An Easy Way for Kids To Pack School Lunch (Free Lunchbox List Printable)

Inside: Kids can learn how to pack their own school lunch by using this free lunchbox list. Discover the benefits of kids doing this life skill on their own and tips on how to teach it. Originally published: 7/28/19; updated July 8, 2020

A new school year is just around the corner! It doesn’t seem like schools quite know what they are doing yet, but it does look like many are requiring all lunches to be packed.

Does anyone else dread packing lunch for their kids? I sure did before I discovered that my kids can do it COMPLETELY by themselves! Without my involvement!

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No matter what I did such as try to get inspired and make something fancy or pack for an entire week in one day, it felt hard. I just didn’t want to do it. To add fuel to the fire, many times my kids would come home and complain about what they did or didn’t get for school lunch. OR they would give away their food or not eat it at all. Insert eye roll and a dagger to the heart here. Ha!

Then there would be days when I would have to go on a hunt for their lunchboxes and almost fall over from the smell of death.

Then I realized something super important.

Why in the world was I doing something for my kids who were perfectly capable of doing for themselves? What was I teaching them by packing their lunch and cleaning disgusting lost lunchboxes? How is this raising self-sufficient kids?

An Easy Way for Kids To Pack Their OWN School Lunch

Parents often do what psychologists refer to as over-functioning. Parent over-function for their kids by worrying too much about them or by not allow their kids to do what they are perfectly able and capable of doing themselves. And we now know how damaging over-functioning is as kids become adults. Essentially, it sets kids up for failure.

If my kids took the responsibility of packing, they have no one to complain to but themselves. And if they had to clean out a gross lunchbox, they would probably learn to not lose it or throw away their trash at school.

Lastly, they would become more independent which has a laundry list of benefits for a developing child.

Read More: Four Easy Steps For Teaching a Child a New Skill

Why Parents Should Let Their Children Pack Lunch

Here are the many reasons why kids should pack their own lunches and what I’ve learned by giving this responsibility to my boys.

Kids Will Learn How to Eat Healthy

Food affects my kids. Hands down. They do have “differently wired” brains, and therefore, we have to pay close attention to what they put in their bodies.

What we’ve found though is if we control what they eat, they make poor choices when we’re not around. Or they only want it because they can’t have it. So instead, we have taken the time to educate about healthy ways to eat, why it’s so important, and alternatives to sweets or foods they crave.

At ages eight and ten, they both even know how to properly read nutrition labels. I know adults who have no idea how to interpret these labels!

Having to pick out foods to pack for school lunch is a great way to teach kids about a balanced diet. In the lunch list, I provide below, it’s broken down into categories making this very easy for any child to do.

Kids Can Work On Life Skills

Statistics show this generation of kids entering adulthood is not ready. They don’t have the life skills or motivation to live on their own. That kind of scares me!

Starting kids early with simple things like packing school lunch every day will have lifelong benefits.

Kids Can Have Autonomy Over What They Eat

As I mentioned above, if kids pick what they are eating (with your guidance, of course), there is no room for complaints. All humans have an innate need to feel autonomous. This is such a beneficial and easy way to give kids control over their own lives. More on this can be found in one of my favorite books, The Self-Driven Child.

Also, this can broaden your kids’ palettes.

My oldest has come up with all kinds of concoctions that I would have never made for him. In addition, lessons have been learned as to what foods go together… and what does not. We’ll call it experimentation!

No More Power Struggles!

A lot of times, kids are picky because they don’t feel like they have control over what they eat. We have found this to be true with dinner.

If I fill a plate with food, our “picky eater” will immediately say it’s gross and that he doesn’t want it even though he ends up eating it anyway. However, if I put the same exact ingredients in separate containers for him to make his own plate, there is a lot less complaining because it is his choice.

School lunch is the same way. If your kids get to pick their own food using a lunchbox list, they are more likely to eat it and like it. Because they decided what to pack, less food is (usually) wasted.

4 Tips For Teaching Kids How To Pack School Lunch

Getting kids to pack their own lunch is an important life skill so how do we help them do it if they are resistant or have never done it before?

I’m a strong believer in scaffolding when it comes to helping our kids become independent. We need to support in the ways we can with the intention of completely removing ourselves when they are developmentally ready.

1. Discuss The New Responsibility

Before you do anything, have a little conversation about how they are getting older which comes with the privilege of being more responsible. Explain how they will need to pack their lunch every day.

Talk about it in a positive way!

“You get to do pack your own lunch now and pick what you want to eat!!!” Instead of, “I’m sick of packing your lunch and smelling your nasty lunch box, so it’s all on you, kid.”

I have to admit I have said the latter phrase but to my mirror only to get it out of my system. Because saying it to them would not be helpful in any way.

A great time to talk about their new responsibility is during a family meeting.

2. Help Devise a Plan

The plan doesn’t need to be complicated or involve a lot of steps.

A plan is important so your child knows what the expectations are. Instead of telling your child how and when to pack, have him or her take the lead while you facilitate the decisions. The more control he or she feels that they have, the more likely they will keep up the new skill to turn it into a habit. 

The Time and Days Lunch Will Be Packed

A great tip I learned from a friend is to suggest that your kids pack lunches as soon as they get home from school. Before anything else, clean out the current day’s lunch and pack new food. Store it in the fridge so it’s ready to go the next morning. 

 Lunchbox Food Options

With the lunch box list I provide for you, it makes it easy to set rules on how many of each category a child needs.

Purchasing Lunch Options

When our kids used to go to a traditional school and they bought school lunch, we could usually tell in their attitudes and behavior almost immediately. However, for some reason, there are a few food choices that don’t have the same effect.

If your kids aren’t affected by what the school offers (or if your school is even going to have the cafeteria open), maybe give them the option to buy at least one day a week.

A Place To Put In Requests For Grocery Shopping

Because my kids are in control of what they eat (with guidance from us, their parents), I also give them a little freedom in what I will be purchasing from the grocery store.

We have the list on our command center. We have a place to put agenda items for our family meetings as well as what anyone wants to get from the grocery store. The command center is also where we hang our routines, monthly memories sheets, character strengths poster, empathy poster, camping packing lists and of course, our lunchbox list!

Now, we don’t eat food dyes and or a lot of processed sugar so I won’t buy those items. Instead, they can choose any fruits, vegetables, carbs or proteins they want for their lunchbox.

A Location For The Lunch Box, Containers and Food

Make sure everything your child needs to pack his or her own lunch is reachable. We moved all the containers to a floor level cabinet and the dried food/snacks on a lower shelf so there were no excuses of not being able to reach. This also keeps kids safe from having to climb countertops. 

3. Provide the Materials Needed

What kids pack their lunches in matters.

With one of our kids, if any food touches or looks “gross”, it comes back home with him. Having the right containers and right-sized lunchboxes makes a big difference. 

However, remember to give your kids the control over what they pack their lunch in and how. If they don’t do it the way you want, that’s okay! Yes, your way may work better, but it’s vital that they figure out what works best for them. Trial and error help kids develop the life-long skills they need to be competent adults.

The one thing I do is show my kids what food containers usually work well and what they have available to use.

Items That Work Well for Packed School Lunches

• Water Bottle – We got these Zorri Sports Bottles this year for a little bigger bottle but less expensive just in case it gets lost. I recently found these Dyln bottles that look great too. I also found these super cool smart water bottles for kids called Gululu. The price is a little high but look at all the features in the video below!

• Lunchboxes – These have lasted a few years even being left at school with food in them for months! Ha! And they fit the lunch containers as not all lunch boxes do.
• Lunch containers – We love these. However, the lids have broken by the end of the year with the way my kids use them. Thankfully, the containers are rather inexpensive and easy to replace. We usually get a new set at the beginning of every school year. Side note: These four-compartment snack containers look GREAT for toddlers!
• Sauce containers – These fit perfectly inside the lunch containers and keep sauces or dips separate from the other food.
• Paper Towels – I encourage the kids to put at least one paper towel in their lunch boxes because, you know, messes!
• Reusable Cutlery – These don’t always make it home but it does save from needing to constantly buy disposable forks and spoons. And they are better on the environment!
• Thermos Food Jars (for hot stuff) – A great tip in using thermos containers is to pour boiling water into the container first, dump it out then put the heated food in. This keeps the food hotter for a lot longer.
• Flat Icepacks – Sometimes, my kids will pack a few of the puzzle icepacks so they can build cubes once they’re done eating. Always creating.

In addition to all the items needed to pack lunch, something we have found super helpful are labels! We have been using Mabel’s Label’s since my oldest was a baby. They work well in the dishwasher, and they help our kids find their lost items at school. I love all the fun creations they have too!

4. Teach New Skills

With any new skill a child learns, they may need a little help. When we give new responsibilities to our kids without helping or giving expectations, we are setting them up for failure (or at least it will feel like a failure compared to what we expect). 

Here are the four steps to take in teaching a child to pack his or her own lunch.

First, pack the lunch with him or her watching.

Second, do it together. We did step two for about two weeks before moving onto the third step of watching.

Once I oversaw the lunch packing process and they packed enough food with plenty of variety, they moved onto the last step of doing it themselves. Now and again, I will help or pack for them if something comes up, but for the most part, it’s their responsibility… and it’s GLORIOUS! 

Here are some basic skills that are beneficial for kids to learn to help them be successful lunch packers.

Cutting With A Knife

Our middle child loves to cook so for his sixth birthday, his aunt and uncle got this AWESOME kid knife set. They also got him these cut resistant gloves which he still uses.

The gloves have been essential to giving him the confidence he needs to cut vegetables and fruits knowing that he won’t get hurt. And it’s a peace of mind for me to know he’s not going to cut his hand wide open. I don’t do blood very well.

We had to teach him how to properly hold a knife, how to cut certain fruits and vegetables, where to place his “helper hand” and where to put the knife when he was finished.

Microwaving Food

Using a microwave is simple for us adults. For kids, they may need a quick tutorial.

Most importantly, we need to go over what can and CANNOT go into a microwave. Avoiding explosions is a must in our house and probably should be a rule for all.

Packing the Lunch Container

Some kids struggle with visual perception skills so by showing them what fits in each part, they can get the amount of food they need.

They may also need help with putting the lid on or zipping the lunch box especially if they are young. Doing these things requires both fine and gross motor skills.

Making A Sandwich

One of our kids loves the loaded meat, cheese, and lots of sauces sandwiches whereas the other is more of a pb&j kind of guy. Both involve different skills.

We took the time to show each of them how to make a basic sandwich and how to use a butter knife to spread the sauces, peanut butter or jelly.

When Your Kid Doesn’t Seem Ready

If you have a child who just doesn’t seem like he or she can fully take on this responsibility, that’s okay! Here’s a great place to start:

• Designate a drawer in your fridge and a bin(s) in the pantry for their lunch food items.
• Bag up the items they can pack at the beginning of the week – Have your child HELP with this task.
• Label how many items they need to grab from the fridge and how many they can from the pantry.
• When it’s time to pack the lunch, simply have your child pick what he or she wants from what you prepared and put it in their lunch container or lunch box.

After it seems like your kids can pack the school lunch items by themselves, you can slowly start introducing food preparation skills.

What Kids Should Pack For Lunch

I created a master school lunch food list (download here) for my kids that I laminated and attached to our command center in the kitchen. Whenever they’re stuck on what to pack, my boys grab the sheet and make sure something from the required categories get thrown in the lunchbox. 

They are required to have at least one protein, one fruit or veggie, and one carb. What they pack and how much is completely their choice. 

Here are the main categories of food: 

• Protein 
• Fruit 
• Veggies 
• Carbs
• Dairy
• Nuts & Seeds
• Sweet Treats

Free Download!

This has been so helpful for our family, I wanted to make it available to you as well. Bonus! I updated it for the company I work for so I’m including that one for you to download as well!! My boys like the colors better and there are a few added options.

It’s an exhaustive list of every healthy-ish easy-to-pack food I could think of.

Something I’ve also done is put a small mark next to all the items we currently have in the fridge or pantry. As the year went on, I forgot to do this part, but the kids figured it out. They’re rather resilient!

Now It’s Your Turn! Happy Packing!

Remain patient and remember that your children may fall back to old habits or complain they don’t want to pack.

Empathize and stay positive. Give specific ways you have overcome that feeling of dread to help them realize what a special opportunity they have to be self-sufficient.

So, tell me, will these tips help your kids pack their lunch. Or what are your concerns about giving this responsibility to your kids? I’d love to know! Please comment below. 

And don’t forget to share with your mom and dad friends!