A healthy lunch and snacks will have a positive impact on your childs ability to learn. Royal Gala apple slices are an easy snack to prepare. This is the variety of apples that McDonald’s now offers in their Happy Meals. They are softer than other varieties and easier for your child to chew.
Homemade oatmeal chocolate chip muffins! These will last the entire week through in Tupperware. Oatmeal muffins contain dietary fibre and protein, and when you add chocolate chips your child will love them. When you make them yourself you can also reduce the fat in the recipe. Instant muffin mixes often include directions for making a low fat version.
Cheese and crackers are a great snack. Use cookie cutters to make cheese into fun shapes for the wee ones and choose low fat crackers. Keep an eye on the sodium content as well. Cheese strings are good healthy fun too.
Grapes! Most kids love grapes and they contain plenty of phytonutrients that are good for your child’s overall health.
Choose whole wheat breads or whole grain breads for sandwiches and be sure to keep an eye on the saturated fat content.
Pack canned fruit juices that contain 100% fruit juices. They are better for the environment than juice boxes. Avoid carbonated beverages even if they are caffeine free because they usually contain quite a lot of citric acid which softens tooth enamel. Encourage children to drink water after drinking carbonated beverages, and fruit juices, and eating citrus fruits to rinse the citric acid out of their mouths. Do not have them brush their teeth! When citric acid has softened tooth enamel brushing can strip tooth enamel off of teeth.
Cucumber slices, carrots, and celery sticks are also great choices.
It is important to pack snacks that provide proper nutrition since children often do not eat their sandwiches. Some kids hate sandwiches. In that case try sending them with a hot lunch like spaghetti or hearty soup.
Get your child involved in grocery shopping and teach them to read food labels if they are able to. Give them some choices when packing their lunch so that they feel good about it.
A good rule of thumb is to allow them to have 1 semi-junk food item in their lunch. This would include choices from items like fruit snacks, Quaker crispy minis, homemade cookies, chocolate dipped granola bars, or dry sweet cereals like Fruit Loops or Trix.
Teach your child about vitamins and nutrients and what they do so that they can feel proud of having good eating habits.
