School Lunches - Part 1: Adding a bit of Silly

I have always brought my big kids home for lunch during their school days. I think it is the best thing for them and for me for several reasons, but at the risk of going on and on and on, (which I can, and have) I'll keep it short and just say that the bell times at our school have changed for the year, and there isn't time enough to get them home, feed them, and get them back to school on time for the afternoon bell.

So we are all adjusting.

We have done special picnic lunches together on the school grounds, and that is great, but weather doesn't always make that possible, and with our Canadian winters, I know there will be stretches of not just weeks, but months, where they will just have to have a packed lunch.

I try to make their lunches interesting, but there is only so much you can do to vary the food you send, especially when they don't have access to a microwave to warm up what you send.

Then I was clicking around on blogland, catching up with friends, and one of them had posted a bunch of lunch ideas she had gathered up. It was awesome! She has so many ideas, and what I loved was that they weren't all just food suggestions, which are good, but also ways to make the regular things a little more fun.

I've tried out a few so far, and my kids are really loving the 'silly lunches' I've been sending this week. As I try more, I'll post them here for you to see.

Idea #1: Funny-Faced Fruit

This was such a fun and easy way to make them smile when they opened up their lunch bags. All it took was a sharpie and 10 seconds to draw the doodles. I made a silly boy for my silly boy, and a silly girl for my silly girl. You could do this with anything that the peel is taken off before you eat it, I used a banana, but you could do it on an orange too.

Idea #2: Joke of the Day

This was another great one that doesn't take any time at all to really add in, and gives them a smile. I just write a quick little note and slip it into their bags. I have found a couple of fun kid-joke websites that I've been using as resources. Some places to check are here, here, and here

Hope you have fun trying out these ideas along with me!