What does your 6/7 year old have in their lunch box, honestly?

[Tidyhousemessyhouse]

6yo wants to start taking packed lunches and I'm a bit out of the habit so I'm just trying to get an idea of what others do.

Today he was given a tuna roll, a yoghurt, carrot sticks, an orange and a babybel.

He's a really good eater and I don't think dh thought there was enough food.

Mine is 9 now but he's had pretty much the same thing for years, he has a packed lunch once a week

Cheese wrap or ham cob
Grapes and berries
Cherry Tom's
A kitkat/freddo/small packet of buttons
Some times a big of crisps sometimes a banana

A ham sandwich (1 slice of bread), 2 or 3 of those big mini cheddars, a mini cucumber, grapes, a couple of biscuits. Once a week she has a pack of crisps instead of the cheddars.

Either a wrap (with cheese or ham, or both) or a little pot of cold pasta and sauce.
Some cucumber sticks
Some form of fruit (some berries or a satsuma or something like that)
A yogurt
A small pot of crisps (they don’t ever have time to eat a full pack so I decant half a pack into Tupperware) or mini breadsticks

It generally all gets eaten

All of the usual above. Roll, wrap, sandwich, cucumber, carrot etc
He'll have Greek yog and some kinda tinned/fresh fruit everyday - decanted into a tight container!
Crisps, bread sticks,cheddars.
Couple of biscuit, homemade/bought cake/bar.
He will occasionally request pate on toast or cheese and crackers.

Ds is autistic and very limited dietary wise. He has the same every day:
tub of grated cheese, pack of quavers or wotsits, innocent smoothie, yoghurt, breadsticks, nakd bar/mini gingerbread/soreen.

Tuna wrap
Apple
2 energy balls
Fairy cake
Water

DD is 8 but has had the same thing for years 😂

Sandwich/wrap/roll with tuna/egg/ham/salami
A double pot with a combination of two of strawberries/tangerine/cucumber sticks/grapes
Packet of crisps
Mini bag of cookies or similar

Sometimes a cheese string or mini pepperami etc

Sandwiches (2 bits of bread) babybel grapes something chocolate yogurt.

She only eats the yoghurt and babybel and I refuse to make her lunches any more!

Ds(9) takes one sandwich which is usually cheese salad, peanut butter, tuna mayo or egg mayo. No processed meat as it triggers his stomach cramps.
Natural yogurt in a small tub with a bit of honey and some blueberries (we stopped bringing frubes etc as they are expensive and full of sugar).
Small tub of strawberries and grapes. Some cucumber or carrot sticks and a satsuma. He also has a banana for break.

He takes in a fruit shoot or similar once a week, the rest of the time it's plain water. And twice a week is allowed a small chocolate penguin or similar, dairylea dunkers or crisps.

It's taken time and effort to sort out his diet and cut out the excess sugar he consumed on a regular basis. As a result his teeth have improved and stomach issues have also resolved.

6 year old dd has ham sandwich - 2 slices of bread with crusts off the sides so quite small. Cherry tomatoes, strawberries, Babybel, frube and wispa.

Ham or chicken sandwich
Crisps
Banana
Chocolate biscuit bar

He won't eat yoghurts else I'd put on in too! He has two or three times a week and hot meals the other days

Why on earth would you give a small child a caffeine filled beverage?

from their own website…. “We don’t recommend Sneak to anyone who needs to watch their caffeine intake. That includes children, as well as those that are pregnant or breastfeeding and anyone who’s been advised to avoid caffeine due to a health condition. Everyone else will be just fine, but always check the label carefully. If you do have any adverse reactions, stop using Sneak and speak to a medical professional.”

Ds is 7. The days he has a packed lunch he has:

Ham sandwich (roll)
Fruit of some kind, strawberries atm
Salami stick or veg sticks and something to dip it in.
Baby bel or squeezey yoghurt
Crisps (monster munch) or something sweet (cheesecake slice/cookie etc) and strawberry milk.

He usually eats all of it. Not a big breakfast eater so guessing he's hungry by lunch.

2 x squeeze yogurts, 1 x piece of cheese, Wrap/Bagel normally ham/cheese/chicken (the quickest option) and 3 types of fruit/veg because the lunchbox has 3 sections on top for it. Today was cucumber, raspberries, and apple slices. Would generally be cucumber or cherry tomatoes , apple slices and the third would be whatever else I have. And water. Anything quick, and the least amount of mess possible. He will mostly eat all.

My youngest is a dream for lunches, my oldest not so much as she is picky and veggie and has never liked sandwiches/wraps. She gets the same yogurt & cheese and for her main: hummus and pitta or pesto pasta, or a hot flask of dinner leftovers if it’s of the curry, bean stew variety. Absolutely no hope would she eat cucumber or tomatoes so she has a few pieces of fruit. She, at nearly 12, has yet to eat a full packed lunch this year as most often she will leave the fruit and the cheese.

I have a new rule that anything that went to school in the lunch box has to be eaten over the course of the day if it’s not eaten in school. It will normally be eaten after school as an after school snack. Seems to be keeping the waste relatively low.

A roll with either cheese,Lettuce,tomato or tuna,sweetcorn and Lettuce. A banana or clementine and a bottle of icy water. He doesn't want any more than that and wouldn't eat anymore if he was at home.

A lot less than most others it seems. A sandwich plus 2 or 3 other things, in a divided box. Eg carrot sticks, yoghurt pouch and satsuma. Or handful of crisps and apple slices (apple take ages to eat). maybe a few raisins. Never more than 2 sweet things, even if one of them is juice.

As an adult I don't have 6 different things with my sandwich.

Super fussy eater here. Same packed lunch every day. X2 bread muffins with jam, yogurt and small pack crisps.

Do other schools police the amount of food in lunch boxes like dds does?

I was contacted when she first started there for “not providing enough food in her lunchbox”.

As I said upthread, she doesn’t eat a lot of lunch. At home she will just have half a sandwich and a bit of fruit.

But the school expect a “main” like a sandwich, then a few more things, basically too much food for a young child to eat in 15 mins. It’s just a complete waste.

It’s in a deprived area, so it’s a part of their safeguarding. When I questioned, the teacher said that often children turn up with just a packet of crisps, so everyone is kept an eye on to make sure that enough food is being provided.

It’s very different to the first school dd went to were so fixated on “healthy” eating that they banned cheese 😳, this school don’t care whats in the lunch box, just that it’s bulging.

Cheese sandwich (1slice of bread)
portion of strawberries
portion of cucumber
couple of small pepperamis or scotch eggs
small portion of mini rice cakes or an oat bar

it is often not finished as DS prioritises play time over eating at school.

DD is 6 and a good eater, loves fruit and veg and I won't bow down to pack up police or judgement at what goes in - I'm aware of her diet and choices at other times of the day.

She usually has a small ham or cheese roll. Or sometimes some pasta salad or a wrap or pitta and hummus.
Fruit - mix of satsuma, cut up grapes, berries.
Cut up pepper, celery, cucumber or tomato. (Or a mix of these)
A couple of crackers, bread sticks, cheddar biscuits
A pepperami, piece of cheese or little chicken bites.
Frube or pouch yogurt.
Then I usually add something like a mini roll, handful of crisps, small chocolate treat like a kinder bar - depends on what we have.

She has a bento style lunch box so it is a selection of the above all in little compartments. She loves it and pretty much always eats it all.

5 Year old, grazer rather than big lunch'er

Cheese sandwich
Crisps
Frube yoghurt
Cheese string / Square of cheese
Cocktail sausages or mini sausage roll
Then mini pack of chocolate fingers / party rings
Fruit ( Usually two pieces )

He doesn't always eat it all, he just snacks on each 🤔

DS is 7 and super fussy. He has a slice of bread and butter, or a buttered wrap, or naan bread (cooked and then cooled) most days, sometimes with jam or honey in. Then two sorts of fruit or veg - peppers, carrots, blueberries, raspberries, grapes - sometimes a sweet thing (home-made cake or a flapjack or something), a packet of crisps and either a smoothie or squash. Some days he has rice or pasta left over from the night before, made into a salad - this usually goes down really well and there's rarely any left, whereas the bread options are often still there when he gets home.

He's more interested in going out to play, and eats super-slowly, so it's not unusual for him to eat his lunch in the car on the way home :)

Ds is year 6, he has a chicken wrap, an apple, a baby bel and a frube. Sometimes I try and sneak in a flap jack or similar but they're quite strict on healthy eating and he's mega fussy so ends up having the same day in day out.

My 6 year old eats;

Sandwich with cream cheese
Big pot of chopped cucumbers or peppers.
Greek yoghurt.
Water

I'm shocked at the poster who sends her kid in with energy drink.

My 6yo is a brilliant eater but doesn't like sandwiches.

So she has:

Cheese and crackers or roast chicken or sliced roast meat with couscous
Two fruit/veg (mini cucumber, strawberries, grapes, etc)
A snack - satay chicken/babybel/cheese string
A frozen frube
Handful of crisps/pretzels/twiglets etc
Something sweet like a tunnocks teacake or mini roll.