Lunch Ideas for a Kindergartener

Cookie cutters - my oldest loved any kind of sandwich as long as it was made out of a different cookie cutter each day. And let me tell you the offers she had at lunchtime. One little boy even offered his little brother for one of her sandwiches one time! They sell them in so many designs, I think we bought on huge thing of them at Wal-Mart and you can get like 3 different shapes out of some of them. We would also spell her name out of cold-cuts which she thought was pretty cool to make her own lunchables w/crackers. Best of luck to you!

get a thermos and start packing her hot lunches. that gives you a lot more variety. mac n cheese, spaghetti Os, leftovers from the night before, chicken and wild rice (I add in dried cranberries and grapes to add to the taste), lasagna, really anything.

a secret to keeping the thermos warmer longer is to run hot water in it for a few minutes before you put the food in there.

check out weelicious on FB for some really great lunch ideas. she takes a picture of her packed lunch for her kiddos and includes the recipe.

We have been using a funtainer food thermos. When I get up I fill it with hot water that I microwaved. Close it and let it sit while we get around. Before we walk out the door, I heat up my son's lunch, dump out the water and fill the thermos with food. We have tested it and it stays warm for about 4hours or so. So far he's had chicken nuggets, fried rice, pasta, potstickers, chicken and dumplings and soup.

My kids, even at that age, loved things like yogurt, pitta pockets and wraps instead of pb&j, salad, and raisins. At 8 my DD basically packs for herself and we already figured out tomorrow's lunch, ham, cheese and lettuce pita with a side of ranch, fruit up, broccoli to dip, and a chocolate pudding. She's allowed to buy a cookie or chips at school if she eats her meal, and actually for the most part I trust her on that, since she was the one who came home the first day and told me she didn't buy a cookie since she didn't finish her carrot sticks.

Mine like pepperoni, cheese stick, crackers, and sometimes I add a little spaghetti sauce to dip. They also like chicken nuggets, or mac and cheese kept hot in a thermos. Leftover pizza, pigs-in-a-blanket (hotdogs wrapped in crescent rolls or biscuits), quesadillas made from leftover taco meat and cheese...
My kids get to pre-pack some of their lunch. I have a "lunch maker station" where they pick chips, a snack item (raisins, fruit snacks, applesauce) and a dessert (I divide up cookies two in a bag, a fat free pudding, chocolate style granola bars). They also pick from the refrigerator items: fruit, cut-up veggies (carrot/celery sticks) yogurt, drink and main dish item, and set them in a certain spot in the fridge. In the mornings I make sandwiches and add in all the cold foods, an icepack, a pre-written note on a napkin, and lunch is made! And the best part is that they picked it all out, so there is no reason for them not to eat it!

Don't they supply her lunch at her school? Try that for a while. They offer many choices and often the kids will eat it just because the others at their table are eating the same thing.

My son is not a big fan of sandwiches either, so I get the deli to thick slice some ham for me. Then, I cut the thick slices into sticks and pack "ham sticks". He loves those.

Then, I also pack cheese sticks, or raisins, fruit snacks, real fruit, etc. All finger foods.

Good luck,
L.

My daughter has food allergies and I went to a program sponsored by Whole Foods and Children's Medical Center on cooking for school lunch. Some of the ideas included:

kabobs (fruit or chicken/cheese/vegetable) - obviously you'd want to make sure the items are small enough not to be choking hazards, but there seemed to be a general consensus that kids like to pull pieces of food off sticks

spring rolls using rice paper

lettuce wraps

fruit salsa (chopped kiwi, strawberry, orange, banana, apple mixed with cinnamon, nutmeg and honey - they use sugar, but we sweeten with honey and my daughter loved it)

bean/corn salsa (can be cold - didn't try this though since my daughter can't have corn, but it looked good)

I vote for a thermos. It's just a great change and option to cold sandwiches. We do leftovers, cold pasta salad, spaghetti etc... get a good one that will keep the food hot for several hours. We also like hummus and crackers, string cheese, edamame (soy beans)... instead of break we use flatbread or tortillas for wraps.

Don't over pack lunch. I'm always worried that my kids won't have enough to eat, but they spend so much time talking and playing that they rarely finish all of their lunch and then I end up throwing it away when they get home. Just make sure she gets a good breakfast and a good snack when she gets home.

Good luck!

My twins are going into 1st grade tomorrow and they are picky about what they eat, plus my one has a dairy allergy. Anyways we went to Office Depot a couple weeks ago and they had a cool container that freezes on the bottom and you can put milk in it and cereal in the top container and a spoon that folds in half. The one that is allergic to dairy (she likes almond milk) was super excited about it.

my now 13 year old has never liked sandwiches so we've gotten creative. Leftovers, spaghettios, hot pockets, cold pizza, pasta salad, wraps (sandwich wrapped in a tortilla) chef salad, meat/cheese/crackers, tuna salad or tuna kits from the grocery store, cereal and milk, etc. I add sides such as fruit, veggies/dip, yogurt, pretzels, roll, etc.

Cold noodles, black olives, tuna fish, cottage cheese, veggie sushi rolls, salad with feta or parmesan cheese, canned beets

My daughter loves when I wrap deli meat and cheese or lettuce and fajita meat in a tortilla as a change. I use flavored light cream cheese rather than typical condiments for different flavors. Wraps work great in general. Sometimes I do just veggies and dip (hummus) and fruit w/ yogurt to dip in and maybe string cheese. She loves a boiled egg. The point is, your proteins and carbs don't always have to be the same thing or together. She often doesn't even have a grain in her lunch - we do those at breakfast or dinner. A protein, 2-3 veggies/fruits and a dairy work great and she's not often hungry when I pick her up.

Have her help you pack.....

Put out several choices... a couple of choices for a sandwich/main item, a couple of fruit/veggie choices, and a couple of drink items.

That way, if she is involved in the selection, she might be more likely to eat better.

She will eat if she is hungry, though. She will get used to the idea that what she has in her lunch is all she gets until she gets home.

I sometimes use a big cookie cutter to cut their sandwiches into fun shapes. The metal ones with the plastic around the top edge work the best but the plastic ones that are an inch thick work too. You can buy cutters specifically for sandwiches. I just use what I have.
Also, my kids like the fruit cups packed in 100% juice, esp. the ones with cherries. I send those occasionally just for a change. They also like pretzel sticks and the Wheat Thins Stix. I don't send veggies for lunch because they won't eat them.