Lunches Simple with this Formula

If you look too long on Pinterest, you’re sure to feel that your lunches don’t measure up. Fortunately, lunches don’t have to be gourmet. Kids really don’t need ten options for every meal. While I’ll offer dozens of ideas, kids will survive on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And those sandwiches don’t really have to be cut into pretty shapes.

So let’s simplify.

Here’s the simple formula we use for lunches: Choose a main dish, add a vegetable, and add a fruit. Then if you want to, finish it off with optional variety like a drink or snack.

This last item is the optional one because it tends to introduce the less-healthy items into lunches. It doesn’t get any better than sticking with unprocessed fruits and veggies.

This formula makes for faster lunch prep and simpler grocery shopping. Just think of the three categories. It makes it easier for kids to pack their own lunches. They just pick one thing from each category.

Overall, keep lunches simple by maintaining perspective. Keep expectations reasonable, teach kids to be grateful for food even if it’s not their favorite, and give lunches only the small role they deserve in our lives.

3. Include a Variety of Foods

There’s a difference between gourmet and diverse. I typically avoid gourmet, but diverse is great for everyone. Including a variety of foods in lunches keeps things a bit more exciting and healthier. Variety and moderation are key to healthy diets.

We can mix things up by purchasing different foods without having to spend a lot of time creating complex meals or researching unique recipes. Stick to that simple formula: Main Dish + Vegetable + Fruit.

If the kids are getting bored with the same thing, there are countless easy foods to include. Choosing an assortment of fruits and vegetables is an especially good way to incorporate diverse nutrients in your child’s diet and assure that their lunches are healthy.

Print or Pin the following list of 80+ ideas of what you could pack in a school lunch. Most of the ideas require minimal preparation. But remember, if kids eat the same thing five days in a row, life will go on.

Click the Image to Access this Free Printable: 80+ Ideas for What to Pack in School Lunch

4. Involve Your Kids in Packing School Lunch

When I was growing up, each of us took turns being in charge of packing everyone’s lunches for a week. This was one of the jobs in our chore rotation. My dad’s co-workers came to see the differences in how we each packed lunch, and they got to be a pretty good guess at whose week it was for lunches.

Alternately, each child can be responsible for certain days of the week or for preparing his or her own lunch daily. Before you grocery shop, you could also have the kids look at the previous list and choose some ideas that sound appealing to them.

When the kids are involved in packing their own lunches, they are much more likely to eat what is packed and be grateful for it. Additionally, we teach them in hands on ways the lifelong skill of how to make healthy food choices.

Decide how you want to involve your kids and make a routine out of it. The more we do any task, the easier and less stressful it becomes.

Related: How to Start Family Routines that Transform Your Life from Chaos to Calm

5. Pack Lunches the Night Before

Unfortunately, I am one who is continually fighting habits that tend to make me late. These habits include (but are not limited to) pushing the snooze button and thinking I can get more done in a set time than I really can. If this sounds like you too, we have a simple solution: pack lunches the night before.

If you’re not already doing it, this simple tip for packing school lunches will transform your mornings. No more last minute lunches, no more running out of bread, no more last-minute decisions to buy. Sounds pretty good, right?

Moving lunch-making to the evening allows it to become a pleasant experience. Families can often work together and chat or listen to music.

6. Take the Opportunity to Express Love

As we pulled out the lunch boxes in preparation for the new school year, my daughter unloaded a thick stack of napkins. “I think I saved them all,” she said. I laughed, but as she skimmed through the messages written on those old napkins, she smiled.

That’s what it is really about.

So here’s the last of my tips for packing school lunches: take this process that can be stressful or annoying and turn it into a positive for your home.

The greatest parenting successes come when we find ways to help our children feel loved. Even acts as mundane as packing school lunch can become an avenue for showing love when our intention is such.

Including a little personal note is an easy way to show your Littles some love. Here are some ideas of what you could write.

• Reference something your child mentioned previously to show you were listening.
• Wish them luck on an upcoming project or event.
• Write a specific talent you saw them use recently.
• Express excitement to spend an upcoming weekend with them.
• Write a reason you love them.
• Draw a simple or funny picture clue or comic.
• Write a joke.
• Say, “I love you.”

It has also been a joy for me to see siblings write notes to each other.

Besides a note, you could also express love by periodically buying your children’s favorite food or treat or helping pack the lunch when it is their responsibility.

Stress-Free School Lunches

You can implement these six tips for packing school lunches right away. Remember…

1. Get Organized
2. Keep it Simple: Main Dish + Vegetable + Fruit
3. Include a Variety of Foods (Click for the Free Printable: 80+ Ideas for What to Pack in School Lunches)
4. Involve Kids in Packing Lunch
5. Pack Lunches the Night Before
6. Take the Opportunity to Express Love

As you do so, you will find yourself organized and following a stress-free routine that simultaneously teaches kids healthy life skills. Additionally, as you find small ways to express your big love, lunch making will become a positive experience for everyone.

Do you have other tips for packing school lunches? What challenges do you have when it comes to packing lunches? Please share in the comments.

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