Get simple school lunch ideas for Moms who don’t want to pack lunches for the kids every single night. Save money, time, and sanity with this method!
I eagerly checked the weather from our local news station, looking for any possibility of a snow day.
It’s not so much that I enjoy snow (I don’t).
But a snow day means a couple of things.
No alarm clock. (Hallelujah!)
No worry about whether all the kids have the right clothes clean for picture day, or gym day, or red and gray day. (Yahoo!)
But, best of all…
no lunches to pack.
Ugh! Packing lunches is the worst.
First, you have to make sure you have everything on hand.
Then you spend an hour trying to make sure this kid gets their daily PB&J made just so without the crusts, while that kid gets anything at all but a sandwich.
There’s a headache for ya.
Still, some days there are enough battles to fight. Amirite?
But you know another parenting technique I’m a fan of? Teaching the kids to do things themselves.
Mama, I promise. If your child can throw packages into the grocery cart when you aren’t looking, they can toss together a lunch, too.
(pssst…There’s a free printable at the end of this post to make that shopping go easier, too!)
Now, here’s the method I’ve used to make easy lunch packing happen in our home.
Simple School Lunch Ideas
Get the Kids Involved
If the kids are eating, they should be involved in the packing.
That’s right! Our kids start packing their own lunches in kindergarten.
But that doesn’t mean the same thing for our 5-year-old as it does for the 11-year-old.
We’ll teach our five-year-old daughter to pack her own lunch this year. By the end of the year, she’ll know how to make a sandwich.
She’ll also know how to choose options from the other food groups to complete her meal.
Now that the older kids have years of practice under their belts, they don’t need much help anymore. My job is to have the groceries around here to simplify their packing.
Remember, parents, that we’re trying to work ourselves out of a job!
Simplify the Choices
A lunch in our home consists of a main course such as a sandwich, salad, leftovers, or things from the list further on in this post.
Then they choose a fruit, a dairy, a junk food (or treat), and a drink.
There’s no reason for them to eat a fancy 4 course meal. Besides, they spend a lot of their lunch period socializing with friends.
How much food do you think they throw away each day? Don’t add to the waste.
Ok, so who else wants this adorable lunch box??
Do it the Night Before
A common complaint about making sandwiches the night before is that they would get soggy. But my kids have never complained.
If you know making a sandwich ahead of time is grounds for a complete fit, or wasted food, no worries. Just make it the next morning.
Pulling together just a sandwich in the morning is much easier than figuring out the entire lunch.
To save the most money, buy bigger bags of nuts, chips, trail mix, or whatever your kids like and bag them up yourself.
Bag up snacky foods the night before. Choose and wash up your fruits.
Pick your dairy item. I like to buy big containers of yogurt and portion them out into smaller containers.
I’ll add a bag of cereal for them to sprinkle over the top when I’m feeling fancy.
A Place for Everything
When we pack the night before, I don’t mean stick everything in the lunchbox. (Who has room for a bunch of lunchboxes in their fridge?)
Sure, stuff that won’t go bad (like a box of raisins), you can toss in the lunchbox ahead of time.
Otherwise, let me introduce you to “the basket”.
Each child has their own basket labeled with their name. They fill it and leave it in the fridge each night.
It takes up much less space than a bunch of lunch boxes in the fridge. And it’s so easy to dump it right in their lunch box the next day!
I put together thermoses of water for them while they eat breakfast for easy grab and go.
Make a List
I’ve printed off my list of lunchtime ideas along with a copy of the school lunch menu. They’re hung next to our lunch making supplies.
When they’re tired of sandwiches, they can make a different choice. (Although some of them would eat PB&J for every meal!)
Here are some quick recipes you can make ahead of time to pack in lunches:
Healthy Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Click this picture to print a PDF copy of the menu. Totally free for your personal use!
Click here to download a free MS Word copy of this list that you can customize yourself! Totally free for your own personal use!
These tips for packing school lunches should help your family dread this chore a bit less.
Prayers for a snow day not necessary!
Did I miss a great tip? Let me know!
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
Hi Jamie.
Do you freeze their yogurt or send it straight from the fridge? I’m always afraid that it will spoil.
I do not freeze their yogurt. They put an ice pack into their lunch box and also take an ice water, so I think between those two things it keeps the yogurt cool. We’ve never had any problems with it! I guess we could freeze it next to the ice packs (so they wouldn’t forget it) if we were to try that.
So helpful! I’m currently working on making a system where I have the lunches ready ahead of time because they’re taking up so much of my mornings!
Sometimes I think that if we didn’t do our lunches this way, we’d be late for school every.single.day. Thanks for reading!
Great tips Jamie ! One of my friend’s son is starting school this year.I will share these tips with her. Thank you for sharing with us @ #HomeMatterParty. We would love to have again next week.
A basket! Such a simple idea, but I had never thought of it. I pack the whole thing the night before and it goes in the fridge whether it should or not.
Our fridge was chaos until I realized that the simple basket solution would solve so many problems for us. Now everyone knows where to find their food and they don’t forget a cheese stick that rolled to the back! Thanks for visiting!
My son just started preschool a couple weeks ago, so I’m still trying to figure out our back-to-school routine. These are all great tips, especially packing the lunch the night before….that’s a MUST in our house! Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Merry Monday! 🙂
Great ideas Jamie! I think it is so important for the kids to take part in making their lunches. It not only helps with learning responsibility but I have found that if they help make a meal they tend to eat it. 🙂
Great point! They don’t like it when I choose their food. Sometimes if they put off packing a lunch, I’ll suggest that I just choose their food for them. That usually gets them moving! haha
I don’t mind packing lunches too much, but then again I only have one to deal with and I can only send one or two things or it is “too much” and he gets so upset he doesn’t eat. Thanks for linking on #FridayFrivolity – I hope you come back next week.
These are great tips! I love the ‘work yourself out of a job’ motto you have – too funny! Thanks for sharing with the Wednesday Showcase!
These are all great tips. I really like the idea of a basket in the fridge! We’re “always in a rush” parents and haven’t “let” the kids pack their own lunches yet. I was just telling them they get to be much more hands-on this year. They go to a nut-free school so it really cuts back on options my picky eaters will eat. I hope with them being more involved we’ll find some delicious healthy options they want to eat!
#WednesdayShowcaseParty
~Jess
The baskets have been a lifesaver. Before that, there was a lot of “No, that’s mine!” and “I packed that!” So much less confusion now. 🙂
Great tips! We homeschool both boys this year. I confess, one of the things I’m most relieved about is not having to deal with packing their lunches anymore 😉 That said, your system sounds near perfect. And I agree, it teaches them to be responsible for their food and that’s an important skill later in life.
Great Tips Jamie – I love basket too and the only thing I make in the morning is the sandwiches but I have a stackable box in my fridge with sandwich making things in it to make life easier in the morning.
That’s a really smart idea!