Back to school is here and the dreaded lunch box season is upon us! As much as parents dread packing lunches, Kindergarten teachers (like me) sometimes dread cafeteria time with their students as well! Ensuring that 20-30 students have every container opened, every spilled cleaned up and are actually eating their food  is not for the faint of heart! I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to lunches. I want to share with you school lunch tips and tricks that will help your little one have a great lunchtime experience!

School Lunch Tips and Tricks

School Lunch Timing

Most schools have a very short lunch break that is between 15-20 minutes long. Even a 30 minute lunch break doesn’t seem like enough time to a kid who is a slow eater (and what kid isn’t?). From friends to socialize with, other kids’ lunches to check out or trade with, there are all kinds of distractions in the cafeteria that can slow even the fastest eater down to snail’s pace. Don’t forget to consider time restraints when packing your child’s lunch!

School Lunch Tip #1: Quick & Easy

Think about what your child is able to eat quickly and easily. For example, spaghetti is notoriously tricky for little ones to eat by themselves. Macaroni and other larger pastas are much easier and faster to eat.

Make your own pizza lunch kits are another lunch that ends up being very slow for young kids (older students can probably assemble these in no time). By the time the child has assembled the pizzas, the line for the microwave to heat up said pizzas is probably ridiculously long! By the time the pizza is ready, lunchtime is almost over!

Snacks like oranges can be tricky for a little one to peel by themselves (of course a teacher will help, but they may be dealing with a spill, a bathroom accident or any other number of emergencies that always seem to happen at lunch time!). It’s a great idea to have the orange peeled already for your kiddo.

School Lunch Tip #2: One Minute Max

One of the most important school lunch tips is about the microwave. If your school is lucky enough to have microwaves, keep in mind they are to be shared among many, many students. While it’s convenient to send in a freezer meal that has a five minute microwave time, it eats up a big chunk of the lunch period, in which your child has not even started eating their lunch. Not to mention, other students also need a turn at the microwave.

Be considerate and make sure a lunch item that needs microwaving takes less than a minute to heat up.

That means instead of sending in a Kraft Dinner cup, cook the Kraft Dinner at home and have your child re-heat it for 30 seconds instead of the three minutes it takes to cook the cup ‘from scratch.’

School Lunch Tip #3: You’re Hot Then You’re Cold

Another issue that can cause time delays is food that is too hot or frozen and needs to melt. Again, KD cups, ramen noodles or anything that needs to have water boiled means that the food comes out of the microwave extremely hot. It’s not uncommon for a child to have to wait for half of their lunch break just for their food to cool down enough to eat.

Same goes for frozen items that may not be unthawed by lunchtime (e.g. some parents freeze yogurt drinks). Think about how long the lunch will take to come to the right temperature and be ready to eat.

School Lunch Tip #4: No Mess No Problem

There’s a reason why the sandwich is a staple, if somewhat boring, lunch food. It’s because it’s easy to eat and not very messy, even for the youngest kids. Messy food is tricky to eat, and can stain your kids’ clothes or ruin their lunchbox.

It’s not to say you can never send in any messy foods, but be aware that it may end up on your child’s shirt, (or cafeteria floor) rather than in their belly!

What to Pack For Your School Lunch

School Lunch Tip #5: Variety is the Spice of Life

If you have a picky eater, it’s really great to send in a variety of snacks. One of the most difficult parts of being a teacher is trying to convince kids to eat the lunches their parents send them! Not eating lunch is hard on a kid who has to go through two or three more hours of school without a snack, and of course, you don’t want your food going to waste.

Sending in a variety of healthy foods gives a picky eater options when something doesn’t appeal to their delicate palate.

School Lunch Tip #6: Limit Junk Food

It goes without saying that kiddos with healthy food in their tummies do better at school. A lot of sugar and empty calories make learning difficult for anyone. A couple of treats are fine, but a lunchbox full of candy, chocolate and chips means it will be hard for your child to make it through the rest of the day.

You might also want to keep tabs on what’s being eaten in the lunchbox. If the two treats are being eaten everyday and all the healthy food is untouched, you might need to reduce the amount of treats.

Don’t forget that drinks like juice boxes, chocolate milk, sports drinks and even drinkable yogurts are full of shocking amounts of sugar. You may want to take this into account when packing a lunch!

School Lunch Tip #7: Allergy Alert

If you follow any of my school lunch tips, make it this one. It’s likely that there are some foods like nuts that are prohibited in the school your child attends due to allergies. It’s pretty easy to avoid a PBJ, but don’t forget to check labels of other foods, or look for a peanut free label when you’re buying snacks.

Another note: Don’t forget to check labels on Halloween treats. Especially if you allow your child to pick a few items from their treat bag to put in their lunchbox! A LOT of Halloween candy is not peanut-free and should not be sent to school!

School Lunch Tips On The Right Gear

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School Lunch Tip #8: Spill Proof

Check that containers and drinks are spill-proof before sending them in. Spills not only make a mess of your lunchbox, but also can damage everything in the book bag. These waterbottles are spill proof and have the cutest designs for little ones.

School Lunch Tip #9: Label All the Containers!!

It is a pain in the butt to constantly replace containers because your child has misplaced them. If you label them (container and lid!), you have a much better chance of having them returned. Be sure your labels are waterproof like these ones so they don’t come off in the dishwasher!

No teacher likes having a build up of containers in the lost and found. We will make the effort to get them back to you if we know to whom they belong!

School Lunch Tip #10: Easy to Open

It’s so important to send in a lunchbox that your child can open as well as containers they can open independently. Yes, the teacher car certainly help them, but if the teacher is on cafeteria duty, there may be a lot of kids needing help or otherwise occupying the teacher’s time and your kiddo will be left waiting.

Practice opening containers at home and invest in child friendly ones like these (I love that they are stainless steel!).

Don’t forget about a lunchbox that can be easily unzipped and be sure the zipper doesn’t easily get caught. These Skip Hop lunch boxes are absolutely adorable and so easy that my three year old has no problem with the zipper.

School Lunch Tip #11: Durable Items

You definitely want to invest in a durable lunchbox and containers (especially if you’ve taken the time to label them!). Your child will be using them for the entire year, or hopefully a few years. You will likely end up spending more in cheap plastic containers that leak, break or crack!

School Lunch Tip #12: Bento Style

The Bento style lunchkits are a huge winner in my books. They can be expensive, but they have great bang for their buck. They allow you to pack a variety of items, giving lots of choice, without needing to send in multiple containers. Since it’s all one piece, it’s less likely to be lost. The kids versions are easy to open. Plus they are so friggin cute! There are plenty of different options, like these stainless steel ones, these ones with sweet designs and this adorable box shaped as a snail!

School Lunch Tips and Hacks

School Lunch Tip #13: Cafeteria on ‘off’ days

Here’s a little known school lunch tip. The cafeteria has busy days and off days. It’s not hard to guess that Fridays are off the charts busy. Many parents are either too tired after a long week to make a lunch or are sending money as a special end of the week treat for their kids. Other busy days include the days after busy nights like Halloween and Parent Teacher Night or special cafeteria offerings like pizza day.

Here’s the problem: the lines for the cafeteria are SUPER long on these days because everyone is sending in money. That means your kid has to wait forever to get their lunch and won’t have any time to enjoy it!

Instead, send in lunch money on ‘off’ cafeteria days. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are often a good bet for low traffic.

Another tip if your cafeteria requires cash: put the money in a labelled baggie or envelope in your child’s lunch box, instead of in their book bag or pocket. This makes it much less likely to get lost!

School Lunch Tip #14: Hot Thermos Trick

Does your kiddo complain that the food in their thermos is lukewarm by lunch? Here is the ultimate trick to keeping your thermos contents toasty warm. Pour boiling water in the Thermos, then dump it out immediately before you add the food. This should work with any metal thermos.It’s just that easy.

School Lunch Tip #15: Sponge Trick

Want to know how to keep your food cold without a cold pack? Freeze a wet sponge inside Ziploc bag. By the time lunch rolls around the sponge will be thawed and absorb any water that has melted. Bonus: use the sponge to quickly clean up any spill!

One More School Lunch Tip…Send a Note!

My last school lunch tip is to send a little note every now and again for your kiddo to read. It’s a great chance to use their reading skills, even during lunch. And, of course, your little darling will love a special message from you!

Here are some sweet pre-printed notes for the morning rush, or just jot your own down on this adorable notepad.

These are my best school lunch tips, as a teacher who has been doing cafeteria duty for ten years. If you need more back-to-school advice, I’ve got you covered here. If you’re not only dreading packing lunches, but also doing homework, be sure to read this to get your homework routine off to a good start. Good luck, mamas!

Do you have any other school lunch tips? Share them below!