3 Bento Box Ideas for Your Kid’s Lunch

A while ago, I decided to buy a Bento Box for my son, as a way to diversify his lunch and help me being creative. It demands a lot of time and dedication but my theory is that I don’t have to be perfect nor so detailed as some of the images you can find on Pinterest. The fact that the Bento Box is already compartmentalized makes everything easier for you, the mom. Your kid can help as well and I found that when my son knows what to expect, the chance he will eat it is much bigger. I end up buying a book called Everyday Bento: 50 Cute and Yummy Lunches to Go and the excitement Ian showed when he found out the book was contagious.

Fact is, Ian is eating all his lunch and snacks for the second week in a row. This is certainly unheard of, and I am having more fun to create his box as well. I can’t describe the feeling of opening it at the end of the day and just seeing a few crumbles at the bottom of the boxes! Remember that we eat with all the senses and seeing a beautiful plate is certainly the beginning of it.

1. Fruits and veggies – use some cookie cutters to create fun fruit or veggies pieces or a bamboo pick to make some colourful arrangements. Almost any fruit and firm veggie would work.

2. Sandwiches – cut each bread piece with a sandwich cutter, add your favourite spread and fill. Recently we created a dinosaur sandwich and some spinach leaves were the dinosaur bed. Ian ate all the leaves as well…

Another great idea for sandwiches is to ‘de-construct’ them. Instead of making them the way we are used to see, give the kid the option to eat all the components of it separated. Roll up cheese and some deli meats, for example, and add some crackers on the side. Cut cheese with cookie cutters and display it beautifully.

3. Make your own pizza – I sent cheese, pepperoni, tomato sauce and little pita breads to school, in the Bento Box, and Ian got to make his own pizza. It was such a big hit that he asked to eat it for a whole week!

Bon appétit! And let me know in the comments below your experiences with school lunches.