Preparing Lunch-Box Friendly Healthy Snacks for Kids

Packing lunch box meals requires the trick of layering items that won̵7;t get crushed by the time the noon bell rings. No child wants to find an indeterminate blob squished between a juice box and crackers. The benefits of packing a lunch are clear since you can control the ingredients your child ingests. Send your child off to a day of learning with snacks that are nutrient-packed.

  1. Vegetables

    • Veggie sticks lend themselves to lunch-box packing because of their narrow shape that can tuck into any corner. Keep in mind that softer vegetables like cucumbers will get soft over the morning hours, so stick with sturdier vegetables like carrots, sweet peppers, snow peas and celery. Older children may enjoy bringing a salad to lunch. If so, pack it in a secure plastic container with dressing in a separate zipped baggie or small container. Placing a folded damp paper towel inside the top of the salad container will ensure that it stays fresh and crisp until lunch time.

    Fruits

    • Not all fruit is created lunch-box-equal. Selecting and packing fruits requires a little more care since many bruise easily or are difficult for children to peel and eat within the short lunch period. One option is to prepare a sealed plastic cup full of fruit salad with seasonal fruits. Avoid including bananas since they will brown long before lunch. Apples are a classic lunch-box fruit, but if your child has any wobbly or missing front teeth, consider slicing apples into the size of chips, spritzed with lemon juice or a fruit freshener.

    Healthy Starches

    • Provide healthy carbs to give your child energy for recess and the rest of the day. Whole wheat crackers and pita bread wedges offer a healthier option to white bread or chips. If your child is old enough, pack a zipped baggy full of popcorn to wedge into the top of the lunchbox. The tasty snack will be filling without loading your child down with a calorie-dense carbohydrate.

    Proteins

    • If your child prefers something other than the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you can sneak in protein in a myriad of other ways. A lunch meat wrap cut into sushi-style rolls offers a fun alternative. A mini plastic container of peanut butter can be packed for an apple slice dip. Slices of cheese or a low-fat yogurt will add to your child's daily requirement of calcium.

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