51 // My 9 Favorite Novelty Items for Packing School Lunches
My 9 Favorite Novelty Items for Packing School Lunches:
Add a little something extra for added variety and enjoyment and yet save money while doing so
Anyone else remember when their child first learned about “needs” vs “wants?” I vividly remember it as one of the things my oldest took the most interest in during a parent-led instruction on the topic her kindergarten year.
And even though our needs versus wants as adults are a bit more significant than the yearning for more art supplies or a new backpack in little kids, we too have to discern our needs versus wants - especially when it comes to back to school shopping. That’s why in episode 50, I shared the top 5 things I would invest in when it comes to lunch packing supplies for school.
These are the items I find essential to packing lunches for our family, or rather, the items we NEED the most.
In this episode, we are going to highlight Our 9 Favorite Novelty Items for lunchboxes - including all those fun, cute, and added items for the days you are feeling a little “extra.” You don’t need these items, but these are those that I am most often asked about when families want something to spice up a bento or bring a little added joy to their child’s lunchbox.
As always, you can access these items and more Kids School Lunch Packing Favorites in my amazon shop: bit.ly/veggiesandvirtue.
Listen to this episode of The Veggies & Virtue Podcast now!
Full Episode Transcription
Please note this a raw transcription. If something doesn’t read correctly, toggle to that timestamp in the show so that you can listen in on what was actually being said!
[00:00:00] Hey there and welcome to today's episode. I have been thinking a lot as my kids get ready to go back to school. And one of the lessons, I remember my daughter learning in kindergarten that just stuck with her. And for some reason stuck with me the most maybe cuz we reference it often at home, but that's the conversation about needs.
[00:00:17] Versus wants. And I vividly remember her coming home from school, and I think their prizes were like hatch MOS because this was a parent led instruction in the classroom. And the dad was teaching the kids about needs versus wants and to convey their wants, I guess it was using hatch MOS were, it were, you know, some of the kids favorite, but I think about it now as we get into back to school and how, even though our needs versus wants, as adults are obviously much bigger and more demanding.
[00:00:48] the novelty of something like wanting a hatch Mo I realize that we too really have to discern our needs versus our want, especially when it comes to our needs versus our wants. Of school supplies. And so that's why in this episode, I want to feature nine of my favorite novelty items for lunch boxes, because these are not the things that I consider a necessity for lunch packing.
[00:01:13] And even if you listen to episode 50, you know, that I think there is a lot of room there in terms of what products best fill our family's needs. And in episode 50, I shared. The five favorites my family has for lunch, packing essentials. Notice I say essentials. This episode is all about the extras. If you feel like you wanna just be a little cute or extra fun, or just put a little added touch in your kid's lunchbox, or you're just someone who is a little extra and likes to take that added step, you do not need these nine items, but I wanted to share with you nine of my favorite.
[00:01:49] Novelty, extra items that I think can make lunch, packing a little bit more fun and a little bit more functional. So as always you can access the specifics for these products on my Amazon shop. At Biley B I T dot L Y slash veggies and virtue. And that'll auto direct you to my Amazon shop. And you can look up lunch plaing supplies where you'll see all the favorites that I mention on episode 50 of my favorite essentials.
[00:02:17] And then also on this episode, With my nine favorite novelty items. So let's go ahead and jump into the show.
[00:02:27] Hey mama, I'm Ashley, and welcome to the veggies and virtue podcast. In this podcast, you will find simple menu ideas, kitchen, organizational systems, spelled out for mom life and feeding tips and tricks that are both evidence based. And grace. I believe that you can find flexibility when it comes to feeding your family so that you can feel calm, capable, and connected in the kitchen.
[00:02:46] As a registered dietician and Christian mom of three myself, I want you to break free from the mealtime battles and to feel equipped while feeding your kids all day long, pull up a stool at my kitchen counter. And let me pour you a cup of coffee and say a quick prayer for you. It's time to chat about the meal times messes moments and ministry of motherhood.
[00:03:07] I don't know how you were as a kid, but I was in target the other day, my oldest and I. On a date to get back to school, haircuts, and then to just do a little shopping together. And we are roaming through target and her newest thing has been, she likes to hold her own basket. So she feels like she's kind of getting to shop on her own.
[00:03:25] And then rather than me, like tell her for each specific item, if she can have it or not, she kind of collects some items and then we'll bring it over to me and ask, you know, if there're items that we're gonna get. Anyways, the reason I share this is. it brings me to thinking through how practical I've become as a mom versus, you know, some of the vantage points that we might have had as a kid and how I really don't want four different water bottles that all have different size straws, total pet peeve of mine, or a variety of ice packs that all insert into lunch bags a little bit differently, or, you know, retain coolness in the lunch pack differently, or just items that are expensive that I'm gonna be upset about if they Don.
[00:04:08] Return in my kids' lunchbox and things. And so, you know, there are a lot of needs that I consider when I'm picking the lunch packing supplies. And also just back to school supplies in general with my kids that I know are not top of mind to my kids. When, you know, they're picking out different things that they think look fun or just, you know, fit their style or whatever it might be.
[00:04:29] But in today's episode, I think we get to kind of bridge some of the functionality that we crave as parents and the items that we just need to be functional when it comes to things like lunch packing, but that also add an element of fun. So our kids feel like mom's not just so overly practical, it's boring because I can definitely fall into that category sometimes.
[00:04:52] And thankfully I am in a profession. Okay. I am constantly trying to find ways to make food more fun, get in a really practical, functional way. And so that's why today's episode. I wanna share with you nine of my favorite novelty items. These are not the items that you need to pack lunch for your kid. You can definitely do without these, but that you may want, if you find whether it be like right now, while all the back to school supplies are out at target and other places.
[00:05:18] Or, you know, companies are having sales and things, or if you just find yourself down the road, thinking I wanna add some of these items when we start feeling like we're getting into a little bit of a rut offering the same PB and J and pirate booty every day. So I'm gonna walk you through nine of my favorites.
[00:05:33] Remember that these are all linked on my Amazon shop. So. for most of 'em, I'm not gonna get too specific on the brand, unless there's one brand. I just really know that we like, so you'll see on my Amazon shop that I link a variety, so it can fit your child's taste and style in terms of like colors and patterns and things like that.
[00:05:51] But also a variety of budgets. If there is variance in what price points these items are offered. So the first item. That again, I think is really functional, but also can add just kind of an added element of novelty, which if you're in my mealtime's made easy method or on the wait list already, you can go to veggies and virtue.com/wait list.
[00:06:11] If you wanna get on that wait list. But you know that I talk a lot about novelty and why I think novelty is so helpful when we're feeding our kids. And when we're trying to help them branch out and add some variety and ultimately added nutrition to their diets. So the reason why novelty is gonna help us so much here is that when we talk about containers that are gonna kind of help compartmentalize anything that your kids may not want touching or things that may want leaking in episode 52, I'm gonna talk about comparing and contrast.
[00:06:43] some of my favorite lunch boxes. So I'll talk a little bit more about like the leak proof dynamic there that some of them, some of the bento boxes do have, but I love little dip containers, little tiny ones that tuck in a bento box. I'm gonna speak mainly in terms of assuming that you use a bento box here.
[00:07:00] If you don't again, listen to episode 50, that's totally fine with me, but just to simplify it a little bit. I'm gonna stick with that assumption, but you could really use a dip container anywhere, but these are really small. I mean, they're gonna include like a tablespoon's worth of a dip or something that may make other things soggy, but they can really elevate the taste profile.
[00:07:21] So this is where we're gonna add the variety with things like a net butter. If your child's allowed to have Nu nuts at school, or you might do hummus or ranch dip, or if you send like breakfast for lunch, you could put syrup. Or you might put ketchup right there. I've just mentioned five different dips that automatically redirect what kind of lunch options you'd be offer.
[00:07:43] With that dip. And so I find that anytime I'm just kinda like I'm in a rut, I can quickly add a dip and it automatically D diversifies a little bit of what I would be offering as a side in the lunch box, because if I'm doing hummus, I may do something like a veggie star or a pee crisp, or if I'm doing a chocolate hummus, I'm may do my kids, love carrots and chocolate hummus or strawberries with that.
[00:08:06] But now it's not like all gooey all over the food. But it's really simplified. The kids can just open up the little dip container makes it so it's not, you know, leaking and everything's not touching, but it kind of invites as again, I talk about in the meal times Maide method, it invites our kid to engage and ultimately to eat these kind of foods and adds variety into their lunch with what they're choosing to eat.
[00:08:29] The second novelty item would be things like. Things like little com compartmentalization containers, depending on what bento box you have, you may have say two or three larger compartments, but if your child only has a half a sandwich, There's a lot of dead space that gets left and obviously with the goal to feed and fuel our kids as best as possible.
[00:08:51] Sometimes having just some of these little silicone compartments, you can use something like a silicone muffin liner. They come in a lot of different shapes that can add some really functional novelty that then just creates a little bit of a barrier. So if your kid's someone who doesn't want food, touching.
[00:09:04] But say you, as the mom are practical enough that you don't wanna buy multiple lunch boxes. So say you have a three compartment lunch box, but very quickly you can make it into a five compartment because you have some of these little containers that help compartmentalize the different foods. So this would be things that wouldn't leak so much.
[00:09:22] It wouldn't be something like I mentioned before with the dips of like a ranch or a ketchup or a hummus or something like that. But instead it would just be something that you wanna separate out. So this could be something like a fruit where there. A little liquid that might make something else soggy, but not so much liquid that it's gonna leak all over and, you know, make the other elements less appealing to eat.
[00:09:41] So those little separators or dividers can be really helpful. And again, if you choose to buy one, that's more of like a silicone muffin mold. You can totally use it to make muffins or quick breads and things like that as well. The third novelty item is a. We have some from we sprout. And so I have linked that specific one in my Amazon shop specific because it was one of the items that I sent with my kids.
[00:10:06] We did like a trial run sent with my kids and they loved it. They were super excited about it. And for the longest time my kids wanted nothing to do with hot food at lunch. And so even when we were using, bentos like an OMI box or some of those that had the heated component, my kids weren't super into it.
[00:10:22] But when we did the separate ther. They thought it was so cool. And I think, because at that point in the school year, they had already seen their friends do it and they were really excited about it. So they're already kind of asking about it. So depending on if your child is someone who likes. Lunches sent hot.
[00:10:38] I would definitely trial that out. You can always try it out on a weekend and kind of experiment with how warm it keeps it based on how warm your child likes to eat their food. Some kids could care less about the food temperature. Some kids are very specific, so you can always play around with it and kind of be scientists on a weekend to see how.
[00:10:57] it stays warm with a given food, but this is a great way to practically send leftovers, but add the novelty of a new container that, you know, offers a different temperature and ultimately a lot of the different food options than we would be able to offer in a cold or room temperature lunch box. The fourth novelty item I think is really helpful to have is something like a disposable or reusable pouch, or like a squeezy gear container.
[00:11:25] And. Even if you use the disposable ones, I've linked some of those on my Amazon shop. But particularly when you use a reusable one and there's less waste anytime you're making your own pouch or like squeezy container, you're gonna really reduce your food cost. So when we think of things like apple sauce and yogurt, and some of these things that we can easily buy in a larger container and decant into smaller pouches or squeezy.
[00:11:51] Silicon containers. We can cut back on our food cost a lot in terms of the unit price, because the convenience of having these items prepackaged as a yogurt pouch, or an apples pouch is one of the places that I see the most families overspending on their food budget. So investing up front in some of these pouches, Especially those that are reusable will save you a lot of money over the course of the year.
[00:12:16] If things like applesauce, pouches, or yogurt, pouches and things like that are things that your kids tend to like, especially as a family with three little ones, If I buy a container of yogurt pouches at the store and say there's four or six in there, I can easily spend $5 just for that one container of yogurt pouches, where if I buy the reusable pouches, I can spend $10 on six reusable pouches and reuse them the entire year and just refill with a variety of items.
[00:12:44] So that's the fourth item that I think is really fun, but also really functional. There's tons of cute design. you all know? I love simple modern water bottles. That's one that I mentioned on episode 50. Well that's they also have some really cute reusable pouches as well. And there's a ton of other brands.
[00:13:01] We've used the disposable ones from Infantino. If you have the little plunger to help put it in there, that's probably the main caveat with these is some of them can be really tricky to fill. So make sure that you're reading the reviews and whatever it advises to use is something that you have as like a tool.
[00:13:17] If it's something like an Infantino that requires a plunger versus one that just has a seal at the bottom, and you can just spoon the yogurt or the apple sauce or whatever the contents are into the fifth item is having some fun pokers or cutlery. Some kids aren't necessarily going to need a fork or a spoon or most definitely, probably not like a knife for anything.
[00:13:39] I do like having some inexpensive cutlery that we can send with the kids. We have the little ones from OIE box that loop on like the handle of their lunch box. And so each kid has a set. I love that, especially cuz then I can just take 'em off. Take 'em on really easily, but they are a little bit more expensive and.
[00:13:58] if you have some that just fit within your kid's lunch box, or maybe you might put it in like a zipper pouch, just find some that are really like easy for your child to manipulate depending on their age and feeding stage and where they're just developmental skills are with self feeding, but another alternative that can make it really inviting for kids.
[00:14:16] Again, adding that little element of novelty is things like a poker. Again, you want these to be inexpensive? And as much as I absolutely love and prefer the food pokers by say like Neutra, Doshi, she has phenomenal ones, all the cute ones that you guys see me share tend to be those, but I keep those for home one because I'm too territorial of them.
[00:14:35] I don't want them going in school lunches and getting lost, but also because they are handmade. They don't retain. They don't do very well sitting in something with moisture. And so I don't want them to get ruined in a lunch box. So for something like a scent lunch, like a packed lunch from home, I would just use some really inexpensive, honestly, even if you're using a toothpick, obviously use caution depending on your child's age and temperament, you know, some.
[00:15:00] per, I mean, it could be little boys or little girls, but some little kids will, you know, want to use them to poke things other than their food. So know your child and know what is the best thing. Some of them have more blunted tips, but these can be ones that have little leaves on 'em little animals on 'em little eyeballs on 'em.
[00:15:16] There are so many fun, little food pokers that just help your kid to get it out of a bento, especially if there are. Compartments and can kind of replace the need for cutlery on little items. If they wanna say poke fruit or poke pasta salad or poke different elements of their lunch. The sixth item is reusable bags.
[00:15:36] I've been sharing ours for years. We've always used bumps. I use Stacher bags at home. However, they are a little bit more expensive. And so I don't send them to school with my kids, but pumpkin bags are really fun patterns. The kids always get excited about which ones, you know, are kind of their go. and again, similar to the reusable pouches or silicone squeezy gears, these cut down on food cost because we can baggy up our snacks instead of prepackaging snacks.
[00:16:03] And so that can be a really helpful option too, that even if you're putting a prepackaged snack in it, it just makes it a very clear place that every day, this is where you're gonna find your snack for school, whether it. Homemade or prepackaged or whatever it might be. So reusable bags are another great option to invest in, especially early on, cuz as I said, we've had the RS for years, they wash up really well and the dishwasher or in the washing machine without like stains or stink or anything like that, the seventh item, air things like.
[00:16:34] cookie cutters or veggie punchers. These on Amazon can be used a little bit interchangeably, cuz they're not so much the big cookie cutters, like the way we would traditionally think of for cutting out a sugar cookie while you can use those. And they work for things like sandwiches. I prefer the smaller ones that are metal, particularly those that have like a little place to push on.
[00:16:55] So you can use a little bit more force when you're punching through things like veggies. This again makes it very functional to offer. Like fruits and veggies, because if you notice your child, maybe isn't as interested in this typically comes with the produce, but really it can be, you know, with the protein you're offering with the sandwich, you're offering, whatever it might be.
[00:17:14] As soon as you cut it in a fun shape, oftentimes that added novelty will increase their interest and ultimately their involvement with interacting with it or potentially eating it as well. So having some of those on hand that you can use for a variety of different foods, whether you're cutting. Cheese or whether you're cutting out carrots or bell peppers or apples or pears or melon or whatever it might be.
[00:17:37] Having some of those little cookie cutters or small little VE veggie punchers can be really fun. They also do have some letter ones, which I've tried those take a little bit more effort and I don't know how well they actually get translated to school. I've tried to spell cute little things and things like that before, but you have to remember that these lunch boxes are not staying flat in transit.
[00:17:59] are often being carried to lunchroom and things like that. So I do think letter ones and number ones can be really fun too, but I would definitely say the shapes are a little bit more versatile and a little bit more functional. If you're looking for a set to start with. The eighth item would be kind of a piggyback on this of sandwich sealers.
[00:18:18] If your kid is into Uncrustables, those little sandwiches that have kind of been sealed with the crust removed, getting something like a sandwich sealer is a great option. It removes crust, but you can make those Uncrustables at home yourself. You a lot of 'em you can make in advance. Stick in the freezer and then just pull 'em out as easily as you would a prepackaged Uncrustable sandwich.
[00:18:39] So having some of those sandwich seals again, an upfront cost, but a long term savings on the unit price of what you're sending your child. But also you have a little bit more control over the ingredients. So say you need net free peanut butter, or you want a different like CHII jelly or maybe your child wants honey and banana instead.
[00:19:00] you know, the grape jelly or something like that, you can customize these. You can also do 'em with things like ham and Turkey, or you could do it with, you know, hummus on the inside. You can do a lot of different options and the sandwich Steelers come in a lot of different shapes, which again makes it a really functional lunch item, but really fun for your child.
[00:19:20] The ninth and final novelty item that I love is having little lunch. I know that this is a very simple thing to hand write. And ideally I would have these all handwritten in advance for all three kids. Granted, not all three, my kids can read yet, but oftentimes for my son, I'll just offer something.
[00:19:38] That's an easy note for either the teacher to read or him to kind of decode with like an iHeart you type thing, or just a picture or om, he can understand his love mom and things like that. But having some that are pre-made are really helpful for those days or those weeks that I. I'm on the struggle bus and I need a hand and yet I still want to send a little note of encouragement in my kids' lunchbox.
[00:20:00] Especially if you have a kid that, you know, thrives on words of encouragement, this could be a really easy added touch to include in their lunchbox. Again, if you want the added assistance of one that's pre-made for you and not one that you have to write or come up with pre coffee every morning before you send your kid to school.
[00:20:18] So I've linked some of these in my Amazon shop, and then there's also. From Amy at beacon Hills designs, those ones, I'm not able to link in my Amazon shop, but she's who I've done my grocery list and my meal planning list with, if you look@mysiteveggiesandvirtue.com slash shop, you'll see the meal planning and grocery lists I have with Amy done in partnership with her, but then it'll link you to her site.
[00:20:42] So you can see her little lunch box prayer cards, which are more of a faith-based. So you can just write down a prayer that you have for your kid or share some scripture with your child for the day. And just another way to really encourage them through the lunch box and give it that little added touch before you send it away.
[00:21:01] So as a quick recap, I want to just highlight the nine novelty items that I love. They are dip containers, containers to compartmentalize a Thermi a reusable pouch of some sort. Number five is pokers or cutlery. Number six, reusable bags. Number seven is veggie punchers or cookie cutters. Number eight is sandwich sealer.
[00:21:23] And number nine are lunchbox notes or prayer cards that you can include in your kids' lunchbox. So I hope these are fun added elements that you might be able to either reference on my Amazon shop, which again is Bitly B it dot L Y slash veggies and virtue. That'll take you right to my affiliate shop.
[00:21:42] If you'd like to shop any of these ideas. Or just remember as you see them come up on my coming pictures and posts that I'll share on social as I pack back to school lunches. And we'll hopefully give you a few added ideas and also inspiration for the school year ahead.
