What are your new reception children having for lunch/what sort of things should i give DD?

[Adikia]

Yes, I am panicking over stupid things but has anyone had any thoughts about what they are doing for lunch? and what drink will you send in?

My friend spent most of last year moaning about how the school kept complaining about the choice of lunch and I'm starting to think theres some secret rules I don't know! (although her DD was sent in with chocolate spread sandwiches, quavers, a mini cake and a fruit shoot every day so the school may have had a point.)

I have this terrible feeling I'm going to send in something and the dinner ladies are going to secretly judge me!

I knew I should of gone with school dinners but I've seen DD's table manners!

Easy to eat food with easy to get in packaging! E.g sandwich cut into quarters, grapes etc

You could do a trial run and see how she gets on with different things!

My DC usually have a sandwich, yoghurt, piece of fruit and a snack of some sort, usually a little cake/muffin or bag of mini cheddars. Sometimes they are sent in with pasta salad or for fun I do a make your own wrap kit.

I work as a lunch time supervisor (aka dinner nanny) and it enrages me when I see some of the crap children are sent in with.

I've been worrying about this too! Thought it was just me being odd :/ Are crisps allowed in school still? We had them everyday as kids, but I get the feeling they're a bit more frowned on now. DD loves fruit, so that's easy enough, the only sandwiches she'll eat are marmite though. Would that be awful everyday? And what to pad it out with? Argh!

I used to have crisps when I was at school but I wouldn't dare send them in with my daughters.

mine take/will take a sandwich/wrap, a little cake thing or biscuit like a jammy dodger and some fruit/raisins/malt loaf/cereal bar (no nuts). Sandwiches are cheese/ham/chicken or a combination and I try to get either lettuce or cucumber in there somewhere depending on the child.

Marmite is ok but just remember it is very salty so she may need more drink and probably is now seen as not so good to have daily (although we did growing up for breakfast without problems). One of mine doesn't like bread but she ate sandwiches at preschool because all the other children were so she wanted to fit in. won't eat them at home. wraps seem more popular in our house, probably because I put mayonnaise in them and they don't go soggy.

oh and worth checking the situation of lunch. mine have to sit on the floor either in one of the classrooms or on the ground in the playground if it is dry. this tends to rule out yoghurts, salads, anything requiring a fork etc as it becomes too messy.

Ooh I like the pasta salad and make your own wrap ideas, DD isn't keen on many sandwich fillings so would make a nice change.

I've been putting all snacks and sweets in the lunch boxes so she practices opening them :)

Redlips, I'm glad someone else has been worrying, DH looked at me like I was stupid when i mentioned it!

my two get a sandwich cut into triangles (in a sandwich tub), a freezer bag with fruit e.g. grapes, strawberries, a yoghurt pouch with screw lid, a carton of juice and a biscuit type thing e.g. mini bag of cookies or a rice krispie bar, etc.

I dont send crisps to school but they tend to have them in the car on the way home as a snack.

Bagels, sandwiches, wraps, pittas with a variety of fillings, ham chicken salad tuna beef etc

Carrot sticks/peppers/cucumber cherry tomatoes.

Sometimes a yogurt sometimes a home made test like a flap jack or fruit muffin

And always a piece of fruit.

Might do some home made tortilla chips or send a hand ful of crisps as well.

Sometimes I do chicken drumsticks or a pasta salad or a self assemble job sometimes like fruit loaf and jam.
Just check allergy policies their web site should have a list of approved or banned food.

p.s. although mine have a carton of juice in their lunch they also take in a water bottle as well for during the day/playtime, etc

oh and drink wise - we have the adult sized large water bottles and just send that in for the whole day including lunch.

To make life easier all round I tend to unwrap everything and stick it in tupperware pots.

I remember sending my daughter in one day with a couple of sausage rolls and a piece of cold quiche and she refused to go in the gate because she was scared the lunchtime ladies would tell her off because it wasn't a sandwich. luckily the ladies on the gate are lunchtime ladies too so they assured her it was fine.

cherry tomatoes, cucumber sticks, peppers, chicken pieces, cold new potatoes, quiche, dips, chunks of cheese, lettuce, couscous, rice salad, pasta, hard boiled egg, crackers of different sorts, cheese straws (not long strips of cheese, the other ones, like pastry cracker things), scones (cheese or fruit), malt loaf. loads of things if a child is open to trying them. of course if you have ones like mine then you will end up with the same things EVERY day.

DS has been having packed lunches at nursery so he will get the same, just in a new lunchbox.
A roll or sandwich - cheese or ham or turkey or beef, sometimes tomatoes, raisins or strawberries or fruit pot thing, choc biscuit like a Penguin, yoghurt, ice pack and drink of water in metal bottle.

No crisps, he likes them a bit but not fussed and plays with them. I have a DD going into yr 2 who has the same, she gets a small pack of crisps on Fridays only. Even though everyone else has crisps every day apparently

I try to keep a packet of wraps in the freezer for running out of bread emergencies as they defrost in about 5 minutes on the breadboard. And cartons of apple/orange juice for the days when we can't find the water bottle!

Mine will be having:

Small bottle of water, or possibly those diluted fruit juice (my 5 or something?) bottles now and again if they don't break the bank. They are happy with water though.

Sandwich OR something like breadsticks/crackers plus cubes of cheese

1 portion of fruit - either small stuff like berries/grapes, or if something like an apple then I'll slice it. I like those little tubs that are like tinned fruit in juice, but they have to bring rubbish home and I'm sure the juice would end up everywhere so I might leave them for home!

1 portion of veg - for DS that will basically be carrot or cucumber, but DD likes a few others like red pepper and tomatoes. Cut up into sticks etc.

Possibly something like a frube as well especially if the sandwich doesn't have dairy in it.

Might put some seeds in for DD (nuts are banned).

Definitely worth getting decent Tupperware that DCs can open by themselves.

Chocolate is banned, although stuff like kitkats are fine apparently as they are biscuit based I can't be arsed navigating those rules though so don't put anything along those lines in. Anything chocolatey is saved for home instead.

DD1 has a sandwich (ham or jam, inly thing she'll have on it) piece of fruit, handful of grapes/raspberries/raisins, small packet of crisps and a yogurt/cheese string. Occasionally (usually on a Friday) she'll have a penguin/blue ribbon type biscuit. They aren't allowed to take drinks as school provide water.

I'm dreading DS1 starting in September as he'll only have Nutella or jam on sandwiches, very rarely ham. He doesn't like wraps or pasta salad types of thing. He eats a good diet with plenty of fruit and veg and is very skinny (even though he eats like a horse) so I'm not worried about him having Nutella on his sandwiches. If school have a problem then tough, I'll feed my son what he'll eat so long as he's a healthy weight.

we arent allowed nuts so nutella isnt allowed. DS makes up for it by eating loads of it at the weekend

I have a feeling that just about every school in the country bans nutella because they all have to be nut free environments because it is such a dangerous allergy. You will have to check that crazykat.

DD takes a ham or chicken sandwich or wrap, another protein item, so cubes of cheese/peparami stick/chicken pieces. Piece of fruit, yogurt, small muffin or plain crackers and a carton of juice/ bottle of water.
Make sure that it is all easy to unwrap etc as they don't have long to eat.
You will need to check with school re peanut butter and other nut products.

Ds2 will have a sandwich/roll/wrap, a small piece of flapjack / biscuit, some fruit (grapes, an apple, strawberries) and/or veg (a couple of cherry tomatoes) and maybe a frube. To drink he'll either have a water bottle, or a carton of apple juice.
Ds1 is going to year 3 now and eats like a horse (more than me) so I'm wondering how to up the quantity he has without giving extra crap, as he's had more or less the same in his lunchbox since starting school! Thicker sandwiches, or 2 wraps I guess.

That's why I give dd the extra protein item and the crackers or muffin. They were only added last year as she was such a slow, small eater but this last year had got better as she was hungrier
What about a pot of houmous and couple of bread sticks?

Houmous and breadsticks / cheese and crackers both great ideas for bulking out - thanks! (Sorry to hijack OP)

Thats ok mamaduck.

I've got some tiny (200ml) Tupperware boxes and a sandwich box to go in her lunch bag, he gets cross if i feed her the same lunch 2 days in a row at home so need a few options, looking at the advice I'm thinking:

Sandwich box - ham or chicken wrap/stuffed pitta bread/quiche/sausage roll
1st little box - little handful of carrot sticks/cucumber sticks/sliced pepper/cherry tomatoes
2nd little box - little handful of cheese cubes/cheese straws/mini cheddars
3rd little box - sliced fruit/satsuma segments/grapes/fruit salad
a little homemade treat, probably shortbread or flapjack (or something less healthy once in a while)

I can't see anything on the information pack or the website about banned foods/allergy lists other than no fizzy drinks/energy drinks so does that look about right?

Oh and water or squash to drink (she has a big drinks bottle and it says they can have either during the day so long as its resealable)

The big mistake I made for a while was putting too many items in: they don't get time to eat more than three or four items plus a drink, depending on how fast your child eats, of course. Sandwich, drink, crisps or yoghurt and fruit would be fine. Older daughter likes pasta salad as an alternative and younger one likes quiche. I try not to give crisps every day and sometimes they have cake or biscuits. Carrot sticks and houmous go down well with my DDs, or cucumber with cheese and chive dip - I have tiny pots with a lid for the dips.

Normally mine have school dinners in autumn/winter but DD1 wants to stick with packed lunch this time, so I will also be sending her in with soup sometimes in a flask. She will be Y4 though so it's a bit different.

The only thing that is not allowed in lunch boxes is chocolate at our school, mainly as it melts. I have put a Penguin in before when I didn't know, but it wasn't confiscated. Sensibly the supervisor just asked my daughter not to have chocolate next time.

Cheese scones are good for kids who aren't fond of sandwiches. I normally bake a loads, split and butter them, then wrap them individually and freeze them. Pizza bread is also good,. A batch of bread dough, flattening and spread with pizza topping (passata, mushroom, ham, salami. Gated cheese etc). Roll up and slice like a Swiss roll. Place slices flat on a baking tray and bake hot for about 10 - 15 minutes. These also freeze really well. I have also been known to substitute sandwiches for a small pot of hummus, a baby bel and some ritz biscuits and carrot sticks.

Along with these or sandwiches I add in a fruit and a muesli bar or yogurt in a tube, a cookie or muffin etc. On PE or swimming days I put in an extra snack.