Boring, but talk to me about this as a packed lunch for a five year old?

[SarahAndQuack]

The five year old is going off on a sport holiday club today. They're asked to bring two sets of snacks and a lunch (but will be home before tea time).

Packed lunch was:

• cheese sandwiches
• two cheese straws
• three snack packs of raisins
• two mini chocolate eggs
• two bottles of 250ml ribena
• two packs of hula hoops.

What do you think?

If it's a sports camp then you might want to send an extra sandwich on the first day. DS isn't a big eater but devoured all his packed lunch the last time he went and came out almost shaking he'd used so much energy. These days I send what I hope is slightly too much the first day and then scale it back. Mine can be fussy about sandwiches so I sometimes send hot pasta in a flask or a cold pasta salad with sweetcorn and tuna.

I am amazed at the amounts of food 5 year olds can eat for their packed lunch . When my ds was 5 (and pretty much throughout primary) he had boxed juice, a ham/chicken/cheese sandwich or crackers and cheese and a biscuit as he couldn't eat anymore than that in the time allowed. I tried different combinations and meals but crisps/yogurts/raisins/pasta would return unopened so I stopped sending them as he could never eat them. He's 16 now and makes up for it!

I would lose no sleep over this at all, OP.

It's fine.

I'd disagree with whoever mentioned Innocent smoothies, though - they're no better than Ribena. Someone once said that giving a toddler raisins was like putting rocket fuel in a Mini, and Innocent smoothies are similar IMO (still let my DC have them, though - along with white bread sandwiches, crisps etc). I used to include carrot sticks, cucumber etc in packed lunches, but it was a token gesture as they were never eaten.

Meh. My dd is a nightmare eater, well into eating disorder territory, hasn't eaten a fruit or vegetable in living memory, will only eat junk or beige freezer food and no health professionals could care less. The dietitian used to wave a picture of the healthy food plate at her every 3 months but has been MIA since covid so now nobody cares. One packed lunch that isn't MN approved really doesn't matter.

I've got a good appetite but I don't think I could eat that much even if I was out walking all day. As a primary school teacher, I know that most kids don't eat all their packed lunches, especially on a day out / doing something different. But maybe your child has a big appetite.

At my school crisps, chocolate, cakes etc are banned. The children bring in things like pasta or rice with veg in it, lots of salad and fruit, cold chicken nuggets (yuck), cold burgers, sandwiches or other filled (sometimes unfilled!) bread, smoothies or fruit juices, yoghurts. Pretty much all have their own water bottles.

my 15 yr old DD will take for lunch a pitta bread, one babybel, some veg (carrot sticks or similar) a box of juice and a water bottle. Something sweet like a cake car and either fresh fruit or dried fruit like apricots

I think that's nowhere near enough for a teenage girl, especially if they were doing a sporting activity. One Babybel? No filling in the pitta?

I'm into very healthy food but it's a growing 5 year old at a sports camp all day doing a hell of a lot of exercise and he/she needs calories. Sure it isn't the healthiest but if it's healthier on other days and you also think about kids vitamins and so on, there is literally nothing to see here. If you were giving the kid takeaway leftovers then sure, the packer of the punch should be strung up but it's just a blah lunch.

Our 4.5 year old has been at holiday club this week and today has taken:

Small thermos pot of pasta and sauce
Banana
Fruit yoyo
Innocent smoothie
Frube
Mini cheddars

He usually has school dinners, doesn't really like sandwiches/wraps so I do find these things a bit of a faff.

There's no Mars bar...
... and if I recall, they help you work, rest AND play. So essential really.

@C25kBecky a white bread sandwich, packet of crisps, Trio and Umbongo was my packed lunch every day at primary school in the early 90s. Bloody loved a Trio.

@painauraisin

my 15 yr old DD will take for lunch a pitta bread, one babybel, some veg (carrot sticks or similar) a box of juice and a water bottle. Something sweet like a cake car and either fresh fruit or dried fruit like apricots

I think that's nowhere near enough for a teenage girl, especially if they were doing a sporting activity. One Babybel? No filling in the pitta?

Yup. She won't eat any sandwich fillings. This is a typical school lunch but she wouldn't take much more for an active day either. She's a healthy weight, not skinny.

[quote itssquidstella]@C25kBecky a white bread sandwich, packet of crisps, Trio and Umbongo was my packed lunch every day at primary school in the early 90s. Bloody loved a Trio.[/quote]
My school packed lunch in the 70's was fish paste or sandwich spread sandwich, packet of crisps (added to sandwich to make a delicious crisp sandwich), club biscuit or similar, sometimes a pork pie (removed the jelly) and a drink (can't remember what it was).

Apologies for all the "sandwich" mentions in the above. Couldn't be helped.

It lacks fruit and is a but repetitive. Sounds like the sort of lunch I'd cobble together when my kids tell me 5 mins before we leave that they need a packed lunch. Raisins, ribena and chocolate is too much sugar. My go to snacks are apple, banana or pear, babybel and a couple of crackers, carrot sticks and hummus, cucumber and grapes, a pack of mini cheddars. For a packed lunch a roll, crisps, cucumber and cherry tomatoes and a snack bar like a club or something. And a large bottle of water. My kids are older so probably eat more than a 5 year old though.

I don’t think any of the foods themselves are terrible but the doubling up is a bit poor.
My fussy 6 year old would have
Cereal bar/flapjack/cake and fruit (usually apple and grapes or strawberries)
Sandwich (usually cheese or ham), yoghurt and carrot and cucumber sticks
Cheese and crackers/breadsticks/sometimes crisps or popcorn
Water to drink, possibly something like a small carton of juice if I was feeling generous.

I think your modifications make it balanced. That's all this kind of thing needs, just a small tweak. I think that's why it annoys me because it's so easily fixed.

Personally I think kids are pretty good at regulating themselves quantity-wise so I would always err on the side of overpacking (and make it clear it doesn't all have to be eaten, but DD knows that anyway as I don't make her finish things at home). But I would make sure the majority of the items had some kind of nutritional value. If I pack lunch and snacks for DD I include a sandwich or wrap with protein and salad, veg sticks and hummus, Greek yoghurt and fruit, and then a treat like mini cheddars or a soreen bar.

I think your oh made the packed lunch and asked your dc what they’d like in their packed lunch. ‘Yes, daddy! Lots of sugar for lunch!’ 😂
I’d rearrange it tbh.

[quote itssquidstella]@C25kBecky a white bread sandwich, packet of crisps, Trio and Umbongo was my packed lunch every day at primary school in the early 90s. Bloody loved a Trio.[/quote]
@itssquidstella I've seen them recently, maybe you'll find them in b&m etc.

Ooh I'll have to have a look. The greatest moment of my life was when I was about eight and I got a Trio with NO BISCUIT LAYER. It was just chocolate coating and toffee cream filling. Bloody delicious.

I always erred on the side of plenty for holiday clubs.
They might be hungry, they might not. I would not worry about "healthy" but focus on what they would like/eat/see as a treat.
But then I wouldn't seek validation of my decision!

What do you mean by mini egg? Because to me that is something the size of a grape. Do you mean something chicken egg size?
I think your switches were an improvement. I'd have added a piece of fruit. But as a one off, its not going to kill her.

Tbh depends what child eats for ds1 that would prob be best I could get but would be able to substitue ribena for water
With ds that would be poor as he eats fruit and veg and more healthier foods

My 4.5 year olds typical packed lunches:

Ham or cheese sandwich
Cheese string or babybel/chicken bites
Yoghurt (frube)
Crisps
Banana/apple/orange (whatever fruit we have)
Veggie sticks with hunmous (carrot or cucumber)

Sometimes I'll send pasta instead of a sandwich or chopped up cherry tomatoes instead of veggie sticks and hunmous.

Only water to drink

Absolutely nothing in that lunchbox is healthy...

You swaps sound fine, your mini egg is confusing me as well ? Do you mean 2 packs of mini eggs or 2 creme egg size
To be fair my kids when on trips i overpacked them food , they didn't always eat i as they were able to regulate themselves as we really didn't ban any food
Ds1 is a very fussy eater though and prob most schools would not pass his lunchbox nowadays