Ideas for Packing Lunch for First Grader

This year i want to make smoothies. I am going to go on a hunt for the right thermos. I dont mind blending them in the morning and i know it will be a nice healthy addition to lunch :)

I work at my kids' elementary school AND also help in the cafeteria during lunch.
My BIGGEST TIP is: ONLY pack, what you KNOW your child WILL eat.
Because otherwise, a child will NOT eat, even if... they are hungry.
EVERYDAY in the cafeteria, I see kids that do NOT eat their home lunch. Why? Because... (and the kids tell me this), the Mom did not pack something that THEY like. Thus, EVEN IF hungry... a child will NOT eat, and will just sit there... all during lunch, not even, touching their food. EVEN if, hungry.
Then, the child goes ALL day, without any food or sustenance in their tummy. And this creates low blood-sugar in a child which then means, it affects their concentration, makes them fussy, irritable, tired, and sometimes even creates behavioral problems. All because, their tummy is empty... and they are hungry.

It does not matter... how fancy or how cutesy or how gourmet or how creative or how experimental a lunch is or looks. It does not matter, if there are 8 different things in their lunch box, or just 1 item. IF a child does not like the food that is packed in their box.... THEY WILL NOT EAT. Even if hungry.
And the adults in a cafeteria helping the kids, cannot "force" a child to eat, if they do not want to eat.

So, ONLY pack, what you KNOW your child will eat.
Even if that means, the same thing everyday.
My son, would eat a ham sandwich EVERYDAY. He never got bored of it, and he liked it, and... he ATE it. Good.
A child does not need a "buffet" in their box.
Just food they will eat, and a bottle of water or healthy beverage.

Home lunch does not have to be, all encompassing. Meaning, it can just be something simple. As long as it is something THEY like and WILL eat.
Then, once the child comes home... that is where you can give your child, more variety. Home lunch at school, is just one meal out of the entire day. So, as long as you don't give "junk" food, then that is fine. As long as it is something your child, WILL eat.

Use an insulated lunch bag. Put a blue-ice ice pack in it to keep it cold.
It is fine.
1st grade kids, eat lunch early. Probably BY 11:00am.
So, the lunch bag will still be cold, if you use a blue-ice ice pack.

And... IF the school is a "peanut free and tree nut free" school... you CANNOT pack anything that has nuts in it, or foods that is made, using machinery that also processes, nuts.

And believe me: the staff does not care, if a child has "fancy" food or not. All they care about, is that the child has something healthy AND that the child likes, and will eat.
SO many times, I see kids just sitting there not eating. Even if hungry. And I ask the child why. They say their Mom does not pack what they like. And to the school Staff, we then think "why does the Mom make a lunch that their child will not eat?" Then the Mom, wonders WHY their child, is coming home with a lunch box, that is still not eaten, and they get "mad" that their child is not eating at school. Then they get mad at the school staff saying "my child is not eating.... how come you can't make her eat?" (and believe me, this does happen. The parents getting upset at the child for not eating, and then getting upset with the school staff for not making their child eat.)
There has even been, kids who will just sit there, perplexed/not eating because the food packed is not something they like... because their parents tells them they CANNOT leave the Cafeteria UNTIL they eat ALL of their food that is in their lunch bag.
Well, the problem is, that their child's home lunch is NOT something the child likes. It is not the child's fault or the school's.

I also suggest, asking your child, what HE like or would eat, and pack that. As long as it is not junk food of course.

Talk with your son about his lunches. See what ideas he has and compromise if necessary. I would have loved to mix it up for my daughter her first year but in reality she was just as happy with Bologna and Cheese as I was with mixing it up. We would go together to get her stuff and she got to decide. I did put my foot down when she wanted cookies instead of fruit but that's what the compromising if for.

You can make your own 'lunchables'. Just give him some Ritz crackers (you can use whole-grain if you want to 'healthy' it up...), slice some cheese, and slice some thick-cut lunch meat. Toss in a banana, and some carrot/celery sticks and you are good to go!

You can also send him with 'make your own pizza'... Get some of those freezer biscuits, and roll them flat before you bake them. (or you can make some real pizza dough...) Put one of those plain in his lunch box, a small container of shredded cheese, a small container of marinara sauce, some pepperoni, pineapple, ham, green peppers, olives... whatever he likes on pizza.

Heck, just check out the lunchables in your grocery store, and make your own versions. Kids LOVE lunchables!!! lol. I have known people who will buy a few, then save the container so that they can just refill it with their own home ingredients instead. Cover it with saran wrap, and you are good to go. :)

Definitely go by what your son normally likes to eat. Disregard any of these if he dislikes them. Just ideas.

wraps (you can put whatever he likes-cheese, ham, shredded carrots etc)
salami, cheese & crackers
yogurt
string cheese
pudding cups
applesauce
goldfish crackers
Cheese-Its
soup in a thermos when it's cold
leftover pizza wrapped in foil
chicken salad
cooked diced chicken & pasta
spaghetti in thermos
chicken nuggets (cook that morning, wrap in foil, stick in thermos)
sliced carrots & ranch
grapes
sliced apples & carmel dip (wet wipe in ziplock bag to clean up sicky)
juice boxes
water bottle

Maybe your son has some ideas of what he would like to take. I think some schools have microwaves so he could take probably just about anything.
Lunchmeat
Chips
Cookies
Tuna Fish
Soup
Leftover dinner
Mac & Cheese
Hotdogs

My daughter loves it when I pack her mac n cheese (homemade) and I put it in a thermos for her so it stays warm. Her lunch time at school is early (I think 10:30) and then they have a snack time around 1pm. She is going into 2nd grade.
She also likes soup in the thermos. If you are on pintrist, they have some good lunch box ideas that don't have sandwiches. Lots of good ideas on pintrist.

http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/4460264243496943617

This question has been asked a lot lately. Hopefully this link will help you as well.

Don't forget, sometimes there are favorites that the cafeteria serves and children look forward to those.

Best wishes for a great 1st grade year.

The hardest part is finding ideas for the main filling part of lunch, not the fruits, veggies, and snacks. Here's some ideas of what my kids like:

baked mac n cheese
beaners & weiners
soup
chicken/egg/tuna salad sandwiches
sushi
buttered noodles with peas
rice with chicken
tortilla wraps

I will have 3 kids needing lunches this year. I bought a rotisserie chicken, shredded the meat and will use this for tons of lunches.

Leftovers that can be eaten cold or room temp.. like pizza slices, chicken legs, spaghetti, tortollini, fruit salads.

Rolled up lunch meat, crackers, cheese, quesadillas, tortilla wraps, hard boiled eggs (peeled), stew or soups in a thermos.

All types of sandwiches.. Pita with hummus, tuna, sushi, Chinese dumplings, fried rice.

And remember to ask your son what he would like in his lunches. Our daughter had very specific ideas about what a school lunch should look like in her own mind.

my daughter loves these in her lunch (i also give her the option of the school lunch too)

string cheese
grahm crackers
gold fish
fruit snacks
couple cookies
lunchable instead of a sandwhich
grapes
apple
celery
carrots
pears
corn
peas
jello
pudding
water (sometimes with mio in it)
veggie straws
yogurt

theres really soo much you can do :) just go off what he likes :)

I am a quick fix type of mom. My kids lunches consist of mostly packages foods and not healthy. But the kids love them and we eat very healthy for breakfast and dinner. So I figure, why not give them something they love. My kids lunches all have chips, cookies, fruit cup, granola/cereal bar and a juice box. I pair that with a pbj, tuna/chicken, deli meat sandwich, vienna sausage or lunchable. Or maybe some dinner leftovers.

Wraps!! I was out of bread one time and had the tortilla/burrito wraps in the fridge and thot why not! I slapped on a slice of cheese and ham, rolled it up, wrapped it in foil and sent it in my kids lunches not knowing how they'd react. Well, they loved them!!!

We've made them with lots of different ingredients - leftover chicken, turkey; you name it, we've probably wrapped it!!

We also had the insulated lunch bags so I wasn't afraid of using mayonnaise. But we've also used ketchup, mustard, etc.; just depends on what's being wrapped.

How about granola? The healthy kind - not the stuff filled with candy!!

Pudding cups - not the healthiest but not too bad.

What about a little container of Ranch dressing to dip the vegetables - my kids actually loved that.

We did the small (non-glass) thermos of soup when they got a little older; if they didn't eat all of it I wanted them to be able to close the lid tightly to bring it back home. Never had any problems.

Good luck!!!