How to create exciting and healthy packed lunches for kids
Posted 27th September 2024
Packing lunches for work and school can seem like the biggest chore. A box with the odd turkey dinosaur and other kid favourites might go down well with our children but it’s important that we make lunches that are well-balanced and nutritious, as well as tempting!
In this blog, we explore the different ways to make healthy packed lunches for kids that are exciting but also give them everything they need for a varied, healthy diet.
The Eatwell Guide
The Eatwell Guide advice helps us understand how much of what we eat should come from specific food groups:
Types of food that fit in each food group:
- Fruit and veg – fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or juiced
- Starchy foods/carbohydrates – potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates
- Proteins – beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat other protein foods
- Dairy/dairy alternatives – milk, cheese, yoghurt, fromage frais and soya drinks and yoghurts
- Oils and spreads – vegetable, rapeseed, olive and sunflower oils
Fruits and vegetables should count for just over 1/3 of the food we eat each day, with us aiming to eat at least 5 portions of varying fruits and veg per day. Starchy foods should take up a vast majority of our daily diet, with them also accounting for just over 1/3 of the food we eat. Moving onto the food groups with smaller portions, we have proteins, dairy (and/or dairy alternatives) and oils and spreads. While there are not specific quantities of proteins, dairy and oils and spread that should be consumed each day, you should still eat some of each every day. The exact Eatwell guide can be accessed here.
Tips to make packed lunches exciting
Adding variety to their lunches by mixing up what goes in and not sticking to the same old ham sandwich can help keep them interested in food. This is also the same for us adults, change up that simple sandwich to a tuna pasta salad or even an egg mayonnaise and lettuce bap. You can find some NHS healthier lunch box recipes here as well as by doing a Google search, there are plenty of sources of good healthy packed lunch ideas.
Also cutting their fruit and vegetables into lots of different shapes with little vegetable cutters can be more appealing to your children; stars, hearts, ducks, you name it and they’ll love it! These specially cut fruits and veg can be a more exciting addition to their lunches and may encourage them to eat more fruits and vegetables.
Finally, letting your children help plan, prepare and pack their own lunches increases the likelihood of their eating their food as they helped make it. It not only adds a bit more excitement to their packed lunches, it’s also a little bit of bonding time for you and your little ones.
Let’s plan a week of packed lunches...
To get you started, here’s a little bit of inspiration of a week of packed lunches:
Monday
- Wholemeal pitta bread filled with cheesy coleslaw, 5 cherry tomatoes, small box of raisins and a bottle of water
Tuesday
- Spicy chicken and salad wrap, 4 strawberries, handful of grapes, flavoured milk drink
Wednesday
- Pasta Salad with your choice of protein, 1 small banana, popcorn and a fruit juice
Thursday
- French pizza bread, carrot and cucumber shapes, small yoghurt and a bottle of water
Friday
- Tuna and sweetcorn sandwich, handful of mixed berries, small packet of cookies and a flavoured milk drink
Finally, here are some websites to help you source more recipes...
These websites all provide a range of healthy recipes that can be used to spice up your packed lunches.
