Packing lunch accessories & what actual food?

[wizardressofoz]

My son is a rising kindergartener, and apparently will be in school at least 2-3 days a week if not all. However, we will pack lunch. I have kid Bento boxes. What other accessories do I need to pack lunches effectively (and for fun?)?

Also, what to send for food? My kid will eat yogurt pouches, hardboiled eggs, various raw veg and fruits, maybe a cheese sandwich.

[VillainV]

We use the Bentgo Kids also, mostly because they don’t leak and because there’s less for C to keep track of and bring home.

We do a half sandwich, small serving of leftover pasta, or sometimes a half slice of leftover pizza in the larger hole (which isn’t that large). The smaller holes get a few Apple slices, baby carrots (with ranch in the small round hole). We have to pack “snack” separately so I do a yogurt tube and small bag of goldfish crackers.

I strongly suspect that lunch this year is going to have to be completely disposable.

[pierogigirl]

An insulated water bottle.

[outnumbered]

Jul 3, 2020 7:32:41 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We use the Bentgo Kids also, mostly because they don’t leak and because there’s less for C to keep track of and bring home.

We do a half sandwich, small serving of leftover pasta, or sometimes a half slice of leftover pizza in the larger hole (which isn’t that large). The smaller holes get a few Apple slices, baby carrots (with ranch in the small round hole). We have to pack “snack” separately so I do a yogurt tube and small bag of goldfish crackers.

I strongly suspect that lunch this year is going to have to be completely disposable.

I agree that lunch will most likely have to be disposable, especially for younger grades.  All my kids have soft sided LL Bean lunch boxes.  This year I am sending lunch in a brown bag.  I do not want to have to clean the lunch boxes every day. I assume lunch will be eaten in the classroom.   I will send a sandwich, fruit, and crackers or chips.  Nothing fancy with a lot of stuff to clean and nothing that can make a mess in the class room.

[m15]

Whatever boxes or containers you are sending...please make sure your child can open them and clean it up independently. As a kindergarten teacher, I beg you to please practice at home. Practice opening and puting it back together to fit back into the lunch box when lunch is over.

[tcu2003]

If your kiddo likes leftovers/hot food, the Thermos Funtainer food container is great.


Thermos Funtainer 10 Ounce Food Jar, Spiderman smile.amazon.com/dp/B0045U2FTA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_JH8.EbE26GQQK

My son does not like sandwiches (except PB, which is usually not an option at school), cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs, yogurt or hummus, so the hot food option has been great for him. He’s been using one since kindergarten, and we haven’t had any issues. Soups are a favorite of his, but we’ll also doing things like taco meat and refried beans, cut up chicken/pork chop/steak and potatoes or veggies, etc - many of the leftovers we have work and he’ll happily eat them.

[wizardressofoz]

Jul 3, 2020 17:29:00 GMT -5 m15 said:

Whatever boxes or containers you are sending...please make sure your child can open them and clean it up independently. As a kindergarten teacher, I beg you to please practice at home. Practice opening and puting it back together to fit back into the lunch box when lunch is over.

Great advice, seriously. I've seen same-age friends be fairly dependent in their parents for basics. ! I'm a lazy person so I've been working on independent execution for years! 🤣🤣

[nellgirl]

My daughter is a bit younger (starts K in 2021), but she has been in a full day pre-k for over a year. Usually, we send her with a Yumbox full of snacks (usually 3-4 containers of fresh fruits and veggies, some cheddar bunnies or other crackers, and a reusable silicone pouch of kefir. Lunch is nearly always leftovers of whatever supper was in a thermos. The thermos comes with a foldable spoon. Aside from the shell of the Yumbox, we just run everything through the dishwasher in the evening.
I second them being able to open and close everything for themselves, which is partly why we have gone with the containers we have.

[wizardressofoz]

Jul 3, 2020 7:32:41 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We use the Bentgo Kids also, mostly because they don’t leak and because there’s less for C to keep track of and bring home.

We do a half sandwich, small serving of leftover pasta, or sometimes a half slice of leftover pizza in the larger hole (which isn’t that large). The smaller holes get a few Apple slices, baby carrots (with ranch in the small round hole). We have to pack “snack” separately so I do a yogurt tube and small bag of goldfish crackers.

I strongly suspect that lunch this year is going to have to be completely disposable.

I hadn't considered everything having to be disposable🤯. Thanks for sharing that scenario!!!

[SusanBAnthony]

Jul 4, 2020 5:57:39 GMT -5 wizardressofoz said:

Jul 3, 2020 7:32:41 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We use the Bentgo Kids also, mostly because they don’t leak and because there’s less for C to keep track of and bring home.

We do a half sandwich, small serving of leftover pasta, or sometimes a half slice of leftover pizza in the larger hole (which isn’t that large). The smaller holes get a few Apple slices, baby carrots (with ranch in the small round hole). We have to pack “snack” separately so I do a yogurt tube and small bag of goldfish crackers.

I strongly suspect that lunch this year is going to have to be completely disposable.

I hadn't considered everything having to be disposable🤯. Thanks for sharing that scenario!!!

We send the Bentgo Kids not in a lunch bag- just the container. They get milk at school and then I put the whole Bentgo in the dishwasher (it says not to but I haven't destroyed it yet)

[sandandsea]

We set up a pick 4 lunch for the boys so they choose one thing from each category everyday. We have them pick it out the night before because decisions take 3 hours.
1 Protein - eggs, beef or turkey jerkey, Turkey or ham roll ups, pepperoni, salami
2 fruit/veggies - disposable fruit cups, baby carrots, hummus, guacamole, fresh fruit, Peanut butter
3 grain - veggie chips, popcorn, crackers, pretzels, goldfish
4 dairy - yogurt, string cheese, cottage cheese, cottage cheese, baybel cheese

We also pack a box of milk everyday.

We use the packit freezable lunchboxes.

[186momx]

We've been lucky and DD's school has microwaves for the kids to use. In K and 1st an aide would heat it up for her until she proved she could use the microwave responsibly. If she doesn't have access to that microwave when we go back I'm guessing she will choose not to eat lunch as she eats very few foods cold other than fruit. She will be a 4th grader so old enough to choose to eat or not.