EASY lunch themes ideas needed!

[lilac05]

DS1 just started Kindergarten.  I made the mistake(?) of making a themed lunch for his first day.  It was a "Green Lunch" because that's his favorite color & I knew he'd be excited about it.  Today, he excitedly asked me what tomorrow's lunch will be.  Rainbow theme was easy, grape tomatoes & babybel cheese, orange/yellow peppers, spinach roll-up, snack with a blue lid (LOL), and red grapes.

I actually like the idea of doing themes because it gives me direction.  I tend to get overwhelmed when I have too many options (yes, even for packing lunches).  So I'm trying to come up with some ideas.

Any fun, EASY ideas?  I have NO visions of making Pinterest worthy lunches or buying lots of accessories/cookie cutters.  The goal is to make packing lunches easier, not harder!

Basic themes are great, bonus if you have food ideas, too!

ETA:  I will definitely be repeating themes!  This is not to impress anyone, just make my kid happy and make life a little easier for me.

[Brie]

Just throw random shit in the box and make him guess?

"Yes, you're right! It was TOTALLY brontosaurus themed! Yes, brontosauruses did eat uncrustables. Let's talk about something else now!"

[lilac05]

Aug 25, 2016 0:04:48 GMT -5 Brie said:

Just throw random shit in the box and make him guess?

"Yes, you're right! It was TOTALLY brontosaurus themed! Yes, brontosauruses did eat uncrustables. Let's talk about something else now!"

Haha!  That's definitely going to happen, too!

I wouldn't have thought to continue it past day 1, except when he said "I really loved my green lunch, mom.  It reminded me in the middle of the day that you love me.  And it made me miss you a little less."  So, when he asked me about tomorrow's lunch, I couldn't just say PBJ!  (He may have a future as a politician, sales person, or motivational speaker, LOL).  Of course, PBJs will be in regular rotation!  Not everything will match the theme...I made sure of that from Day 1.  

Another idea I had was cylinders.  He calls baby dill pickles "cylinder pickles."  Add baby carrots, a cheese stick, a banana, and a roll-up of some sort, and I've got a themed lunch that it healthy & takes 90 seconds to make!

[usuallylurking]

Godspeed.

Can you write a note to pack in his lunch to remind him that you love him? Or write a joke every day?

[lilac05]

Aug 25, 2016 0:24:03 GMT -5 usuallylurking said:

Godspeed.

Can you write a note to pack in his lunch to remind him that you love him? Or write a joke every day?

Haha.

I did write a note & he loved it and asked if I would do it every day.  "I hope you're having a great day!  Enjoy your green lunch!  Love, Mom"  There aren't too many ways to say that at a Kindergarten reading level, and I don't want him bugging the teacher to read it!

You guys are no help!  I think it's the ADHD tendencies in my brain that actually make this idea easier than just throwing stuff in a lunch box.  I open up the fridge and just can't decide what to make for a meal.  Knowing that I need something red (or whatever) helps me narrow it down.  I do NOT want to be making creations for lunches...no cutting out tiny eyeballs out of olives for me!  Which makes searching for ideas on Pinterest difficult.

Another "theme" I thought of tonight was dip.  Chicken nuggets & ketchup, veggies & hummus/ranch, apples & peanut butter, done!

[usuallylurking]

Aug 25, 2016 0:32:49 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

Aug 25, 2016 0:24:03 GMT -5 usuallylurking said:

Godspeed.

Can you write a note to pack in his lunch to remind him that you love him? Or write a joke every day?

Haha.

I did write a note & he loved it and asked if I would do it every day.  "I hope you're having a great day!  Enjoy your green lunch!  Love, Mom"  There aren't too many ways to say that at a Kindergarten reading level, and I don't want him bugging the teacher to read it!

You guys are no help!  I think it's the ADHD tendencies in my brain that actually make this idea easier than just throwing stuff in a lunch box.  I open up the fridge and just can't decide what to make for a meal.  Knowing that I need something red (or whatever) helps me narrow it down.  I do NOT want to be making creations for lunches...no cutting out tiny eyeballs out of olives for me!  Which makes searching for ideas on Pinterest difficult.

Another "theme" I thought of tonight was dip.  Chicken nuggets & ketchup, veggies & hummus/ranch, apples & peanut butter, done!

Ohhhh, sorry, I forgot about the reading aspect!

Ok, my "theme" for lunch (and I pack one eeeeevery day, because DS1 will not buy hot lunch) is:
- protein: usually cheese (options are endless- cheese stick, babybel "circle cheese" as we call them, tillamoo's, cheese cubes), sometimes a hard boiled egg, and I discovered over summer he will eat lunchmeat and cheese roll ups, so I'll integrate those some days
- main item: 95% of the time this is a pb&j sandwich (I'm so grateful he likes these and doesn't get bored of them!). He will also eat a meat, cheese and mayo sandwich. Sometimes I send left over pancakes and call them "chilly cakes" because they're cold. Now that he will eat meat and cheese roll ups, those will probably be a main item. Granola bar when I send more of a "picnic" lunch. Leftover pizza.
- crunchy item: pirate's booty, tortilla chips, goldfish, pretzel sticks (I worry less about choking with sticks over whole pretzels), popcorn if I send leftover pancakes I don't typically send this part of lunch as well.
- fruit: apple slices, cutie orange that I already peel and section apart, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi
- occasional veggie: carrots, cucumbers (I buy the baby cucumbers from Costco, peel them, slice in half lengthwise and then cut into chunks), diced yellow/red/orange bell pepper
- treat: almost always yogurt covered raisins with a few m&ms thrown in. Sometimes fruit snacks. Sometimes a small cookie (like the size of a 50 cent piece). Sometimes a marshmallow (lol! He likes them!). After Halloween he will get 1 piece of candy in there.

Other random items are something like yogurt. Or pickles. Or olives. I only send water because when I was sending a chocolate milk he wasn't eating/would get full from the milk. As it is, he rarely finishes. Usually his leftover lunch becomes his afternoon snack when he gets home. If he ate 75% or so of it I will boost it with something else from home to make it a more substantial snack.

You could do a breakfast theme? Cold pancakes/waffles/French toast bites, yogurt, fruit, egg.
Deconstructed nacho theme- chips, cheese, salsa, sour cream, beans

I follow What Lisa Cooks on Facebook and she packs really good, not always sandwiches, but not over the top lunches for her 4 kids (2 sets of twins).

[cricketwife]

I would definitely front load and tell him the themes are just for the first week of school.

Circles: Baby bel, rolled up lunch meat (not exactly a circle, but whatever), blueberries, grapes, orange, peas

Other colors besides green---
Red:baby bel, strawberries, raspberries, berry applesauce,grape tomatoes, berry yogurt
White: sandwich, banana, string cheese, vanilla yogurt

Favorites- pack his fav foods with a note that he's your favorite kid

That's all I've got. Happily you are only doing this nonsense for one week

[countthestars]

Building off of cricketwife's circle theme, you could do other shapes

Stick theme: PBJ cut in strips, carrot and celery sticks, pretzel sticks, yogurt tube
Triangle theme: sandwiches and watermelon cut into triangles

madringal has an Instagram @peytonslunchbox that does use some of the stamps and accessories, but maybe she can inspire you with some of her lunches?

[gigem]

madringal i love your lunches! Where do you get the presses for the sandwiches?

Btw you recommended the bentgo box a few months ago and i love it thank you!

Ps OP sorry to hijack the thread!

[lolo]

Taco Tuesday.

Obviously.

[londoncalling]

The breakfast lunchbox is the one that my kids always rave about. French toast cut into sticks with a little container of syrup to dip, yogurt, bacon (cold), and fruit.

[minzy]

Maybe something starting with each letter of his name?

[madringal]

Aug 25, 2016 6:00:17 GMT -5 gigem said:

madringal i love your lunches! Where do you get the presses for the sandwiches?

Btw you recommended the bentgo box a few months ago and i love it thank you!

Ps OP sorry to hijack the thread!

Thanks, and I am glad you like the box I buy most of my stamps and such accessories from Bento Usa.  Occasionally I find some on Amazon or even the Dollar Spot at Target.

[madringal]

I know you said you don't want to buy a bunch of stuff, but I bet you have tons of stuff at home you can use I use a lot of Playdoh cutters, Mr. Potato Head parts, cupcake toppers I collect from birthday parties, stickers my girls bring home in goodie bags.

[loskadoodle]

Everything starts with a letter. I used to do this with my little sister when we were younger. Pasta, pineapple, peanuts, etc.

[lilac05]

Thanks for the ideas! I found someone who did letters of the alphabet simply on Pinterest. I won't go in order because I'm not shopping specifically for certain items every week, but I can see doing that one pretty easily!

madringal, I'll have to check out your lunches! I'm not opposed to using stuff I happen to have around here, I just want to be able to make lunches in about 5 minutes and not have to make special trips to the store or spend a bunch of money on it (since saving money is a large reason for the cold lunches in the first place!)

[fashionx]

Creepy but this ad showed up in my feed today:

[lilac05]

fashionx, cute! But that's more effort than I'm planning on putting into this! I'm lazy!

Today was Breakfast for lunch. 2 hard boiled eggs, mini bagel with peanut butter, yogurt, fruit cup, and peppers. Basically, use up what was left from the rest of the week!

[drloretta]

Colors, numbers, shapes, seasons, animals, other kindergarten themes

[kershnic]

One of my friends (an adult, lol) really likes to eat what she calls "orange meal." It includes dino nuggets and carrots for sure. I think maybe mac and cheese gets in there sometimes? And OJ or orange soda?

[lilac05]

kershnic, I love that your friend named her meal! I could see that being something like, "I'm having a crap day. Screw it! I'm having Orange Meal!" LOL

I could make Orange work easily, too! Cheese stick, pepper slices, orange, and he might eat chicken nuggets (depends on his mood). And he'd flip if I also included a few Cheetos or Doritos!

[bluelikejazz]

Numbers/counting?
1 Sandwich
2 cuties
3 cheese slices
4 crackers
5 celery pieces

Rabbit's lunch (salad/vegetarian)

Bear's lunch (nuts & berries)

[CloudBee]

If you're really into it, I would suggest buying a couple random bento accessories on Amazon. Maybe a pack of animal food picks, eyeball food picks, etc.

This morning we were in a huge rush to get out the door to see the doctor. I realized we would be gone over lunch and wanted to avoid fast food. (We still got ice cream and fries later. Whatever.)

I quickly washed some Mr. Potato Head parts and... wallah. He was blown away.

[lilac05]

Aug 26, 2016 14:12:30 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

I quickly washed some Mr. Potato Head parts and... wallah. He was blown away.

That's so cute!  

I'm not really that into it.  I don't even have a bento box.  I'm just using a random assortment of ziplock containers and bags.  I'm hoping for near-free ideas, so the Potato Head is great!  

As of right now, he's most excited about the notes I leave him.  My friends have been helping with lunch & he has made sure to show them every day.  (Today's was "Hello Sunshine!  Enjoy your breakfast lunch!  Love, Mom!" written on a colored scrap of paper.)

bluelikejazz, someone mentioned numbers earlier & that's where my mind went, too.