7 Easy Lunch Ideas for Kids

This post is sponsored by Walmart. Thank you for supporting the brands that support MHB.

There are many things I’m excited about with my kids going back to school in person. I’m excited for them to be in a classroom setting and get to engage with other kids. I’m excited that this will be the first time in 9 years that I have both children in school. I’m also excited to be packing school lunches again. I realize that might be a little weird but I get so excited over a good bento box and I really miss coming up with lunch ideas and packing lunches for my girls!

My kids are just days away from back to school and for the first time in 18 months, I’ll be packing lunches again! Throughout all last school year having my girls home meant I could serve up whatever they asked for each day for lunch which got a little stressful, to be honest. Now that they’re going back to school, I’ve been searching my brain for some healthy and yummy lunch ideas for school lunches and I’m excited to share some of my (and their) favorites with you today!

Our house goes through a ton of fresh fruit and vegetables and I rely on Walmart to keep my fridge stocked with fresh, high-quality groceries including all of our favorites from strawberries to peppers. I use my Walmart+ membership weekly and have my groceries delivered including fresh produce, snacks, and more. The delivery process is so easy, it takes me less than ten minutes to place my order. What’s great about Walmart+ free delivery is that you get the same price as in-store. There are no price markups or delivery fees.

If you are not yet a Walmart+ member, what are you waiting for? Start your free trial by signing up here.

We love these Bento boxes – they fit perfectly in the girls’ lunch boxes with an ice pack.

Lunch Ideas for Kids

When packing lunches for my kids I usually try to make it simple. My kids don’t need an elaborate lunch, in fact, they typically prefer easy bento-style meals. Truly, their favorite meal ever is when I add a bunch of little things into a muffin tin – we call them snack trays. So I channel that energy when coming up with their lunches. I come up with the main dish, two to three sides, and a treat. Below are some ideas for each of those categories, you can just mix and match to create the perfect lunch for kids.

Here are some ideas for the main dish:
PB+J sandwich (or almond butter or sunflower butter depending on school restrictions)
Hardboiled eggs
Cheese + crackers
Pita + hummus
Bagel + Cream Cheese
Turkey + Cheese roll up
Slider Sandwiches
Cheese Quesadillas
PB + honey tortillas
Chips + Cheese (deconstructed nachos)
Rotisserie chicken
Chicken sausage

Here are some ideas for side dishes:
Chips+guac
Baby carrots
Broccoli
Celery
Pretzels
Popcorn
Yogurt
Cheese cubes
Snap peas
Cucumbers
Grape tomatoes
Crackers
Clementines
Apple slices
Berries
Ranch for dipping
Hummus for dipping
Peanut butter (or other kinds of nut butter) for dipping

Here are some ideas for treats:
A handful of chocolate chips (my kids’ favorite)
A handful of mini marshmallows
Mini muffin
Rice Krispie treat
Animal crackers
Cookie

I’d love to hear what your favorite kid lunch ideas are!