NOW CLOSED: Walkers Baked Stars would love you to share your top tips for tasty lunchbox fillers and snacks - you could win a £100 Amazon voucher

[TheOtherHelenMumsnet]

Launched earlier this year, Walkers Baked Stars were designed with lunchboxes in mind and ?are baked for 70% less fat than potato crisps on average, contain 94 calories a pack and are a source of fibre. Available in 3 great tasting flavours: Cheese & Onion, Salt & Vinegar and Mild Sweet Chilli.?

Now those friendly folk from Walkers are keen to know your top tips for making up great kids lunchboxes which make sure they get eaten! What makes a great packed lunch for your family? How do you keep it interesting and appealing?

We're thinking ahead to back to school and MN are putting together the annual emails which go out to provide tips and advice for parents whose children are moving up school or starting for the first time. Please think about the advice you think would be useful to those parents for lunchboxes and snacks during or after school. Tips posted on this thread may well be used in those emails (MN name will not be used).

We would also love to know what your general advice on snacks for children would be. For example, do you stock up on snacks? Do you let your children choose what they have? What's most popular? What's least popular?

Share your tips and advice here and you would win a £100 Amazon voucher. Everyone who adds a comment will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win!

Thanks
MNHQ

[Littleplasticpeople]

For my two dcs (5 and 3.5) lunch boxes are extremely dull and predictable. They do not like surprises, so to ensure they eat something I rarely vary it.

Ds (5) likes pesto pasta, a yoghurt and a piece of fruit 'that won't go mushy' (an apple or pear generally!). He likes crisps but asked me not to put any in his lunch box as it takes him too long to eat and he misses out on playing time. He gets cake sometimes, mainly if I've been arsed to make one at the start of the week. We have not gone down the route of shop bought cake bars/ biscuit yet.

Dd likes a cheese sandwich and a banana. I worry she will go hungry, but every time I've put anything else in her box she has let it and still just eaten the sarnie & banana!

Snacks vary at home, th main rule being the children ask first. Fruit pretty freely available, both like nuts, usually cake or biscuits a few times a week.

[liveinazoo]

mine aent given long to eat lunch as as chattng with friends at same time it has to be easy to eat
fruit-berries,kiwi/melon/pineapple cut inot chunks is popular.if i have time i sometimes thread them onto cocktail sticks like little kebabs.if i put in larger things like apples i slice them and add a little lemon.if it needs peeling its done before it goes in teh box

[frazzledbutcalm]

Mine always have crisps on a Monday and Friday - Monday is a treat as they don't like going back after the weekend, Friday is a treat as it's the end of the week, wey hey! I buy multi-packs so that each individual pack is a smaller size portion, that way they get a treat and I can also cut down on the fat/salt etc.
They have a sandwich every day, chicken and sweetcorn mayo, ham and salad, tuna and sweetcorn mayo. They like 'circle bread' (warburtons milk roll). It's easy to eat, some bread/buns can be quite stodgy and chewy.
Piece of fruit every day, strawberries are their favourite, but I like to give them a different piece each day.
Frube/chube yogurt every day.
Choc biscuit or cake every day.

I also alternate - home made scone, mini sausages, babybel, malt loaf, breadsticks and philly, as extras on some days.

I put the mains in, and let the children choose their flavour crisps, and extra for that day.

[fifi007]

Colourful choice,healthy and varied ....,fruit ,small sandwich ...a bag of baked walkers and a drink perfect o

[Blatherskite]

DS loves fruit. I cut an apple in half and an orange and then cut each into slices. By alternating orange-apple-orange-apple-orange-apple-orange, it makes a really fun looking "caterpillar" and the fruit acid in the orange keeps the apple from going brown too.

[LoonyRationalist]

My DD's are 3 and 5.
They like sandwiches (cheese or smoked salmon). Cucumber and carrot sticks (every day!). Banana or apple, occasionally pot of berries. Sometimes a small piece of homemade flapjack OR half a packet of crisps OR a yogurt.
DD 2 is a bit more adventurous (has packed lunch at pre-school) and will take pitta and houmous, or crackers and cheese. Both think that a small pot of olives is a fantastic treat! (odd odd children)

I agree that lunch boxes are not the place for experimentation but disagree on variety being essential - my dd's always eat more when I am consistent :)

Neither of my children would eat those flavour crisps which is I guess why I have ignored their existance!! Why no plain ones?

[elizaco]

My girls packed lunch's consist of a sandwich (bread roll or wrap) - either chicken and salad or tuna and salad; a smoothie drink; fruit or veg (usually a pot of grapes or strawberries, or my eldest likes sugar snap peas); a cereal bar or cake bar and finally a couple of Snack-a-Jacks.

[TheMysteryCat]

Fruit and veg sticks with a pot of cream cheese or hummous to dip. Crumpets also favourite. Homemade lentil slice with salsa.

Sometimes goodies crisps as no salt.

Are the baked stars salt free?

[EightiesOlympicGolds]

My DS adores cheese and would eat it at every meal, so I use hard and soft cheeses and try to do 'cheese-and -something' sandwiches. Plus bundle anything into a wrap with stuff he likes and the whole lot will be eaten. Crisps are a treat to be eaten with us but I will certainly try the baked stars. Cake is always popular but portion control is key - my DS is content with a much smaller piece of cake than I used to think.

[beautifulgirls]

I only do packed lunches for holiday club and the girls come shopping with me so they can help choose things that they will want. I usually let them have a treat once a week but other than that healthy stuff in the lunch. I let them choose between bread or rolls and give them a choice of fillings. They love raisins, dried banana, tomatoes (eat like sweets!) and fruit so we usually have a combination of these sorts of things plus a yoghurt. Treat wise they may have crisps, a chocolate bar/biscuit when allowed.

I always put a picnic freezer block in the lunch bags as there is nowhere cool to keep them during the morning and it helps keep their lunch cool.

Drinks - I let them take their school bottles with dilute fruit squash. At school they only get water so in the holidays we are a bit more flexible.

[Silverlace]

My DC usual have school.lunches but for the last half term before the hols they have sandwiches. I find a mixture of small foods go down well such as a sandwich, carrot sticks and pepper, a yogurt, some cut up fruit, a bag of crisp and a small sweet treat.

During the hols they seem to be constantly hungry so I have given them a tub full of snacks they can have including mini bread sticks, dried fruit and nuts. They can also help themselves to fruit.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Favourite after school snacks here (teenage girls) are cereal, toast and peanut or almond or cashew butter, bananas, hoummus and pitta. They also seem to get through millions of apples. I usually buy Mini Cheddars as a 'treat' but will now try Baked Stars too!

[Greenantobe]

My sons have school dinners - it's just not possible to get everyone out of the house in the morning and pack up with the schools no nuts, seeds or eggs policy.

However, holiday club and picnic pack ups always include houmous, cheese and cucumber wraps, hard boiled eggs, carrot sticks, a piece of fruit, a yoghurt and a smoothie (they are so busy, I want to make sure that they are eating plenty - and by putting in what they like, I hardly ever get anything back!).

If I am being particularly virtuous (and have an evening free), I bake fruit muffins and then freeze them. We get as many out of the freezer each day as we need and they defrost by lunchtime (and keep the rest of the lunch cool while they are defrosting).

[pavi]

My DD is absolutely not fussy about her lunch box(Thank you god)..but she wants all kinds of taste in the box a sour a sweet a spice and a bland so i just fill in some peeled orange or green apple,a tiny sandwich with her fav strawberry jam,a bit of salt and pepper mixed brocolli and ofcourse a diet biscuit and she is just fine with it.A flavoured yogurt and cheese is a treat.

[bubby64]

My two like wraps better than sandwichs, humous, bread & carrot sticks, tube yougurts, which I freeze before putting in lunchbox (tho this will stop when they go to high school in Sept, as they will get "frubed",= squirted with the content!) grapes, paket of baked crisps/wotsits/sticks, cocktail sausages, savory mini-eggs, pot of homemade coleslaw, pot of coronation chicken/rice.

[bubby64]

Obviously not all the above in each lunch, but a selection from that list is normal!

[narkynorks]

The trick with my kids is having plenty of variety. I try to have at least 6 or 7 different sandwich fillings as well as a variety of bread/wraps which I rotate during the week. After that the lunchbox gets some form of fruit (apple, satsuma, berries, grapes), yoghurt, cheese sticks, and occasionally a small treat of some description (they love yoghurt raisins).

[vor]

Packed lunch works so well here, I could do it in my sleep - takes 3 mins tops to prepare:

1. We use those sistema boxes which fold out with a section for the main event, usually sandwiches, and two sections for salads, fruit and treats. They keep the meal intact, save them from being squished. I once looked after a friend's son whose drink spilled over his foil wrapped sandwiches and treat...
   
2. We stick to sandwiches and wraps - I tried to get creative but found it made planning and preparing a chore rather than a quick task. Also, they have limited time to finish their meal.
   
3. The kids always get 2 or 3 fresh raw veg items. They are adventurous veg eaters, so sometimes includes red cabbage, bean sprouts, courgette.
   
4. Pudding is usually just fruit - cake, flapjacks, dates, muffins, raisins are an occasional treat. I always make sure the fruit can't get bruised.
   
5. I avoid pre-packaged food as we're trying to reduce our packaging waste at home.
   

My advice is keep it simple, filling and healthy - kids don't get bored as easily as adults!

They always report back on the much better treats in other lunch boxes.

[lorisparkle]

DS1 had school dinners through reception and year 1 but this year he wants packed lunch twice a week and DS2 who will be starting in reception this year wants packed lunch everyday (he is having school dinners on a Friday though as I work on this day and I want an easy life!)

DS1 is really adventurous on his tastes whilst DS2 likes familiarity so we will try new things at home then stick to the basics for school.

DS1 loved ham and cheese muffins as a change and cheese, grated carrot and hummus in a pitta when he used to have packed lunch. DS2 would happily have ham and pickle everyday.

During term time snacks are usually fruit, bread sticks, oatcakes and the organix range type snacks. They love the kiddylicous fruit crisps as a treat. In the holidays DH is at home and likes biscuits!

I will be trawling mumsnet for more ideas though!

[hurricanewyn]

We bought some egg moulds on ebay really cheaply - they cost about £1 - just pop in a boiled egg when it's still warm for a few minutes/overnight in the fridge & you have a star or heart shaped egg.

We also got some rice moulds from ebay too. Mix some warm boiled rice with smoked salmon and pop in the mould and out pops a bear! There are loads of shapes around.

Google bento boxes for inspiration - some are amazing, but really it's a great way to use some portions of leftovers. A nice change from bread/sandwiches.

[AnaIsAlwaysShocked]

We have on of those lunch boxes with different compartments. In them I put
Flapjack
Biscuits
Raisens
Orange or banana
Cheese or ham sandwich
Sausage roll
Yogurt
Pasta
Cheese
Blueberries

DC tend to ask for something and then we have I give them two options. They love their fruit and tend to pick that above any sweets or chocolate.

[LaTrucha]

I buy Innocent fruit tubes and freeze them. If you put them in a lunchbox at the beginning of the day they have melted by lunchtime but are still nice and cool instead of warm and icky. You can also then buy loads when they are on half pric offer. I couldn't afford them otherwise!

[QOD]

My dd liked to have the same thing. Every single day. For most of the 7yrs of primary.

That was one thing she could control that the other children and teachers couldn't affect

[Gethsemane]

I'm not too sure how we can actually tell whether a lunch has been eaten (I distinctly remember discretely disposing of my sandwiches and buying chocolate cornflake cakes instead when I was at school)...

That said, anything with a picture of a character that my DS likes printed on the side will be devoured quicker than you can say 'hurrah'. Thomas the Tank Engine yoghurts for example are a highly prized possession.

Bagels and pitta are a bigger hit than bread. Anything that requires concentration - dipping / construction etc is also a winner.

My kids love sausages. Its a shame there isn't a healthier version of a pepperami.

I'm sure other mums have mentioned the extra credence given to sandwiches cut into interesting shapes - dinosaurs etc.

Cheese scones, and cheese and spinach muffins are also a frequent request.