Creative School Lunch Ideas That Are Healthy + Fun
Written by Katie Hintz-Zambrano
Photography by Lunchbox (Artisan Books)
The back-to-school season is finally upon us. Which means lots and lots—and lots—of lunch-packing ahead. If you want to jazz up your routine sandwich-fruit-chips combo, the authors of Lunchbox: So Easy, So Delicious, So Much Fun to Eat have an entire year’s worth of inspiration (and then some) just for you.
The duo behind the excellent new book have “been there, done that” when it comes to lunch packing, and now they are sharing all they know—including loads of nutritious kid-friendly recipes, favorite “tools of the trade” (cookie cutters and candy eyeballs included), and an extensive grocery list to keep your bento box exciting, divided by Fruit, Vegetable, Main, Crunchy Snack, Protein Snack, and Something Sweet categories.
The heart and soul of the book includes a multitude of beautifully photographed, super creative, 100+ school lunch ideas for readers to copy. Each lunch box has a fun idea behind it—from shape- and color-centric options to holiday themes and beyond. Below, we’re featuring 6 of our favorite lunches from the book and we suggest you scoop up a copy of Lunchbox for all the rest—trust us, it will most definitely come in handy when you find yourself in the inevitable lunch-packing rut.
Are these ambitious lunchboxes to be copied or aspired to crumb-for-crumb? Of course not! With so many pressures on parents today, we say use what inspiration and tips you can and discard the rest.
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Whether it’s your toddler’s first lunch box or foray into full-day preschool, finger foods are favored by the 3-and-under set.
This breakfast-inspired lunchbox is filled with bite-size portions made with 1-inch food cutters. Find food cutters online to punch out hearts or stars from a slice of French toast or—to adapt this lunchbox for older children—slice the French toast into soldiers and leave the sausages whole.
What's Inside:
*French toast, punched into star cutouts.
*Freeze-dried yogurt drops.
*Diced strawberries.
*Cubed chicken sausage.
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Stick it to the sandwich slump with skewers. Few things are more fun than food on a stick (think: marshmallows) and these are not only pretty, but their bite-size portioning makes them pretty tidy, too.
What's Inside:
*Cobb salad skewers: sliced turkey, cut into 1 ½- inch strips and rolled + cherry tomato half + hard-boiled egg quarter + sliced ham, cut into 1 ½- inch strips and rolled.
Tiny tips: Slice meat first and then roll to prevent a ragged edge or squishing the roll. When skewering the egg, aim to stay in the bottom third of the yolk or the section will split.
*Salad dressing (try our Cilantro Avocado Dip) + their favorite vegetables for dipping (carrot, cucumber, celery, and bell pepper sticks are the kid-friendly crudités seen here).
*Everything-spice pretzel crisps.
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Pro tip for making lunch box skewers: You can find packs of fetching wooden picks online and, for the littlest lunchers, you can use garden shears to snip off the sharp point. Or, if your child is the responsible sort, invest in reusable picks.
What's Inside:
*Ham sam skewers + dill pickle chunk + Colby cube on a sweet star pick.
*Round crackers + Honey Mustard.
*Quartered radishes.
*One perfectly ripe summer peach.
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While most days call for a nutritious, balanced, and (relatively) easy to pull together lunchbox, birthdays call for a no holds barred sprinkle fest. We’re here to help.
What's Inside:
*Birthday bouquet: Using a 1-inch food cutter, punch out cantaloupe flowers. Gently push the end of matcha Pocky sticks into the melon, place a grape slice in the middle of each flower. Arrange and embellish with mint leaves.
*Sprinkle pretzel twists: Dip pretzels in melted dark chocolate, roll in sprinkles, and set on a parchment paper-lined plate to dry.
Tiny tip: If you’re in a hurry, pop the pretzels in the freezer for a few minutes to quickly set.
*Three-layer birthday sandwich: Cut crusts off turkey and (contrasting color) cheese sandwich and slice lengthwise in thirds. Set the first sandwich in the lunchbox (filling-side up), trim the other two sandwiches 1 inch and stack on top of each other (also filling-side up). Add bell pepper candles (secured to the bottom of the box with a drop of honey) or real birthday candles, if your school is cool with it.
*Mini cupcake, cut in half.
*Gift-wrapped candy (Starburst are a natural for this project).
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There’s no hard and fast rule that school lunches must include a sandwich; many of the crowd-favorite lunchboxes in our book are actually a selection of snacks.
Sneak more protein into the meal with our sweet Apricot Pistachio Balls recipe (or a store-bought protein bar) that play like a dessert but have a healthful helping of nut butter.
What's Inside:
*Mini sweet pepper ringlets + carrot coins + radishes.
*Our Apricot Pistachio Balls in a shredded coconut nest.
*Tangerine flower with grape center + mint stem and leaves (obviously overkill, but awfully cute).
*Salami and green olive mini skewers + Swiss cheese cubes.
*Hard-boiled egg with eyeballs (because absolutely everything is better with candy eyeballs) + your kid’s preferred dip for vegetables.
Tiny tip: Pack dips in a small sealable container, even if your lunchbox professes to be leak-free. As with most thing related to parenting, you’ll never regret being prepared for the worst case scenario.
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If you (like us) know a 5-year-old who never saw a dumpling he didn’t like—tuck a few in their lunchbox. Chances are your kid will be perfectly fine with room temperature gyoza. Or you can also pack these in a thermos container to keep them warm until lunchtime.
What's Inside:
*A rumble of red raspberries, and a fun seal food pick to surf in it.
*Chocolate-dipped Pocky sticks (great for sharing, not so great for fencing practice).
*Colorful chocolate button candies.
*Gyoza + shelled edamame + carrot cutouts.
Tiny tip: Use a 1-inch food cutter to put a little pizazz into the vegetable compartment.
*Cucumber Sesame Salad, this time with a delightfully darling dolphin pick.
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- Be sure to scoop up Lunchbox: So Easy, So Delicious, So Much Fun to Eat for 100+ inspiring, super-creative (but still doable!) lunch and snack ideas for the entire family.
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