Best School Lunch Packing Supplies
Having a few tried and true supplies on hand will make packing a healthy school lunch so much easier for you and your kids!
Why Your Kids Should Pack Their Own Lunches
As many of you know, my kids have been making their own lunches since the 1st grade. I learned my lesson with my oldest son that they should be packing their own food as soon as he traded the ENTIRE lunch I made for him for a single piece of candy! (I believe it was a single candy corn!) ha ha.. At that moment I decided to let them decide what they were going to put in their own lunches, with some guidelines so that they could learn what a balanced lunch looks like. When kids have more control over what they eat, they are much more likely to eat it!
A balanced lunch should have a grain, protein, vegetable, and a fruit. I created a chart that will help guide your kids to pack a balanced lunch all on their own!
Lunch Packing Supplies
Sandwich Cutters
Sandwich Decruster
Silicone Muffin Cups
Thermos Insulated Jar
Thin Ice Packs
Disposable Lunch Packing Supplies
Brown Paper Bags These are incredibly durable bags and come in a pack of 100 for under $10. If your child can’t bring a reusable lunch box to school, these bags are the way to go!
Disposable Portion Cups 5.5 ounces. These are great for packing fruit, dips, sauces, yogurt and anything that works well in a small container.
Paper Sandwich Bags These bags are not only super cute, but are perfect for packing sandwiches! They are recyclable, sealable and are food-safe and grease-resistant.
Having the right supplies can really help make lunch packing so much easier! What are some of your favorite supplies?
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
Learn More about Natalie
My daughter like to make her sandwiches by herself:)
My son likes packing his own lunch. He likes to use containers rather than plastic bags
We will definitely be doing this this yr
Such great ideas. I love having my kids being involved and accountable for choices. They are empowered. And I just don’t think you can do better as a parent than to instill great life lessons early on.
My daughter love helping with the preparation of her lunch and she insist it be packed in containers.
Love!
My 3 kids would like to have containers to use instead of plastic bags. They like be more environment friendly.
This give away is amazing! ! 🙂
Will try my best, my son is a picky eater. Only starch
It’s never too early to teach your kids how to eat healthy and delicious meals!
Our oldest is just beginning to start enjoying more independence and making her own choices like making her own lunch decisions. Soon our youngest will be doing the same 🙂
Our oldest is just beginning to start enjoying more independence and making her own choices like making her own lunch decisions. Soon our youngest will be doing the same 🙂
My son picks a fruit to bring every morning!
Will love to use these to make healthy lunches
We have a small garden in the backyard and I’ve notices the kids eating more veggies! We water the garden, pick fresh food every day and enjoy canning together! Its a beautiful and educational process. They’re learning that hard work pays off
My kids love to make their own lunches. Seeing as I have 6, we try to use as much environmentally friendly products as possible.
I love having the kids help me!’n
love these!
Thanks for the Awesome & fun giveaway!
I have one daughter starting kindergarten and one starting preschool this year. I would absolutely love this stuff to help get us off on the right foot! We already eat healthy, but if I could make it fun for them I know they’d be much more willing to help and oblige 🙂
I am Sending my daughter off to school this year and
Excited / nervous . I think it’s great to have the child help and that way you know they will eat and be proud of their lunch
I so want this! I bought some reusable bags for the school year but I would love some stainless steel containers to get far away from plastic. With 3 kids, it gets expensive. Thanks for the giveaway chance!
My son has healthy choices for all his meals. This way I can say you picked it.
My daughter used to love helping her daddy make his lunches for work until he passed away in 2010. Now she is in 3rd grade she is learning to eat healthier for cheerleading so doing her own lunch is a way for her to learn
My girls would love to win this! We pack healthy hearty lunches everyday and love new containers! Thanks for the chance to win!!
My kids are diabetic and the menu at school is not healthy for them. We love bringing our own healthy options
My now 2nd grader gets up and packs her own lunch every morning. She chooses and loves to do it herself.
My kids pick out their fruits and veggies everyday!
Having my kiddo in the kitchen and involved in her food has been a priority for me from the baby food making stage 🙂
My daughter loves making a bento box lunch – our healthy answer to “Lunchables”
Having kids make part ot all of their lunch works in my house to make sure they eat it! I have lots of fruit and veggies ready to go and healthy bread and protein.
Love the printable and this great offer!
Want to get out of pbj rut this year.
We do good with good choices and this printable with the categories helps! They seem to fizzle out with emptying their bags when they get home, as I’m not always off work by then. I also worry about making something too delicate. I’m sure their lunches look like they’ve been through a ride in the dryer by the time they get to lunch. The other frustrating thing is sometimes, my almost 2nd grader doesn’t eat when we make. I do love all the healthy suggestions here!!
My kids like picking out the fresh veggies they want at lunch. I give them a few choices. Right now cucumbers, broccoli, and cauliflower are favorites!
Can wait to see if I won something. My daughter would definitely would be estastic too.
My daughter likes to help make homemade hummus and pack it in her lunch 😉
Love the ideas and the container 🙂
My kids love to help in the kitchen
Leaving comment
My daughter wants to pack her own lunches this year. I am grateful for the printable chart that will help guide her!
Having fun lunch boxes and containers is always helpful getting my kids to pack lunches. I pick up a few items here and there to make lunches fun through out the year.
Great ideas! Thanks a lot!
Love these!
I like to teach my kids about the different food groups so they can make healthy choices for life!
Fun giveaway! Thank you!
My 2nd grade already has a goal to make her school lunches herself this year. She’s been practicing all summer. I love this product!
What a great giveaway! Thank you!
Great giveaway! Eating healthy is so important, but it’s costly. I love reusable compartment containers & my daughter loves the surprised I pack in them.
This stuff looks great!
My daughter loves salads and veggies with lunch 🙂
We menu out the whole week. My son love to have structure and organization. And it makes for easier mornings.
Love this site….I make 8 lunches a day!
So how do we enter??
When we make a menu for the week the kids love helping to make their favorite lunch, they are atil young but live the bento style lunch boxes, so much easier to manage and pack!
We commute to our kids school (45minutes) and to my school. I would love to win these products to use for our on the road breakfasts and school lunches.
My kids pick out the items in their lunches every day too!
This would be perfect for my picky, “it can’t TOUCH!” son! He would love it!
My son just started kindergarten. He loves taking his lunch he helps me pick out his healthy snacks.
My daughter and I sit down every month and she and I brainstorm lunch ideas. She loves to help pack things the night before and help make her own sandwiches.
This is fabulous , thank you!
My daughter is so excited to make her own lunch!
This would be so nice to have to pack lunches with! Love!
My kids like helping with their lunch. This year I am going to try and do it the night before. 🙂
Thank you for the opportunity to win items that will help to make healthy lunches!
Would love to win this.
Thanks for the print out list! Definitely gives us noncreative parents ideas. I’m super nervous for my son to start kindergarten, but i think once he sees this he’ll be excited. Plus it gives us mommy and son time
As a teacher, I pack my lunch every day. This would be perfect for me!
I love how many nice reusable options we have now–so much more than when we were kids.
This is a great way try to get my daughter to help make her lunch this year!
This is a great giveaway!
I might have missed it but when will the drawing be over?
Is there anyway to get this printable in a Word document? Thanks!!
My son is so picky at lunch, this will give him his own choices-perfect!
I cant get this or the sandwich one to print :-/ HELP!!!
My kids are big helpers with lunches at home. Having a large family, reusable containers are super helpful.
Thanks for the ideas!
Love this! I have twins in 1st that always want to take their lunch. It would be even better if it would let me print. 🙂
My daughter (5y/o) and I make her lunch for school together. She knows to pick at least 1 fruit, 1 veggie, and 1 protein for each meal. it’s almost like a nightly/morning project we do together. She’s also learning how to make the food by herself as well as make good healthy choices. Her fave thing right now is picking on the cookie cutter shape for her PB sandwich ( because we use plastic not super sharp cutters) she also does it by herself.
My kids love helping me pack their lunches and find heathy new ideas online!
I love making cute lunches for my son
My son is in kindergarten he qualifies for free lunch but he’d much rather take his lunch from home. He loves trying out the different recipes from your site thank you 🙂
Love the ideas! Thank you!
In this household, we really try to use re-useable items. Less waste and it helps us feel better at the end of the day. This is a great giveaway idea. I want that bag for my own work lunches.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Winning this would be AMAZING!
These lunch ideas look amazing! My kids would love them!
Thank you for this opportunity to win great products for our kiddos! 🙂
So excited about this!!!!
Wish to win something!!!
Having them pack their own lunches also helps with grocery shopping. They have to think about lunches realistically and participate in shopping. It cuts back on just asking for junk food because they know what needs to be in their lunch.
With my daughter being gluten free!! I am always looking for different lunch box ideas and how to pack the lunch box with everything gett squished together. Thank you for the chance to win this giveaway for her.
Yay!!
I love these products. I struggle to come up with healthy lunches that my kids will eat. These creative tools make me excited about the start of school. Plus….I swear I’ve never won anything in my entire life. Nada, zip, zilcho, etc. *sigh*
Love all your great lunch ideas. I will be trying to incorporate some this year, including letting him nake his own lunch.
My sons loves to help plan his lunch choices. Great giveaway!
Making healthy choices is so much easier with fun options like these. My kids always get tired of the same old thing. Great ideas, thanks!
Love these! My kiddo loves cookie butter Sammie’s!
Great giveaway we would use this in our house for sure!
Great looking and functional bags! Thanks for the goveaway!
I love the idea of them helping pack lunch since I have a lot of lunches to pack 🙂
My kids does not want to eat cafeteria food since day 1 so i pack their lunches. Your website is a real life saver.
I agree!! From personal experience, I should have instilled such skills much earlier on. I should’ve started when my kids were 3! Good for you!
Love these lunch bag making times with Miss 9 who is loving healthy foods! Now to infect Mr 8!!
Fun giveaway
We have 7 kiddos we involve them in preparing food
I am obsessed with all these company’s love I would make sure to represent the company’s well in pictures of my kids
Love these! My oldest is just starting school. I would love these!!
Great giveaway
These are so cute. My daughter would love them.
My daughter LOVES being involved in preparing her food, she’s only four but is always asking me what certain vegetables and fruits do for her body – I am so on board with this lunch packing deal!
Our family is starting to eat healthier and I am so excited!
Those Foogo insulated food jars are the best!
I agree our morning runs a lot smoother when they help. We have 3 beautiful children 9-6 and 3 years old.
Just hoping and praying I get the email that I won .
Love these!! Would love to put it to use at me house!
This looks great!!!
Perfect idea!!!
Love the fact that’s organic:)
Xx yeyy we wish we had it:)
Great ideas! Thank you for sharing!
These are amazing products & a perfect opportunity to teach my son what we pack *with* is just as important 😉 THANK YOU for such a fabulous giveaway!!
My kids already help pack their lunches! Very excited about the giveaway!
Great lunch ideas…thanks for the giveaway!
Awesome give away!!!!! Love all the ideas, and the bag is cute!
My daughter likes to grocery shop with me and pick our new fruits, veggies, and other foods.
#letsdolunch
Awesome give away! This would be fun for my kindergarten boy!
My daughters ages 7 and 12 pack their own lunches. I was tired of standing in the kitchen asking what they wanted in their lunch. I always check to see but most times they make good choices.
This would be an amazing gift for my 1st grade son, who is just as excited as I am about doing healthy home lunches!
Gotta win this Please Would greatly appreciate it dearly
This is an awesome giveaway. Maybe I can get my 9 yr old to pack his own lunch!
Who is the winner?
Ariela
Disposable cups? Seriously?? You have great content but perhaps you could use your reach to promote ecofriendly products only.
What type of foods would be good to include for options for kids?
I absolutely agree about giving kids their autonomy and trusting them to make the healthy choices, as long as, (like you say) you give them a little guidance.
However, I just reviewed a terrifying report (that’s going to be published later this year) that stated just how lacking in nutrition most packed lunches are.