At Rangeview Pre-School, children bring their own lunches and/or snacks to kinder. Our lunch and snack times are a lovely part of the day where the teachers and children sit together to eat.
Each child is different in terms of the food they like to eat. Some children prefer to have the same thing every day and other children prefer a wide variety.
We recommend packing a balanced variety of health food from the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. Healthy lunches and snacks help children concentrate, learn and play throughout the day.
We know that children need to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables every day, as well as wholegrains, milk products (including cheese and yoghurt), meat and meat alternatives and water. You can include all of this in your child’s lunch box and still make it fun and interesting to eat.
We went to the experts (our fabulous families) for some of lunchbox tips and ideas.
The most common response from families was: a sandwich or a wrap, yogurt, fruit and cut up veggies.
Lunchbox Ideas
Sandwiches
Wraps
Mini quiches
Sushi
Sausage rolls
Zucchini slice
Muffins
Banana bread
Pumpkin soup
Weet-bix toast – with a favourite spread on weet-bix
Mini pizzas
Cheese sticks
Crackers (wholegrain or wholemeal)
Corn thins/Rice cakes
Cheese and crackers
Nut free muesli bars
Banana biscuits
Pretzels
Corn chips and guacamole
Pita bread and dip
Boiled egg
Fruit salad for brain food
Fresh fruit
Fresh vegetables
Carrot & cucumber sticks with hummus
Yoghurt
Natural yoghurt with fruit in a container
Why not try making your own healthy and easy alternatives to snacks? This makes a great weekend/rainy day activity to get the kids involved and learning about the kitchen. You can make plenty in advance and store them in the freezer. Don’t forget to include an icepack with all items that need to stay cold or bring a thermos for items that need to stay warm.
Please do not bring nut products to kinder. This includes muesli bars containing nut products (including almond meal); food items that may contain traces of nuts; peanut butter; nutella; products cooked in nut oils; and whole nut products.
Selecting a Suitable Lunchbox
When selecting your child’s lunchbox for pre-school we recommend asking your child to open and close it to see if they can use it themselves. Some containers and clips can be tricky for little fingers to open. Of course, we are on hand to assist but if children can do it themselves, this gives them a greater sense of achievement and independence.