Easy and Healthy Lunch Ideas for Your Kids

If you find yourself staring into the fridge looking for simple and nutritious lunch ideas your kids can enjoy, you're not alone. According to Today's Parent, kids barely touch their school lunch for a variety of reasons. One way to take the stress out of preparing their lunches is to have tasty and healthy ingredients on hand to make packing a snap. The following are some of the best packed lunch ideas, and packed lunch snack ideas, to make lunch prep easy.

1. Pack a Pita

Dispense with the sliced bread for one of the best quick packed lunch ideas, and make sandwiches with pita pockets cut into quarters. Use the same ingredients that you would with any sandwich, such as peanut butter and jelly or turkey and cheese. Or, fill it with cucumber slices and hummus or cream cheese. Stock up on all these items to rotate the sandwich fillings and keep lunch interesting.

2. Dip It

One of the best simple healthy lunches to pack requires no sandwich building at all. Fill a container with your kids' favorite spread, whether that's peanut butter, cream cheese, or hummus. Then, cut up a variety of fruits or veggies, such as carrots, celery, apples, and peppers. Your kids can easily enjoy lunch by simply dipping veggie sticks into the spread. You can mix it up with different spreads and dipping sticks, like Greek yogurt or pretzels.

3. Roll It Up

Rolled up food can be fun, healthy, and easy to make and eat. Instead of standard bread slices, spread your sandwich ingredients on a tortilla or lavash. Try shredded chicken, cheese, and avocado, or go with almond butter and raspberry jam. Then simply roll them up and pack them in sealable containers. For larger tortillas, you can slice them up to make bite-sized pinwheels. You can also get creative and wrap a pickle in a slice of turkey or a whole banana in a tortilla spread with peanut butter.

4. Skewer It

This lunch option is as easy as it gets. Simply slide your lunch ingredients onto bamboo skewers and you're done. And what kid doesn't like food on a stick? Folded lunch meats, cheese cubes, lettuce leaves, and cherry tomatoes are one option. Or, cut up peanut butter and jelly sandwich squares and alternate with banana or strawberry slices.