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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon and Santa Cruz. The opinions and text are all mine.

School will be back soon… very soon! It’s time to start planning and packing. It’s time to get a little creative (not too crazy, just enough so the kids will be excited about what you pack and they will eat it all). It’s time to get foods that are good for them, too.
Lunch box food in containers on a table with text above it.

My favorite lunch tip:

Pack healthy foods for lunches, because they have no other options, so they will eat it. If you pack healthy foods, they will eat the healthy foods – if you pack junk food, they will eat the junk food. Save the cookie or junk food item for a special treat at home. Send healthy foods to school (help them focus & retain energy), but make them fun foods that they love, like peanut butter crackers:

A hand holding a Horizon cracker with the box behind it.

You can make any food fun- just get creative!

I try to stick with brands that we like and if I can find organic, even better. I choose foods with no antibiotics, no growth hormones, no pesticides, Non GMO foods. Horizon and Santa Cruz Organic are a few of my go-to foods (and drinks) for this reason. Just call them the heros of the lunchbox. They kids love them and I love what goes in them.

A variety of lunch foods and snacks on a table.

You can grab any of these foods at Target (You can even save save 20% on Horizon with Cartwheel and go in-store for savings on Santa Cruz Organic products 8/6-8/26. They are easy to find:
A glass display case in a store containing milk products.

Now that I know that I am starting with healthy foods, I can make them fun. I make our daughter pb&j flowers with a cookie cutter. You can use cookie cutters to create fun shapes from fresh fruit and veggies, too. You can make stars, flowers and hearts out of sliced cucumbers, apples & other healthy snacks.

It’s so simple: Grab your bread and cut a small hole out of ONE side using a lid or a little medicine cup.

A close up of  two slices of bread with a plastic cup resting on one of the slices.

A finger pressing a plastic lid into a slice of bread with a jar of jelly behind it.

On the other slice (without the hole), spread your peanut butter & Santa Cruz Organic fruit spread.

A close up of a knife spreading jelly over a slice of peanut butter bread with a jar of jelly.

Put the hole-slice on top of the other slice:

A sandwich with a hole cut in the top slice of bread showing jelly in the hole.

Use a cookie cutter to make the flower shape. I use cookie cutters often to create fun shapes from bread, as well as fresh fruit and veggies. You can make stars, flowers, hearts & more. It makes simple snacks like sliced cucumber, sandwiches and apples much more interesting.

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a flower cookie cutter being pressed into it.

Once I have my sandwich cut out, I put it into a sandwich box and stick it into her lunchbox.
A plastic container on a table with a sandwich inside it with apple sauce and a box of crackers behind it.
I add some other foods that will make a well-balanced meal to keep the kids focused for the rest of the day:
A variety of lunch food in containers on a table.

They love when I pack the Horizon milk – it’s such a fun treat for them and I love that they get milk in the middle of the day.

An open lunch box with a variety of foods and drink.

Plus, the kids love reading the package:
A close up of a carton of Horizon Organic milk.
A few more fun lunchbox packing tips from Horizon, Santa Cruz Organic & Chef in Disguise are below:

  • Consider a lunch box that is divided into compartments, that will help keep things separate and will prevent fruits and vegetables from making the bread soggy. If you don’t have a lunch box like that or need smaller compartments use silicon molds, paper cups or little plastic containers as dividers. They add color, make anything you put in them more appealing and help you keep different items apart.
  • Little fun details will make your kids look forward to their lunch break, a few stickers turn a good old boring sandwich into a fun and appealing one
  • Make the best out of seasonal ingredients, they taste better, they look better and they are better for you.
  • Allow your kids to choose what goes into their lunch boxes and help pack it. They are more likely to eat it if they chose it and helped in packing it.
  • Add a little note. It could be something as simple as a piece of paper with a hand written “I love you”, “I miss you”, “I am proud of you”.
  • A lunchbox with text around it.

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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33 Comments

  1. My favorite part of packing my children’s lunchbox is adding a little note just to say “I Love you”.

  2. I make my son a sunflower butter and strawberry with Chia seed preserves sandwich. Cherry tomatoes, string cheese, and veggie straws. He also like likes to have either a squeezable applesauce or yogurt. All washed down with H2O.

  3. My kids don’t like traditional sandwiches. I make them my own version of a lunchable. I can make it look the same but it’s a lot healthier and it’s all the stuff they will eat.

  4. My favorite things to pack in a lunch box are lunch, of course, and a little note wishing a great day and saying how much I love them. It’s a great surprise to find this sweet sentiment.

  5. Great ideas!! My 7 year old is fond of chocolate peanut butter and goldfish. His favorite item hat I pack is small chunks of cheddar cheese and pieces of chocolate bars. He makes sandwiches with the cheese and chocolate. I’m happy not matter what he eats, with high functioning autism I’m just happy when he tries new things!!

  6. Turkey, cheese and pickle roll ups are a favorite. Or even ham and cream cheese are yummy!

  7. My kid love to have carrot slices, sugar snap peas, raw almonds, etc. they also love tortilla roll ups (cream cheese and jam is a favorite).

  8. I am old fashioned I lobe a good old fashion pb&j! I usually add a string cheese and some type of fruit. Usually I just have watet to drink.

  9. My 6 kids love applesauce, which I buy organic or even better, I make my own after we’ve gone apple picking together! And it’s not complete until we add cinnamon to it!

  10. I use different colored markers on a napkin and draw a heart balloon or smiling balloon and a little stick figure boy holding the string. Sometimes I’ll put stars or the sun all over. Always an “I love you” or “We are so proud of you!”