Lunchbox Tips
Keep it simple and easy to eat but healthy and appetizing.
Try to include foods from each of the four food groups in Canada’s Food Guide (Vegetables and Fruit, Grain Products, Milk and Alternatives and Meat and Alternatives)
Kids love to eat what they create. Let your child choose from a healthy list of choices to create his or her own lunch.
Speed-up the process by cutting extra veggies when you’re preparing dinner or by making extra at meals to use as ‘Re-Runs’ for lunches the following day.
On a cold day, a small thermos of soup, pasta, or other hot item can be satisfying. Freeze yogurt tubes and juice boxes. This will keep them cool until your child is ready to eat.
A child’s taste seems to change on a whim, try new things regularly and don’t be afraid to try them again and again. It can take many exposures to new foods before children learn to like them.
Pack a Safe Lunch
Use clean kitchen equipment to prepare lunches
Refrigerate lunches that are prepared ahead of time
Use an insulated bag with a freezer pack or chilled thermos to keep food cool.
Chill milk or freeze drinking water or juice in plastic containers to keep food cool.
Use a wide mouth thermos to keep hot food hot. Preheat the thermos with hot water before filling.
Wash all vegetables thoroughly, even those in packages labelled “prewashed”.
Wash lunch containers every night to keep bacteria from growing and clean them with baking soda once a week to get rid of odours.
Don’t reuse plastic bags – they can hold bacteria.
Little Extras: Non-food treats are special and long lasting...
