Make Your Kids School Lunches Fun

It's that time of year again when the kids are heading back to school. I talk to a lot of mom's and we all have the same challenge ... what to pack for our kids in their lunchbox. I know myself how boring it is to eat the same thing day after day, and with a finicky kid it's even more of a challenge to find something they'll eat.

A good rule of thumb is to keep everything in small portions because schools don't give kids a lot of time for lunch. Usually all they have is 25 minutes for lunch from the time they leave class, walk to the cafeteria, find a seat, open their food, eat, dump their trash, form a line and go back to class. Actual eating time is about 15 minutes!

Packing the lunch the night before is a big help, and gives me more time to think about what to pack and be a little more creative. During the morning rush to get out the door, the last thing I want to fret over is what to pack for the kids' lunch!

I always keep those snack size sandwich bags on hand. They seem to hold the perfect portion size of whatever I'm packing.

Cookie cutters are one of my favorite tools to use in making a fun lunch! You can use them to turn sandwiches & cheese into fun shapes like a star, heart, dinosaur, etc.

I remember my mom making this for me and I've carried the tradition to my kids. Make "Bugs on logs". All you do is fill celery with cream cheese or peanut butter and top with raisins.

Dipping! Kids love to dip foods! Pack vanilla wafers or graham crackers in with some yogurt for dipping. I've tried packing apple slices to dip in the yogurt but my kids don't really like apples, but you might want to try it. You can also pack string cheese or rolled up slices of meat with honey mustard for dipping.

If your kids like canadian bacon or pepperoni, you can add those with some cheese and roll up in a tortilla instead of always using bread for sandwiches. These can also turn into another great item for dipping!