Understanding Excellent Child Care Activities

Considerations For Packing Lunch For A Kid At Daycare

2 February 2017

Barry Ward

Does your kid go to a daycare like Noah's Ark Christian Daycare where you are required to pack a lunch for them? If so, it may leave you concerned about what to pack each day. While it is easy to come up with a tasty and healthy lunch for a toddler when they are at home, it becomes more of a challenge when they are away from home. Here are some tips to help you make good choices each day.

Know Your Kid's Preferences

When at home, you can sit down with your kid while they eat and make sure they eat everything that is on their plate—at daycare, not so much. Your kid won't have their own personal coach to make sure that they are trying everything that you packed.

It is a good idea to consider your child's preferences and pick things that you know for sure that they'll eat, even if it means sticking to some standards that you may personally feel bored with each day. It's the best way to ensure that they are eating their lunch every single day.

Consider Reheating Needs

Check with your daycare to find out what options you have for refrigerating cold foods and reheating them. You may find that they don't provide refrigerator space for lunches, meaning that you need to pack a lunch that will be fine left out at room temperature all morning.

You'll want to purchase a lunch bag that is well insulated, which means it could have a built-in ice pack that will help keep things cold. Also, lean more towards foods that won't go bad if they do get a little warm, like vegetables.

Ask About Allergies

Kids tend to trade food at lunchtime, just as you did when you were a kid. You should ask the daycare if there are kids in the room with allergies and if there are foods you should avoid packing in your kid's lunch. For instance, a common food allergy is to peanuts, so you may want to avoid a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if other children in the room have the allergy.

Make A Schedule

Decision fatigue can easily happen when you feel the need to come up with a new meal idea every single day. Once you have some solid ideas put together, make a schedule that you will rotate through. It will help you plan better for your grocery shopping and give your child lunches to look forward to as you rotate through the schedule.

For more tips, ask your daycare provider

Share