School packed lunch ideas

[crikey456]

My 4 year old will be starting school full time next month.

I am planning on sending her with a packed lunch as I think it will work out cheaper than school meals.

I have read that you can only send healthy food in, which makes sense!! I can think of sarnie's, rice cakes, veg sticks & raspberries, blueberries.

What does everyone else send? Maybe I've covered it with what I've said above actually - but any other ideas welcome.

Thanks

Where are you?

In England, all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive free school meals.

Unsure about the rest of the UK.

Yep, you don’t have to pay for school meals until yr 3! Safe the money and hassle of packed lunches until you have to

Additional packed lunch ideas:

Pitta pizza
Pasta salad
Hummus and pitta/breadsticks
Wraps
Cheese cubes
Yogurt

I wouldn't worry too much about variety, dd loves the same every day!!

Ham and cheese sandwich
Cucumber
Pear
Mini cheddars or a small cake on a Friday

She hates school lunches

Cheese and crackers
Breadsticks
Raisens
Yogurt
Chopped veg/fruit
Mine liked cold pasta with cubes cucumber/sweet corn/chicken with a small dollop of mayo
Cold meat slices
Flapjack

My son likes wraps - tuna and cucumber with a little bit of mayonnaise, roast chicken and lettuce, ham, etc. Chopped carrot and grapes and raisins (in a Bento type box). Also squeezy yoghurt - sometimes frozen. He also has pasta salad sometimes.

If you are in England school meals are free for all in R-Y2.

When mine went in to packed lunch they took a flask a few days a week in winter with noodles / chilli / leftovers / soup (maybe not soup for yr!). Then a picnic type lunch with humours, crudités, chopped fruit etc or sandwich or wrap

Check the schools policy though ours isn't free, no packaged cake / chocolate / sweets / biscuits - the list goes on and on.

You've already had some good ideas above, but it's also important to make sure your daughter is able to open whatever you send. There's usually only 1 midday supervisor for each class, and sometimes even one per year group. So as much as they want to, it's not always possible for them to help if a child struggles to open an item, or can't put a straw into a drink.