Giving the best lunches to your children is all a parent really wants for their kids while they’re at school. Although making a simple lunch sounds like an easy task, making consistently healthy lunches and snacks that aren’t repetitive and adhere to your kid’s picky palate is extremely hard. With the popularity of high-sugar snacks and unhealthy eating habits, it can be daunting finding the perfect lunches for your children.  When breaking down all the things you may need to consider can get too overwhelming, here’s some simple easy things to remember to help you give your kids lunches they’ll love. 

Prepare Snacks In Bulk

Waking up early every morning to prepare food for school lunches is just unrealistic. The best way to beat this obstacle is to find some spare time, usually at the end or start of each week, and cut up or bake some healthy snacks in bulk that can last in the fridge for those fast-paced mornings before school. Some great examples of this are slices carrots and celery, freezing a large batch of muffins, or simply stocking up your fruit bowl before the school week begins. 

It’s always the smaller snacks that seem to need to change the most, so cycling between various long lasting food items in your kitchen may be the best way to get a quick snack in their lunchboxes that require only the time of a thought to prepare before school drop off. 

Include The Kids

You could have found the healthiest foods to put in your kids lunchboxes, but the hardest part is making sure your child eats it. While you may try to adhere to your kids’ food preferences, and try new recipes to encourage them to eat, it may just not be working. 

One of the best ways to tackle this is allowing your kids to get involved with the lunch process. By giving them autonomy over what they prepare, they might be more likely to eat the food if they get a say. If that means they’re after last night’s leftovers, or simply their preferred amount of mayo over yours, it’s best to let them if it means they eat. 

If you’re reluctant to get them involved in what they eat, or if they’re too young to do so; getting them involved with basics like putting snacks in containers will make them feel a part of the process, and will give parents less to do.

Prioritise Protein

The long school days will feel like forever for your children, which means keeping them full for longer with protein rich foods will benefit them in many ways. Including foods like eggs, chicken, legumes, red meats and fish will keep your kids from snacking at the canteen and coming home wanting to invade the kitchen. 

On top of saving your pantry snacks, protein is extremely beneficial for children’s health. It will give your kids more energy, create antibodies that fight off illnesses, balance blood sugar levels and help your child grow up stronger. 

Focusing on including protein may also be a good opportunity to incorporate new foods and try new recipes that your kids might love, just adding to the list of lunches you could prepare for the school week. Incorporating protein into your kids’ school lunches will be a game changer not only for their health, but for your budget . 

Keep Things Simple

For advice on simple healthy eating when you need some extra help, you might find talking to a family health professional who is qualified through an online MSN FNP program or a bachelor-level degree in nutrition helpful in planning and making meals. 

You might feel inclined to create intricate lunches that will keep your children engaged with their food. For consistency and your own sake, the best way to maintain healthy school lunches is with simplicity. 

This can look different for different families, for some this may mean adhering to a weekly food-prep schedule that parents will prepare at the start of the week, or it could be finding a few simple recipes that your children enjoy and repeating those until new ideas can be utilised. 

Wanting the best for your children and providing for them in a way that works for you is not impossible to achieve. With thoughtful planning and communication with your children, you can nail school lunches every morning before they’re even packed.