Ok, can I just say, thank goodness that this week is spring break!!! And if you are in the same boat as me, you are READY for a week off of fixing lunches. At the beginning of the school year, I am ready and excited to make school lunches, I have planned and pinterested till my heart is content. But, by this point in the year, I am usually tossing things willie-nillie into the lunch box, or bag, or sometimes just straight into the backpack. Then my son comes home with his lunch untouched, and he’s “S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G.” So I am going to use this spring break to reset, and get some buy in from my son.
Are you ready to reset with me?
Ok, here we go. I designed a bunch of different lunch options, and a place that we can organize our thoughts, and maybe … just maybe … if my little one gets a say (even if its one I control), he will be more likely to eat his lunch. I asked him some of his favorite lunches, and designed different categories and put both pictures and words on boxes. Then I made a weekly planner, where we can place his choices and I will know exactly what to pack.
There are a few ways that you can put this little printable to use. You could easily print it onto magnetic sheets, cut and place on the refrigerator. But, if you have a deceiving little fridge like mine, stainless steel looks like metal, and then disappointingly enough NOT magnetic. Then, you can print onto paper, laminate it, and then either use Velcro or we used sticky tack (my son’s new favorite obsession, we use it all the time for surgical procedures on lego men, but that is a different topic for a different post). We started by going through all the different foods, and the ones my son (kindergarten) could read we left the words, and the ones he struggled with we left as pictures (I printed them double sided, on the short side, so that they would be back to back and double sided). Then on Sundays, I go through all the foods just to double check that I actually have everything on hand. If I don’t have the food on hand I pull that food card out of the mix. Then I help him as he arranges and plans his own lunch. Now we both have some say, and he feels like he has control, and I know exactly what to pack Monday thru Friday.
I have included a PDF to open and print, with blank tiles for you to fill in. Please let me know what helps you get your kids out the door with healthy food? Do you plan a week ahead, or day by day? Is there a system that works for you and your little ones, or maybe even your big ones (my husband needs lunch too)? Please share your thoughts, pictures, and ideas!
