5 Tips for Teaching Children to Pack Healthy Lunches #fruitshoot #fuelyourimagination #ad

I have been sharing a few tips recently about how I am teaching my children to be responsible and accountable.  One of the tasks that I have recently handed over to my daughter is lunch-making duty.  She is in charge of making her lunch every day.  And sometimes she makes her younger brother's lunch too!

So here are 5 Tips for Helping Children to Pack Healthy Lunches:

Provide simple, uncomplicated healthy food options

Provide a few prepackaged food options

While many prepackaged foods aren't very healthy, there are a lot of options that are!  We love to pack items like yogurt and string cheese.  Even items like apple slices or carrots can come prepackages for a little higher cost but I prefer to prepackage those myself at the beginning of the week to save on cost and give my children the convenience of grabbing and packing sometimes.

And in all honesty, we have a few non-healthy prepackaged food options as well!  I let my children choose one treat to put in their lunch.  So adding something fun like fruit snacks, rice crispy treats or pudding is always a hit at my house.

Have fun containers to pack items in

At the beginning of the year I picked up fun, brightly colors plastic containers.  It is a great way to save money on ziploc bags, be eco-friendly and my children can actually open and shut these much easier then ziploc bags.  This simple thing allows them to be more independent and responsible.

Encourage packing a well-rounded meal

After the lunches get packed, I always ask if they have protein, fruit and a vegetable.  This provides an opportunity to teach my children about health, nutrition and the food groups but in a fun and simple every-day way.


Offer variety

My children like variety.  So every once in a while I like to treat them to something a little extra special.  Normally my children take water to school, but every once in a while I will get a fun drink option for them to take!

The other day I discovered these fun new Fruitshoot drinks and they have been a fun option for an extra-special lunch drink.  I love that there is a no-sugar-added option as well!

My children thought these were so tasty and it is definitely a great way to add variety to their lunch!

My kids love the no-spill lid and I love that there is no added high fructose corn syrup.  Fruitshoot is available in Apple, Orange, Berry Burst and Strawberry/Raspberry.

Packing school lunches has become a fun part of my children's day and I love that they are not only learning about creating a healthy lifestyle but they are also learning to take on responsibility and accountability!

You can find Fruitshoot at retailers like:  Walmart, KMart, Kroger, Lowes Foods, Harris Teeter, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Spartan, Speedway, Meijer Gas, Sheetz, Kangaroo, WilcoHess, Handee Hugo, Family Fare, Giant Eagles, Marc’s, Dave’s, UDF, Traxx, Redi Mart, J Clarks.  But not all of these stores carry it, so feel free to call ahead of time to see if they do.

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