No matter whether your kids are learning at home or in the school building, they all have to eat lunch. While studies show that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, we believe that a healthy lunch is really important too. Lunch should leave your kids feeling energized for the rest of the school day, not lethargic and in need of a nap.

We think it’s great to get kids involved in making their lunch everyday for school! In addition to learning how to best fuel their body, making their own lunch is a great foundation for taking on more responsibility in the kitchen.

Are you curious what to pack? We’re here to share our checklist for how to make a great school lunch!

✅Establish some guidelines

In the beginning, if my kids could pack anything they want, it would be snacks and dessert! That’s not going to lead to a productive afternoon in the classroom or give their growing bodies the fuel they need. So, give your kids some direction on what to include in their lunch each day. At our house, I require the following:

🌈EAT THE RAINBOW The more naturally colorful your lunch is, the greater variety of nutrients it will have. Sorry, rainbow colored goldfish do not count.

▲ LEAN PROTEIN. HEALTHY FAT. WHOLE GRAIN CARBS. Eating solely sugars, even natural ones, which are a form of carbohydrates, can induce a “sugar high” followed by an intense desire to take a nap. If you eat a better balance of protein, fat, and carbs, you’ll eliminate the sugar high and you’ll be satiated longer. Plus, every body, especially growing bodies, need all three to function.

🍪🍫🍭MINIMIZE PROCESSED FOOD. We know that it’s so. much. easier. to throw a package of pre-made anything into the lunch bag instead of making it yourself. But flip over the packaging on the Uncrustables, Lunchables, or Trix Yogurt and you’ll find far more ingredients than you bargained for…and many are likely unpronounceable or unfamiliar. Sure, my kids will sometimes pack something processed in their lunch, but it wont’ be the “main” meal.

🍇🍐🍓🥬🥕🥒FRUITS AND VEGGIES ARE A MUST At least one fruit or veggie is required, but you get bonus points for both fruits AND veggies. They’re all good for you in their unprocessed form, and you get different nutrients from each unique one. If you need to doctor it up a bit, try some homemade hummus or ranch.

💦HYDRATE Drinking enough water is incredibly important. And it’s free. And it’s easy. My crew always has a water bottle and it comes home empty every day.

✅Make a plan

❓Do you make school lunch the night before or in the morning?

❓Will you eat the same thing every day or vary it?

❓What do you plan to eat?

❓Does it require prep?

✅Stock the fridge and pantry

🗒Once you have an idea of what you’re going to eat for the week, make a grocery list.

🛒Then, make a trip to the grocery store and load up!

✅Prep ahead of time

⏱Set aside some time on Sunday to do prep food for the week. Do you need some ideas? Make a burrito assembly line and freeze them individually. Make a double or triple batch of muffins. Instead, use the muffin tin to make individual frittatas. Chop veggies all at once.

✅Gather the right equipment

🎒If you like hot food, invest in a quality insulated container. We like Thermos Foogo which is reasonably priced. Or, splurge on a Hydroflask and your food will be hot for a really long time!

🎒Invest in some good reusable lunch containers. We like the Ziplock divided reusable container. It’s inexpensive and they last forever. There are some very expensive, very cute reusable containers out there too, if you need extra incentive to eat home lunch.

🎒Make sure your lunch bag is the right size. If the food containers don’t fit, you may need something different.

🎒Have an easy to fill, easy to drink from water bottle. The more you like it, the more likely you’ll be to use it.

✅Look for healthy ideas

• Leftover tuna noodle casserole in a Thermos, grapes, and a Babybel cheese.

• Plain yogurt, homemade granola with peanut butter and nuts, grapes, apples, cucumbers.

• ½ peanut butter and jelly sandwich, carrots and homemade ranch, cheese stick.

• Homemade burrito with rice, beans, leftover chicken, and cheese plus a side of cucumbers and carrots.

• Salad with hardboiled egg, corn, tomato, turkey bacon, and a side of ranch. Plus a pumpkin muffin made with white whole wheat flour.

• Soup and a side of fritters to dunk(think pancake with veggies).

✅Share with us! We’d love to hear what you come up with for lunch, or let us know if you have questions we can answer!