What would you put into a 4yo's lunchbox, that has just started reception?

[bytheMoonlight]

DD1 starts in September. Thinking of how to prepare her for that (after reading a MN thread!) got me thinking about lunchboxes. So what would you put in? And how does this sound?

Sandwiches (houmous, cheese and tomato or cheese and pickle are dd1's fav)
Carrot sticks and cherry toms
Babybel
Banana/apple/satsuma
box of Raisins

Today DS1 (year 1) and DD (nursery) had:

sandwich (ham for DS1, cheese for DD)
yoghurt for DD, mini cheesecake for DS1
raisins as we had no fresh fruit in the house
cereal bar
carton of ribena

DS1 eats everything, DD is more hit and miss.

My tip is to buy a couple of mini tupperware pots (unless you already have them) for fruit (melon, grapes , strawberries, blueberries etc).

You mean she starts Reception next September and you are planning lunchboxes now?! I plan my ds1's lunchbox on the day he takes it, whatever I have around and he's into at the time.

(By the way your lunch list sounds long. Depends on your kid, but mostly they wanna eat quick and get outside, or maybe just boys. My ds1 is 6 and no way he would eat that much. Sandwich and yoghurt, or Sandwich and nuts/ raisins or Crackers and cheese/ biscuit/ apple).

If my DS (almost 4) needs a packed lunch these are the things he would like/ will eat - a selectionof :-

mini rolls with ham or cheese
couscous or pasta salad
cheese sticks (if not cheese roll)
felafels
peperami sausage
yoghurt
piece of fruit (hopeful) - we have a banana box thing
bottle of water

(There are all sorts of treats I am sure he would eat as well of course, were he somehow to find them in his lunchbox)

My DS starts reception in sept too so have read this with interest. One thing that strikes me is the food is all cold. Whereas at nursery now he gets cooked food on the premises. So things like roast with veg is common as is things like lasagna, pasta, sweet and sour chicken and rice etc. So he's pretty used to the hot food. On Fridays due to us having to get from one class to another we usually have sandwiches and he isn't too interested.

I can't imagine school microwaving his food for him!!

DS1 has:

Roll or sandwich (cheese, ham or chicken)
Babybel (if no cheese sandwich)
1 x vegetable sticks (cucumber/carrot/etc)
2 x fruit (apple/raisins/grapes/dried apricots/etc)
Frube
Carton of fruit juice

They have a no sweets, chocolate or crisps rule.

drcrab, how about school dinners? They're pretty good these days.

Yes I should think most schools offer hot dinners. The ones at DS1's school look minging though!

Pot noodle or Happy Meal? (I am of course kidding!) (no, I'm not!) (Flask of coffee and a sausage roll?) (Arghhh..sorry, can't take lunchboxes seriously!!!!)

Moaningminnie - no bowel issues, so prob ok on the fruit intake then.

drcrab - im sure you should be able to get school dinners at the school?

DD doesn't eat sandwiches so she normally has in her lunchbox

Pasta salad (sweetcorn, tuna, mayo, cucumber, peper) or Ritz type crackers, cheese and ham (sort of like home-made lunchables)
yoghurt
satsuma
alpen bar
grapes

Gosh why do people really feel the need to post and criticise. You really cannot post anything on MN these days without someone finding fault. Can no one just think a thought without having to post it.

Yes I am thinking about lunch boxes now. Good for you that you give it no thought. Each to their own.

Thanks to all the fantastic suggestions. I hadn't considered hot lunches but I think dd1 would like them, even if it's just a couple of times a week.

I don't think there's any critiscism..maybe a little wry humour? Of course you're thinking about lots of school stuff and lunch is a biggie, but we all parent in different ways and worry about different things, and it's nice to have a bit of a giggle inbetween the other gut wrenching worries we all go through , especially when there has been lots of lovely suggestions and the question has been beautifully and imaginatively answered?

The perfect hot solution is a food flask from thermos on amazon.
Amazing
Dd would have a microwaved jacket spud beans and cheese every day!!

My other top tip is cocktail sausages. Big box and open freeze on tray then transfer to freezer bag. I pop one in if she has cheese or just spread and it's defrosted by lunch.
Lots of little pots each with diff things in is popular
And don't put yog pots in, schools send home everything so you know what they've eaten. Except if they haven't eaten the yoghurt you get dreadful mess

And start practising opening packets and pots now! They do get hit and miss help so the more they can do themselves the better.

maydaychild...what a superb idea...our school won't let ours do that due to some Health and Safety bananas..but if yours do, that's marvellous.

DS1 is in reception now.

You've got lots of foodie ideas here so I won't go there with that, but my feedback would be:

Make sure your child can manage everything in their lunchbox by themselves. If they have to wait to ask someone to peel their orange/open their yoghurt etc etc, they'll never get done in time.

Don't put too much in. Ours have a half hour window to eat, which sounds plenty but by the time they sit down, say grace, have a chat, faff around a bit, before they know it time is up.

Put sandwiches in little freezer bags rather than clingfilm, and secure shut with a sticker. Nice and easy to get into, then train your child to put all the leftovers in the bag. Like someone else said, school will send back everything, eaten or not, so unless you want crusts / yoghurt lids / banana skins exploding all over the lunch box, train them to put it in the bag. When you unpack the lunchbox at the end of the day, lift out bag and place in bin - voila!

Find out what they get given at snack time, so you don't repeat it at lunch. At our school they get offered a variety of fruit, but DS always chooses apple, so he doesn't get this for lunch.

HTH

This sounds like so much effort. I hope DS likes school dinners.

My DS gets pasta and pesto, a yoghurt, apple and a drink. I sometimes put in a pot of cheese and chorizo for him if I am feeling kind. I often sub the pasta for a seeded bagel with cheese and ham. I did have a stock of savoury muffins and they went down well too.

He has had wraps but he complains about them. I made falafel and he refused to eat them, even though he eats them at home.

I sometimes put in a little pot of hummus, carrots and olives.

He keeps telling me that he wants cheese straw things and crisps. He ain't getting em.

When they start saying they want things you don't want them to have, what do you say?

If dd1 says everyone has crisps, what is a vaild response?

I just say no.

I tell dds the school doesn't allow them and no but she pays more attention to the school rules .

My dd1 started school at 4 and she had:

a cheese/ham/sometimes both -sandwich or filled muffin
babybel if sandwich wasn't cheese
sliced cucumber
fruit for break
sometimes a frube/pot of jelly or custard/mini Cheddars

She also loves everything put in separately ie cheese, ham and a buttered pancake so she can make her own sandwich.

Ds has...

Bread and butter (boring but won't eat sandwiches)
Cheese
Grapes / tomatoes / pepper / apple
Cookie / fairy cake / cereal bar

I think if I made wraps they would fall apart!

Thanks for the tip about ak recipes