My son is going to be starting his first year of all day school within the next month. With being at school for a full day I realized he would be eating lunch there, too, which makes me a little nervous. My mom gave me the great idea to “practice lunch” here at home where I can monitor and prep him on the do’s and don’ts for lunch at school. So, I went to the store and picked up both kiddos a lunch box (little sister has to have one too if we are going to practice) and found out from my nephews what the setup is for lunch at school and how long they have. The goal is to pack our lunches in the morning and keep them in the fridge for lunch time. I can watch and make sure he knows how to open everything, eats everything within the allotted “lunch eating time”, eats his own food only(my big worry) and then make sure he knows how to clean up his lunch, too.
Just the few times we have “practiced” has taught me a few things about what to put in and not put in his sack and makes me feel sooooo much better about him eating on his own. Plus, he thinks this is the coolest activity, so I get Mom Bonus Points for doing something we have to do anyways…eat!
Lesson’s learned from Practice Day 1:
- This practicing is going to help him get over the excitement of carrying a lunch to school.
- He had his sack for 3 minutes prior to eating and was so excited he kept tossing and catching it. Just doing that he cracked the lid of his sandwich container and sprung a leak in his drink pouch slowly soaking his entire sack!
- Go for box drinks and not pouches when starting out. The box drinks will be a little more sturdy and less likely to leak
- Plastic bags for sandwiches may be the way to go for the first little bit. =-)
- He does not do well when others have different foods than him.
- We need to practice with sister having different food than him.
- He almost can get the straw in his own drink.
- And he needs to practice more on cleaning up after his lunch.
ENJOY!!!
This post was originally posted July 19, 2011
What are your favorites for sack lunches?
(please share!)
Alice Gold says
July 18, 2011 at 4:47 pmThat was a great suggestion by your mom. I used to help the kindergarten for the first week of school at lunch time. It was crazy. If all parents would have done what you are doing.
My favorite sack lunches are
let the kids make the themselves.
They throw it together the night before.
They put non perishables in the lunchbox and perishables in a gallon size ziplock in the fridge. They just take out that their ziplocks and dump it into their box in the morning.
I keep all of the following on hand:
Sandwich necessities.
Hard boiled eggs.
Cheese.
Fresh Fruit – apples, bananas, oranges, nectarines, plums, grapes, cherries, strawberries
Carrots.
Cucumbers.
Celery.
Granola Bars.
Go-gurt.
Raisins.
Peanut Butter crackers
Cheese Crackers.
Tortillas (They sometimes make quesadillas)
I buy chips and cookies and separate them out into portions at the beginning of the week.
(It keeps the kids from eating them after school and gives them the right portion and saves me money by buying the separately packaged stuff)
How is that for some tips. I am copying and pasting for a blog post. Whew. that was a lot to type.
Tarmy says
July 19, 2011 at 9:15 amI love this idea! I just realized school starts in less than a month and we haven’t prepared at all. Thanks for sharing.
chelsea says
July 19, 2011 at 3:16 pmVery fun! And a good idea!
maggy, red ted art says
July 20, 2011 at 11:00 amWhat a great idea – I never thought of doing this! When mine are ready for a packed lunch, this will be fabulous test run!
Thanks for linking to Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
Mandi @ Boredom Busting Mommy says
July 20, 2011 at 8:57 pmWe did this with my son before he started school, too! It really helped him a lot. I didn’t want him to get into the cafeteria and be nervous. Excellent blog! I’m happily following! I would love it if you stopped by mine to say hi!