Primary school lunch suggestion so out of touch

[GettingThereDad]

So the latest weekly newsletter came back from my daughter's primary school. They are doing a big push on healthy eating; great!

However, the suggestions for school snacks are frankly ridiculous.

How detached from the parents and kids can you get. How many parents have time to make heart shaped cucumber and star bread cut-outs kebabs in the morning before school. And how many 6 year old kids do you know who like olives, courgette and prawns!

Getting all the kids out the door in the morning with their snacks, bags and coats is hard enough as it is without ridiculous ideals like making fruit and break kebabs!

[fluffywhitekittens]

Umm, prawn kebabs left in a warm lunchbox for three hours until eaten .....

[RabbitSaysWoof]

The kebabs are a bit bloody rediculas and they probably wouldn't travel that well either they would be cute for a children's party not for the real world.
I do like the idea of real foods and savoury foods for school snacks tho I think we are heavily guided towards fruit and dried fruit which goes against dentist advice to have that between meals. I don't really do snacks at all, me and my dc just eat meals but if I did I suppose tiny sandwiches, cold meats or fish would be as good a snack as any and better than a lot.

[ReallyTired]

Thank your lucky stars you don't live in Japan with bento.

www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/07/24/486941516/japans-lunchbox-trend-kyaraben-takes-lunch-prep-to-another-level

[InTheDessert]

My 7 year old loves prawns and olives. The 5 year old likes prawns. Prawns wouldn't be making it into a lunch box here tho
Cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes, sandwich (rectangles, crusts still there), yoghurt, fruit and a cereal bar or flapjack/banana bread if I've cooked recently is standard in this house. Apparently some kids turn up with cold chicken nuggets and chips tho.

[user789653241]

I do cut out veg( carrot, red pepper) and cheese into heart, star etc shapes! Also makes sandwich in shapes of animals etc. It's doesn't take long using cookie cutters. But since he is getting older, not so long to go though... bit sad.
Also my ds loves prawns, he takes it for lunch, but I make sure lunch box is properly chilled.

[QuackDuckQuack]

We've got sandwich cutters for various shapes. I like to use the dolphin cutter on tuna sandwiches.

[Longlost10]

mine have always loved olives and courgettes. I don't think you could put prawns in a lunch box, realisticlly.

[user789653241]

I've put prawns in lunch box so many times over the years! It's fine, as long as it's properly cooked, and chilled with ice packs. My ds never had any food poisoning.
Prawns with Vietnamese dipping sauce... divine!

[itlypocerka]

Cutouts of any shape will either mean massive amounts of wasted food or someone (probably mum) gets the offcuts for their own lunch which is exactly the kind of thing that the mums I know who are clearly suffering from a top-grade martyrdom complex would be delighted to do. [shudder]

[Longlost10]

we tried ice packs in lunch boxes, but it is just one more extra weight on the way home

[user789653241]

itlypocerka, cut out bread goes to birds with seeds. Cut out carrots, I give him inside and outside. So star shaped carrot, and ring with star shaped hole in the middle. Other things, I will try to cut the piece out so I don't need to waste so much.( And I don't eat the leftover. ) I prepare his lunch in about 10 minutes every morning. It has been something I had to do for very fussy eater.

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

If you get the actual sandwich shape cutters and at her than regular cookie cutters they are designed to leave v little waste, not much different to just cutting crusts off really. Here. Carrot sticks with humous or salsa for break here but we do also do savoury flapjacks in lunch boxes.

[QuackDuckQuack]

My DD doesn't eat crusts, so it's no different to cutting the crusts off. She actually eats more of the sandwich than if I left the crusts on. I'm no martyr - I just like to show DD that I've thought of her.

[GettingThereDad]

Tea parties I am all up for kebabs and the effort but one a school morning is simply crazy for me. I have to set an alarm for 6:30 as it is to get out the door on time with all the kids etc. I just don't have the time to do more than the basics. Often the girls will get a poem on their banana or some fun words to make them smile but that is about as far as I can stretch.

The thing that frustrated me more than anything is the target audience, there are a good number of parents that won't even bother with a snack or at best throw in a bag of crisps. Suggesting kebabs, olives and prawns is just not going to help move these parents on to giving the kids something better.

[user789653241]

Yeah, I get what you're saying!
But my ds's school have great school lunch menu, and those children who have packed lunch tends to be the children with allergy or fussy eating habit.(mine has both.)
I generally welcome any suggestion.
TBH, putting cutting out veg on the decorative cocktail stick made huge difference for my ds. He eats it because it looks fun to eat. And like I said up thread, it takes me less than 10 mins to prepare it in the morning.

Writing a lovely message on banana is equally good though.

[FannyFifer]

This is why I do lunches the night before.

[CathFizz]

No school restrictions on lunchboxes at our school yet
I sent DD with ham sandwich, cut into 4 squares, carrot & cucumber, hard boiled egg, a plum, an apple, homemade chocolate fairy cake, a pack of mini cheddars and a pot of fromage frais.
It annoys me that a school can dictate what we should feed our kids.

[shouldwestayorshouldwego]

I freeze something in the lunch bag - jelly or smoothie. Doesn't add to the weight, defrosts slowly and keeps fish fresher. My dd loves prawns in her lunch. You shouldn't feel obliged to do that though.

[Lovefromhull]

Gettingthere- that banana is soo sweet! Aren't you nice!

[Lovefromhull]

Just noticed that its from the link. Sorry!

[jamdonut]

Just something I've noticed, but some children in EYFS and KS1 seem to have way too much food in their lunch boxes. It takes them a very long time to eat it, and we don't know wether they are actually supposed to eat it all or not! There is more than can be reasonably eaten in 20 mins, if you want them to have some playtime too.

Also so many children open their lunch boxes and say","I don't like this"...please try to give your children something you know they like, not something they 'should' like. Otherwise it's a long time from lunchtime to teatime if you haven't eaten much.

We don't have many rules about what's in packed lunches, other than no fizzy drinks , and a request there is not too many chocolaty items, and definitely no packets of sweets.

[GettingThereDad]

Lovefromhull - I do the best I can, putting a poem or funny drawing on a banana is a simple easy way of me making the girls smile at snack time. I just run out of funny (unrude) poem ideas!