After our Super-tip about packing lunches, we received a lot of questions about how we pack our school lunches and what we do to keep them exciting. In response, let me start by saying, I love packing Liam’s lunches. Seriously. Each weekday morning while my family eats breakfast at our kitchen bar, we chat while I pack Liam’s lunch. Sending Liam off to school all day has been hard on me, so when I view his lunch as a mid-day hug from me, I don’t see packing it as a chore. (Wow that sounds cheesy, but it’s true!) Here are a few things I do to keep him lunch happy:
1 :: Leave a message.
I try to write a message to Liam every day… that said, how many times can I write “I love you. Have a great day!” until he gets bored of it? Before I find out, I’ve been mixing it up with some jokes. What kid doesn’t love a silly joke? Plus, it’s a great way for your kids to share some laughter with their lunch mates.
To make this easy on us, I’ve put together a week’s worth of school-centered jokes, perfect for the month of September. All you need to do is download the printable, print on paper of your choice, cut and pack one joke each day for an entire week!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Since everyone seems to be loving these lunchbox jokes we wanted to let you know we’ll be sharing new jokes monthly. So be sure to “like us” on Facebook so you’ll hear when our Halloween Lunchbox Jokes are available!
2 :: Use left-overs. (And I don’t mean just the food.)
We always end up with leftover paper napkins from parties and themed playdates. For example, we recently celebrated Harrison’s Birthday, and for his special birthday breakfast he selected character napkins. We had several left over, so I stashed them in a bin in our pantry. Liam loves being surprised at lunch time with fun napkins. He claims they make lunchtime a party! (Is it really that simple?) Leftover cupcake toppers could make cute sandwich picks or mini grape kabobs.
3 :: Shape it up.
I’ve never served my boys a bread-shaped sandwich. We have buckets full of various cookie cutters, and why should they be relegated to just cookies? Each morning Liam carefully selects his favorite shape. For Harrison, my now three-year-old, I cut his sandwich into the shape or letter we are working on that week. We have a nifty set of alphabet cutters — my boys never get bored with them. We spell words, practice sounds and sometimes even alphabetize these after use.
We use smaller cookie cutters to cut cheeses, meats, fruits and vegetables. Aside from the occasional hummus or peanut butter, my boys don’t even need vegetable dip — the fun shapes make it tempting enough to eat alone.
Those are my easy lunch tips. Do you have any to add? Comment below or submit them to us here!
Great ideas! I have been struggling with what to pack in my daughter’s lunches to make them fun…she’ll love these jokes! I can’t wait to slip one into her lunch bag tomorrow morning!
Glad we can help! Hope she gets a good laugh!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your lunch ideas! We had a rough morning yesterday and any fresh lunch ideas are always appreciated! I also really liked your perspective on packing lunches. Thanks so very much!
Hi Aimee, The alpha in alphabet is spelt the wrong way around or was that part of the joke? Thanks
You’ve got some sharp Supermom eyes!! Thank you for the heads up. It’s been fixed!
You are superfast Supermom, your’re very welcome. Thankyou for the gorgeous idea.
I love this idea. I can’t wait to start including these in my kids’ lunches.
We love your jokes, do you have any for Halloween?