School is about to start, and you’re getting ready to cross items off your child’s classroom supply list. If your kids brown bag it rather than reach for the plastic trays at lunch, don’t forget to add a new lunchbox to the list. Making sure you have everything you need when the school year begins helps set your family up for success.
When I think about replacing our lunchboxes, I keep a few criteria in mind. Here are the important tidbits to remember when picking out lunchboxes that will actually get used:
- Durability. I’m not interested in buying new lunchboxes on a regular basis, though purchasing a couple of new ones each school year is pretty typical.
- The Cold Factor. Lunchboxes need a sufficient and convenient way to keep things cold. If the boys want to pack a turkey sandwich in their lunch, I don’t want to worry about a soggy sandwich—or the risk food of poisoning.
- Size. Lunchboxes must be the right size to hold everything but not be too big for their backpacks. As the boys get older, more and more things go back and forth in their backpacks each day, limiting the space available for extras. On top of that, now they require bigger lunches to keep their bodies (and minds) fueled for the school day.
With these things in mind, the search for the perfect lunchbox begins. Reading customer reviews at this large online retailer is one of my favorite ways to educate myself about any purchase I plan to make. Even if I end up buying locally, the customer reviews often answer questions I didn’t even realize I had. Plus, the huge variety of inventory tunes me into my options. That’s how I discovered freezable lunchbags that keep food cold without an additional ice pack. You just store them in, well, the freezer.
And don’t forget about the food containers that go inside the lunchboxes. They have criteria too, like being reusable, functional, and healthy. When our boys were younger, we opted for BPA-free plastic containers, which we replaced as soon as they showed signs of wear. They were easy to use, and we didn’t have to worry about them breaking. As the kids have gotten older, we switched over to glass containers with great success. Sure, we end up with a broken one every once in awhile, but they last much longer.
Are you new to packing a healthy school lunch for your child? PlanetBox is a super fun website that offers one-stop shopping for both lunchboxes and the containers to go inside, but that’s not all. They’ll also get you started with great meal ideas to consider. From there you can think about packing more and more of your child’s favorites, and you’ll increase the chances that the lunchbox will come home empty every day. Heck, you can even get your children involved in the planning process. What better way to get them excited about lunch each day—and avoid lunchbox envy. It’s a real thing, folks.
Don’t forget to get a healthy start to the year by adding lunchboxes to your school supply list.
All photos © PlanetBox
Paula Widish, author of Trophia: Simple Steps to Everyday Self-Health, is a freelance writer and self-healther. She loves nothing more than sharing tidbits of information she discovers with others. (Actually, she loves her family more than that—and probably bacon too.) Paula has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Public Relations and is a Certified Professional Life Coach through International Coach Academy.
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