Day-care lunch ideas

Here is an idea!Are you not sure what to prepare for your little ones, or maybe you are working and always on the rush that you prepare an unhealthy lunch for your little one, do not stress because we have the amazing and easy to make day-care lunch ideas?

Main options

• Hummus with crackers, veggies & tortillas
• Sun butter and banana sandwiches
• Quesadilla triangles (with chicken or beef if have some leftover from dinner)
• Turkey and cheese rolls (as are or melted on a tortilla then cut into manageable pieces)
• Penne pasta (veggie based or regular) and meatballs (frozen and cut into smaller bites)

Vegetables

Raw veggies are an easy and crunchy way to add nutrition and adding a dip like ranch or hummus makes them even more tasty! My favourites include:

• Snap Peas
• Cherry or Grape tomatoes (cut into smaller pieces)
• Broccoli
• Bell peppers
• Cucumber
• Carrots

Fruit ideas include:

• Grapes (cut)
• Apples
• Mandarin Oranges/ Clementine’s
• Banana
• Kiwi

Snacks ideas include:

• Cheese crackers
• Graham crackers
• Pretzel sticks
• Vegies straws
• Raisins

Here is the thing about making lunch for your little one, you need to be creative and versatile and be able to make every meal easy to eat.  In the following are the benefits that can help you and your little one make lunch better.

Benefits of day-care lunch ideas

• Makes meal time pleasant
• Helps children learn self-help skills
• Helps the little ones remember that eating is a social time.
• Plan fun food activities to encourage children to try new food.

Creating the healthy and best meal for your child is essential, that way you need all the right stuff to make sure that the meals or lunch is healthy, edible to the child and fun also at the same time. In the following are the ideas on how to make food appealing.

Ways to make day-care lunch appealing

• Consider food temperature. Most children do not like very hot or very cold foods, always be constant.
• Consider food texture. Vary textures, crunchy, crisp, smooth, creamy. Children often dislike lumpy or stringy foods. Avoid overcooking vegetables.
• Consider food colour. Serving foods of different colours makes a meal more interesting and appealing (be versatile).
• Serve foods of different shapes. Choose round crackers or cherry tomatoes. Cut sandwiches into triangles. Serve square chunks of cheese and apple wedges. This can also help the child learn as you can teach them about shapes through food.
• Balance food flavours. Consider foods with sweet, salty, sour, tart, spicy and mild flavours.
• Include some well-liked foods in every meal. Choose healthy foods that are familiar to children.
• Introduce new foods with familiar foods. Introduce only one new food at a time.

No more worries about how to make the perfect lunch for your little one.