Tired of packing lunches for your kids every night/morning? We have the solution for you! Enlist your eager little helpers to get involved in school lunch prep to save you time (and sanity). When kids are involved in the lunch-making process, they’re more likely to take ownership in their food choices, resulting in a higher success rate of eating it all!
Here are five helpful ways that kids can help with school lunch prep:
- Plan weekly meals – To ensure success, take 15-20 minutes to plan the weeks’ meals (including lunch and snacks), create a shopping list, hit the grocery store and you’re set.
- Shop with a mission – Get supplies to make 5 main lunches so the kids have options. For example, get ingredients for turkey and low-fat cheese, peanut butter & jelly on whole wheat, etc. plus fruit/veggies and other healthy snacks.
- Prep and Portion Foods – Wash, cut and ration fruits and veggies into small containers ahead of time. Put other healthy snacks such as pretzels, peanuts, whole wheat crackers, etc. into baggies and store together in pantry. This will save time and offer healthy selections for the kids.
- Schedule lunch prep times – Set an evening time slot for each child, where they can quickly put their lunch together. This will eliminate any potential kitchen bickering sessions between kids.
- Follow up – Check the lunches to ensure they are in fact creating healthy and balanced meals. When you see that they are doing a good job, you can feel good knowing they are making healthy choices for themselves!
Giving kids the chance to decide what they feel like having for lunch AND the opportunity to pull it all together, they learn to make smart decisions and be self-sufficient. Win-win, for sure!
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