Making Lunches for My Pre-K Child

Hi D.,

I have made my kids' lunches since Pre-k...what i have tried to teach them is food is fuel for their bodies, just like gas in a car. I have tried to stear clear of giving them foods simply because they taste good. When we pack their lunches, together we discuss why we are packing something, what nutrients are in it and why these nutrients are good for our bodies. That way, as that have gotten older, 9 and 10, they are able to understand what they are eating and why it is important. Not to mention, we also discuss portions, as mainstream America these days has such oversized portions which is such a large contributing factor to obesity.

When they were younger i tried to keep the lunches simple and easy for them to eat with all the excitement of wanting to play. Yogurt Parfets are very good, use Non fat Vanilla yogurt, granola, (i like to use the ones made with honey as it takes much less honey to sweeten the granola and it has no sugar) and any fruits they like. Strawberrys and blueberries are my kids favorites.

Wraps are also good...you can get many different flavors made with whole grain, and put anything inside!! Lunch meat, tasty spreads, brown rice, veggies...etc etc. I wrap them up like a burrito, then send it in their lunches wraped up in plastic wrap. I have found that finger foods are the easiest to get them to eat. Now that they are older i can send them with pastas..or salads...with the salads i send the "spritzers", so there is no worry about it spilling and the salad doesn't get soggy.

They always get water in their lunches, never sports drinks, juice and of course never soda. All of these are filled with so much sugar that they just crash at the end of the day...and we all know what a tired toddler sounds like..haha... :)

For a dessert or snack I send dried fruit. (not the best for the teeth becasue it is really sticky) but much much better than those fruit snacks from the store. I bought a food dehidrator, and just throw a bunch of different fruits in there, let it do it's thing over night and, voila...healthy desserts for lunch time!

You can also make your own granola bars jsut as easy as making cookies. You can make it with granola, nuts, honey, flax seeds, bake, cut to the appropriete size, wrap in plastic wrap, and you have homemade HEALTHY granola bars. They are very good for sustaining energy. Check the internet, there are so many recipes for stuff like this. My favorite recipes are from SaraSnow.com and all recipes.com.

Also, a quick note, i always write on my kids napkins...they love it!!

Sorry my spelling is so bad here, I'm lost without spell check!! :)

D.

3 moms found this helpful

Thank god for peanut butter!!!!

2 moms found this helpful

We send beef jerky that we make really thin so no choking. You can buy it or make it easily in a food dehydrator.

We also cut up ham, cheese and put in crackers so our son can mae h'orderves.

1 mom found this helpful

grapes, carrots, hard boiled eggs, kashi bars (whole grain and pretty much the only thing we eat out of a package)cheese sticks, cashews...they have so little time to snack in kindergarten nowadays its good to have something natural and without a bunch of mess that they dont 'have to'finish

1 mom found this helpful

Check out laptop lunches -- they make a kid bento like box that has separate boxes for their lunches. My kids absolutely LOVE their lunchboxes and eat so well. It comes with a great recipe book & best of all, you don't create a lot of waste every lunch.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi D., 7/11/2008
String chesees,fishshape crakers,crakers w/ PBn Js, use cookie cuter to cut out a sandwitch, Have him Help !!!

Hope this helps!!
From a Pre-school
Teacher of 19 yrs, Marla