5 Creative Back-to-School Lunch Ideas

It’s that time of year again! Time to dust off your little’s backpacks, stock up on school supplies and start brainstorming lunch ideas to keep them excited about brown-bagging it. To kick off the year on a fun note, here are a few school-themed boxes to work into your lunch-making routine. 

Peanut butter and jelly sushi is a creative and fun twist on a lunchtime standby. You can combine peanut butter and jelly in the same roll, or separate the flavors like I did here. Add in some veggies and a pack of Nature Valley Maple Brown Sugar Granola Bars and you have a filling, fun lunch!

As a kid, my favorite part of back-to-school shopping was getting a new box of crayons. Is there anything better than a fresh box of all those colors? This is my version of a lunchbox full of brand new crayons. Inside I packed a rainbow of colors, including carrots, grapes, snap peas, Gushers Fruit Snacks, a Nature Valley Protein Bar, blueberries and a small corn on the cob.

You'll score an A+ from the kiddos with this “homework” cheese quesadilla, packed in Sistema's Lunch Cube to Go. After preparing your quesadilla, cut into a rectangle and use food-color markers to make “notebook paper” lines. Finish this cute lunch off with some fresh veggies and dip, a LÄRABAR and a couple small cookies for dessert.

An apple-shaped sandwich, complete with a Betty Crocker™ Fruit Roll-Ups worm will surely bring a smile come lunchtime. Rounding out this lunch is a Yoplait Trix yogurt (such a good source of calcium) and crunchy little cucumber slices.

Back-to-school season wouldn't be complete without a visit from a wise old owl. To make this academic, animal-inspired lunch, I topped a sandwich with some cheese and salami cuts-outs to form the owl’s body. The diploma is made out of a small flour tortilla, tied with a Betty Crocker™ Fruit Roll-Ups bow. To balance it out, I packed in some crunchy broccoli along with some Chex Mix.

What fun twists are you planning on putting your little one’s lunches? I’d love to hear what surprises you’re planning and traditions you’re continuing!