Starting school lunch box tips

Eating at school can be a different perhaps difficult experience for your child.

Eating out of a lunchbox may be a new thing for your child.

Having a time restriction on the meal breaks may be troublesome for some children.

At school a child may not have the same facilities available to them as they do at home.

A child may come home, particularly in the first few weeks when everything at school is new with quite a bit of food still in their lunch box.

There is a lot to take in, learn and adapt to when a child firsts starts school.

Not to mention the socialization they will be busy with which may impact their food intake.

There may not be the option available to heat food or keep their food cold; they may not have access to tables and may have to balance their lunches on their laps and they need to be able to open and eat their on their own.

We can help by helping to eliminate any possible obstacles and packing a lunch that is easier to use and undo.

• Cutting fruit and/or vegetables into pieces (you can squeeze a little lemon juice on apples and pears to help them from going brown) and put them into a container they can easily open
• Pack food that is easy to open
• Check they can unwrap or undo containers
• Write their name on their lunch box- it is inevitable that they will lose it at some point in their life
• Use insulated lunch boxes to help to keep their lunch cool. You can also use the small ice packs
• Pack the fruit (if not in a container) with some padding such as wrapping in tissues so that they don’t bruise or squish onto the rest of their lunch
• It’s often a good idea to have some practice at home with the containers, unwrapping foods, using their lunch box to see if your child has any trouble and work with them to fix it
• Limit processed foods and salt
• Include more fresh foods
• Ensure food stays fresh- keep salad dressing separate, etc
• Share the preparing experience. Allow them to have input
• Do different lunches. Lunches don’t always need to be Vegemite sandwiches. You could do things such as rice or pasta salads, soups, skewers, veggie pies, etc,
• Bake with the children and add those items
• Try new things such as falafel or homemade hamburgers
• Muffins- filled
• English muffin sandwiches
• Wraps.