Tips on planning a healthy Lunchbox

August 26, 2022

Easy for you, fun for them – that’s the mission!

A bunch of lunch boxes filled with different types of food on a yellow background.

Having a lunchbox packed with a variety of healthy choices not only helps a child keep hunger pangs at bay, but gives their bodies and brains the fuel they need to thrive throughout the school day. But when you find yourself staring into an empty lunchbox every morning feeling a little uninspired on what to make, then know that your child is probably staring into his or her lunch box at school , feeling a little uninspired to eat. So here are a few ideas to keep things healthy and interesting.

Super easy, yummy lunchbox ideas

Try these healthy lunchbox ideas out, or create your own delicious combos based on the Healthy Plate guide:

Wrap it up - Wraps make a great alternative to sandwiches and are available from most grocery shops. You can fill them with a variety of yummy options – leftover chicken with lettuce and mayo, roast beef mustard and pickles and even peanut butter and banana.

Finger foods - If variety is the spice of life then finger foods is your adventure. Having a little bit of many things keeps it interesting and is also great for those simple, don’t-mix kinda kinds. Carrot sticks, cucumber, rolled ham, cheese chunks, grapes and biscuits.

Pasta Perfect - Pasta salad is a perfect choice for older kids. It’s something you can make over the weekend and keep in the fridge for them to dish up in their lunchboxes ahead of school.

DIY - Keep things fresh and fun by providing a DIY (or a deconstructed) sandwich kit for your child. Separate bread, separate lettuce, separate chicken and they my build before they bite. This way they get to take charge of their meal (and you get somewhat of a break)

Granola - Who hasn’t snuck a sneaky bowl of cereal for dinner at some point in their lives? This idea is a healthy take on the old student-days favourite, with a healthy granola with fresh fruit and yogurt for school lunch.

Crunch-tastic - Crunchy snacks are a must as they fill the gaps and give proprioceptive input as well as delicious goodness. This is where nuts, pretzels, popcorn, come in.

Dippy for dips - Dips are a fun way to get your child eating those veggies, try things like hummus and cottage cheese.

Muffins are tops - Muffins are another great go-to alternative for the trusty old sandwich. There are lots of easy recipes for healthy muffins that can be frozen so you can keep a stash handy.

Extra note on school lunch nutrition:

When it comes to packing a healthy school lunch that your child will eat, it all comes down finding the right combination of foods that are wholesome that they will also eat. The Kid’s Healthy Eating Plate, which was created by nutrition experts at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is a handy guide to use when it comes to planning any of your child’s meals – and the lunchbox is no exception. Think of an empty plate – the aim is to fill the plate with a variety of good quality foods with this formula:

Fill half the plate with two or three different colourful fruits and vegetables
Fill a quarter of the plate with healthy wholegrain carbohydrates (or grains)
And fill the last quarter with a healthy protein
Don’t leave out good fats and a bit of dairy in meals.

Replace the plate with a lunchbox and, hey presto! It really boils down to including one of each of these:

Fruit ideas include grapes, chunks of melon like watermelon and spanspek, berries of all kinds, bananas, apples, naartjies and other citrus fruits. We’ll add cherry tomatoes to the list (because they are technically a berry!).

Veggie choices could be sticks of cucumber, slices or sticks of carrots, mini sweetcorn, sugar snap peas, broccoli, etc. You could even try celery sticks for adventurous palates.

Carbohydrates like pasta, wholegrain bread, brown rice, quinoa, wholegrain crackers, and popcorn are great options.

Think of proteins like boiled eggs, nuts and seeds, frikkadels, leftover chicken, hummus.

Sources of good fats are avocado, nuts and seeds.

When it comes to dairy, consider plain Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, blocks of cheese, milk (even consider non-dairy milks here).

Don’t forget water! Packing a refillable water bottle lets your child top up throughout the day, which is a must to stay hydrated. It’s a better choice than juice or energy drinks, but if your child really doesn’t want to stick to regular old H20, you could look at fruit-infused or flavoured water, as well as sparkling water.

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