Kids will eat lunch if you make it fun

If you don’t know what to put in your child’s lunchbox, look to the wide variety of lunchboxes out there for inspiration.

Insulated bags and boxes often come with separate compartments to keep food at different temperatures, and everything in its place. And there’s plenty of room for individual tiny containers, so kids can have fun “making” their own food.

“I’ve had four kids, and if the lunches are fun, parents aren’t going to get resistance,” says Kit Bennett, founder of the family advice site AmazingMoms.com. “It’s worth a little bit of extra effort the night before if you know you are providing healthy food.”

For example, in an insulated, multicompartment lunch box, pack a “make your own taco” kit, complete with lettuce, shredded cheese, meat and salsa your child can use to assemble a have-it-your-way healthy Mexican meal. Or instead of assembling a sandwich yourself, pack the ingredients separately and let your child put it all together at lunch (or eat it in deconstructed fashion).

Of course, you’ll need to make sure you’re packing foods your child likes in the first place.

“Get kids involved so they are more likely to eat it,” suggests Deanna Cook, director of creative development for FamilyFun magazine. “I often talk with my kids about how lunch went that day. I ask them if there was something someone else had that looked good.”

Several times a year Cook even joins her daughters, ages 6 and 10, for lunch at school to see what their peers are eating.

Many parents are inclined to underestimate how adventurous their children’s palates are. But if your family is like many today who eat out more, often at ethnic restaurants, your child already may have expanded tastes. So don’t be afraid to borrow some ideas.

Bennett said her kids enjoy Asian and Mediterranean foods, so she has packed sushi, falafel and Greek salads. And the once-exotic hummus is now so mainstream many children enjoy it as a dip for vegetables.

Once you’ve sussed out what the little ones want, put as much energy into finding appealing and functional ways of packing it.

Let your children help select their lunch boxes. Many lunch box companies now sell models intended to be customized, either with craft supplies or professional monograming done when they are ordered.

The food itself can be fun, too. Bennett likes to pack lunches with themes. For “zoology,” cut your child’s sandwich with a lion or bear cookie cutter. Add “bugs” on a log (cream cheese filled celery with raisins on top) and decorate a banana with monkey stickers. If Bennett is going for a circus theme, she’ll add sides of popcorn and animal crackers.

She also keeps a stockpile of comic strips, riddles, jokes and Mad Libs and includes one with the lunch.

It sounds like a lot of extra work, but it doesn’t have to be.

“Get organized. A little bit of effort on the weekend can save you a lot of stress,” says Bennett said. “Keep everything in one place so you aren’t running around in the morning looking for things.”

Here are some simple recipes for thinking beyond peanut butter and jelly when packing your child’s lunch.

Cracker Stackers

Recipe adapted from “FamilyFun Cooking with Kids” by the editors of FamilyFun magazine

2 slices cheese

2 slices deli-sliced turkey or ham

1/4 cup hummus

Whole-grain crackers

Assorted precut vegetables, such as green beans, pea pods, celery sticks and cherry tomatoes

Use small cookie cutters to cut interesting shapes out of the cheese and deli slices. Place each in small containers or bags. Place the hummus in a small container with a tight-fitting lid. Bag the crackers and vegetables separately.

Encourage your children to use the ingredients to assemble their own stacks of crackers, meat and cheese. They can spread the hummus on the crackers with the cheese and meat, or use it as a dip for the vegetables.

Yield: 1 serving

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate due to recipe variables.

Sandwich Spirals

Recipe adapted from “FamilyFun Cooking with Kids” by the editors of FamilyFun magazine

1/2 cup low-fat cream cheese at room temperature

Chopped fresh herbs (such as several chives, a sprig of dill or 3 to 4 basil leaves) or 1 tablespoon vinaigrette salad dressing

2 large whole-grain flour tortillas

1 cup loosely packed baby spinach leaves

1 tomato, thinly sliced or 2 tablespoons dried cranberries

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and the chopped fresh herbs or salad dressing. Mix well.

Spread half of the cream cheese mixture evenly over each tortilla, making sure to spread it all the way to the edge. Scatter half of the spinach leaves over each tortilla, then top that with half of the tomato slices or dried cranberries.

Starting on one side, carefully roll each tortilla, using the cream cheese alone the edge to seal it into a tight wrap. Use a serrated knife to carefully cut each wrap into five or six pieces.

Yield: 2 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.