Last week, I blogged about how to make your mornings easier by providing quick and easy back to school breakfast tips. As important as a healthy breakfast is, it isn’t enough to nourish children for an entire school day. So, what they eat for lunch is important too.
A healthy lunch, “5 out of the 5” food groups, is critical to help kids excel through their entire school day. And to save time, I've come up with a way to combine lunch preparation with family time. Below are some of my tips for providing your kids a healthy lunch with all of the food groups represented that also allows me to spend valuable time with my kids.
Pack lunch together the night before – this is by far the most helpful. Make sure you do it together. By involving your child in packing the lunch, you will have more of a buy-in when they eat it because they will feel like they helped make their lunch choices.
Make a game of packing lunch – let them choose what they want to put in their lunch then, review the contents with them. If they are missing any of the food groups, point it out and then give them a couple choices to add to their lunch that will complete it while representing all of the 5 food groups.
Let them help with the shopping list – ask them what types of foods they would like from each of the food groups, and then make sure those are available to them when they are packing it.
Solicit their help when making dinner – you would be surprised how much more enthusiasm you get from your kids for a healthy breakfast and lunch when you involve them in all the meals that are prepared throughout the day. Ask them to help plan and prepare a couple of dinners a week. It will not only get them thinking about how they should be eating, but it will also teach them the skills they need to prepare and eat healthy once they are actually out on their own!
Dinner leftovers also make a great lunch meal the following day and since your kids helped prepare it, they will be excited show their friends what they created and rave about how good it is!
School mornings don’t have to be terrifying. With a little preparation, you can have more relaxed mornings, enjoy the extra time spent with your kids and know that your kids are getting all of the nutrients they need to succeed throughout the day!
Debbie Asada