Teaching your children self-responsibility is an important task in parenting. One way to foster independence in school-aged children is to teach them how to pack their own lunch. By making it fun, they might enjoy it more and think of it as a chore less!
Teach Kids to Pack
Their Own Lunch
Children love to feel helpful, and giving them tasks helps to empower them as contributors to the household. You can even make the process fun! Here are some ways to have fun while teaching your kids how to pack their lunch.
Cover the food groups
Teaching your children about the importance of a healthy and balanced diet is an important part of teaching them to pack their school lunch. Make printouts covering the main food groups that they should incorporate: fruits, vegetables, grains and protein. For younger children, you can include pictures of some of their favorite foods that fall into the food group categories for them to choose from. For older children, you can discuss how each of the food groups are used in our body and why they are important.
Turn it into art
You can cover fostering both self-responsibility and creativity by having your kids turn their lunch into art. There are a number of ideas on Pinterest for creating a masterpiece out of their food. By being creative, your kids will have a ton of fun while accomplishing an important task.
Let them pick out their lunch box
Including your children in the process of picking out their lunch box is another way to get them excited about packing their lunch. Additionally, there are a number of fun containers on the market that can help make the process easier. Think silicone cupcake liners as a way to portion out snacks in a larger box. There are also different bento-style boxes with compartments to help keep foods separate and also help with portion control.
Sneak in a treat
After having them pack a healthy and balanced lunch, let your kids pick one small treat to throw in as well. Whether it’s a piece of chocolate or a cookie, it can go a long way in exciting them. Just make sure the portion size is small!
One of the added benefits of letting your kids pack their own lunch is that they will probably eat it! This is a win-win for both parents and kids!
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