Packed lunch ideas

Savvy_Sue

Whatever else you put into the lunch box, may I recommend a sheet of kitchen towel and a small polythene bag? Not to eat (not even I am that cruel!) but to mop up afterwards. Then train them to put ALL the rubbish and leftovers into the poly bag. Otherwise your child's lunch box may need a major decontamination process every day.

If you do send fruit salad or things which need eating with cutlery, send in disposables! We have a few bits and bobs collected from occasional visits to spud'u'like etc, and they are useful for leftover tuna pasta in lunchboxes. Not that there's often leftovers in this house ...

Sarahsaver

good tip. I used to send my daughter with kitchen paper or a small teatowel, thanks for jogging my memory!
And in places like woolworths cafe they give out free individual wipes, I used to get a few spares...Don't go out for coffee much nowadays, too busy saving money!
By the way there are some great insulated 'coolbag' style lunchbags in poundland.
My kids school has this crazy thing of when the kids start in reception they come home for lunch for the first one or even two weeks - grr!

misty

thanks for this. I hope they don't have to come home - I'm not going to be popular at work if they do. I didn't they know they still offered milk but if it was how I remember it, he probably won't want it. he drinks about a pint a day anyway so am not bothered if he doesn't. Thanks for all the replies. I din't want to look at food sites but more get the ideas form actual mums - most of my friends kids stay for school lunch - which seem to be from what they say reasonable quality - but I prefer to know exactly what he is eating(control freak). I had packed lunches (back in the midst of time) and the packed lunch kids sat seperately to the school meals kids - which I hated - do they still do that? a bit off topic I know.

Sarahsaver

some places they sit separate some apart it depends on the school. See if they have days when parents can have lunch with kids, (my kids' school does this) it is a good way to gauge the situation!
Got 18 cereal bars in the pound shop today, save me making flapjacks for a while!;)

Edinburghlass_2

Do they go straight into an all day at school to start with? My daughter was a hour or so for first week then half a day for several weeks, finishing before lunchtime.

Also, yes those kids having school dinners were in a different room from the kids having packed lunches. Mainly because of space for tables etc as those having school dinners didn't require as much space about them as those with lunch boxes to empty. Plus the kids on packed lunches required a lot more assistance in their early days at school, even just the opening of the box can be a struggle for a little one let alone getting out a yogurt or a drink. Thats why I would suggest simple is best as they don't need to wait on help to open tupperware boxes etc.

Spendless

misty- at sons school they all eat in the hall but children having packed lunches are on a seperate table.

At sons school what they did was for 1st week half of children just did mornings (no stopping for lunch) and half did afternoons.

2nd week those that did afternoons first did mornings stopped for lunch then came home, the ones that had done morning first, went to school at 12.30 had their lunch first then stopped for afternoon.

In 3rd week they were all full-time. For the 1st 2 days that children stopped for their dinner parents were allowed in to be with their child- again worth checking with school to see what their policy is.

misty

They do only go in part time for the first 6 weeks. The older ones (those nearer five) go in for mornings and the younger ones go in for even less. I'm lucky that once he starts school properly, I will be off during the Summer holidays and half terms with him. But after having 6 weeks off I can't have anymore while he settles in. I think the primary schools go back a couple weeks before I do so I will be able to pick up and drop off for the first 2 weeks and then after half term.

Savvy_Sue

Spendless wrote:

It might be worth double checking with the school re the packed lunch, my son is allowed to take one but recently a friend of mine whose daughter is at a primary about half a mile down the road says that their school will not allow reception children to take a packed lunch. If they're not stopping for dinner then they have to go home. The option of a packed lunch ony becomes available from Year 1 onwards. I was surprised when friend told me this as i'd never come across it, it's the only school i've heard of that does it this way but perhaps best to double-check your own school misty.

well that's one way of getting them all to eat school dinners!

I've known schools do both segregation and complete integration of packed lunch and school dinners children. Segregation isn't popular with the kids: they want to be with their friends. Integration works both ways: sometimes packed lunchers see the dinners and think "that looks nice" and vice versa. But sometimes it's a space issue: one local school does 'shutters up' into a normal classroom which has to be cleared completely every lunchtime (and must stink afterwards). There's a huge time pressure to get all the children having cooked dinner through that one classroom. For some strange reason, I didn't choose that school: found one with a dining hall, not even the main hall transformed but a separate dining hall! (OK, it was an old Nissen hut, but it served the purpose!)

Anya

My little boy is really fussy with his packed lunch and it drives me round the bend. He refuses to eat anything that looks, smells or tastes healthy. If I asked him what he would like on his sandwiches, his answer would either be ham (good), chocolate spread(bad) or jam(bad). So he gets ham. Recently though, after about a year of ham sandwiches, he decides that he no longer likes ham and they keep coming back in his lunchbox. I tried banning his snack treat if they weren't eaten, but it didn't make a scrap of difference as his little friend was so kindly sharing jammie dodgers with him!!! After a night of brainstorming this is now what goes in his lunchbox: Little kebabs made from bread cubes, teeny pieces of chicken, and cocktail sausage on a cocktail stick, Mini pittas with ham/cocktail sausage in, hot dog in a roll, cold pizza, and traffic light sandwiches without traffic light coloured fillings of course!! He'll then have crisps for a treat, a frozen squeezy yoghurt or tub of sugar free jelly and a drink of fresh juice. So far so good. I think I'd hate ham after having it so consistently but it is soooo hard when they just won't try new things!! Anyway hope that has given you some ideas!

jellyhead

i realise i'll get flamed for saying this but jam doesn't have to be so bad. the dietician told me a child can eat a jam sandwich for lunch and it's better than dry crackers, etc. if they don't eat other fillings. she was referring to children with food 'issues', mainly autistic children - red jam sandwiches or dry crackers seem popular lol!

jam sandwich is certainly healthier than a school dinner (she said this 4 years ago) and you can get jam with lower sugar. lots of cheaper jam seems to have nasty food colourings in so that's best avoided but there are some jams that aren't too bad. spud tries to persuade me that it counts as a fruit portion but i'm having none of it lol!