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Best Plastic Free Lunch Box Gear for Kids

Best plastic free lunch box gear for kids, including containers, snack size boxes, and water bottles. Read on to prepare your kids for back-to-school with a healthy lunchbox, even before the food gets packed. (links below are affiliate links in Amazon for you to see the various sizes available.)

plastic free lunch box for kids containers in stainless steel and glass

 

What are some first steps we can take to create a plastic free lunch box for kids?

  • Switch to glass and stainless steel whenever possible.
  • Purchase produce not wrapped in plastic, or remove once you purchase from the store.
  • Transfer food to glass storage containers as you meal prep.
  • Avoid putting any plastic you have in the dishwasher.

Why do we want a plastic free lunch box for kids?

In case you missed it, the Academy of Pediatrics released a new study showing the danger of plastics and the effects on children. They released a statement expressing concern about the scientific evidence that chemicals from plastics interfere with the body’s natural hormones and long-term development. The chemicals that are cause for concern in the latest statement include phthalates, which are needed to make plastic flexible. It also includes bisphenol (BPA) which is still used to line metal cans, and also perfluoroalkyl (PFCs) found in grease proof paper and packaging.

Infants and children are particularly vulnerable to exposure to hormone disruptors. This can increase their risk of obesity, diabetes, and fertility issues. Make the switch to glass and stainless steel, for your kitchen and for creating a plastic free lunch box for kids.

Best Plastic Free Lunch Box

Let’s start with the actual bag, or tote, for your kid’s lunch. There are so many options, but not all are created equal. Look for ones that are PVC, BPA & Phthalate-free, and CPSIA compliant. One of our favorites has been the Wildkin brand. (they also make really sturdy backpacks too!)

Plastic Free Lunch Box for Kids

PlanetBox

  • Plastic free lunch box bento style in stainless steel
  • Rover is great for most school aged kids.
  • Launch is great for older kids (and adults)
  • Comes with coordinating containers for “wet” food like yogurt, applesauce, and oatmeal.
plastic free lunch box for kids planetbox ideas

So many amazing lunch ideas for the Planetbox.

 

LunchBots

  • variety of simple, stainless steel containers
  • great for busy parents…keeps packing simple and you can toss them in the dishwasher at the end of the day.
  • I have multiple on hand so some are ready to prep, while others are getting washed overnight

plastic free lunch box lunchbots healthy lunch

 

Plastic free lunch box snack containers, great food storage containers for home and school

  • Kids Konserve– variety of sizes and easy to open silicone lids. I’ve used them for years, and finally ordered a second set last year. Love them.
  • Kid Basix Safe Snacker– sandwich size option, but also fits a salad for my 9-year-old. Added this to our lineup last year and it’s a great multi-use option. Also good for car trips.
    • opt for generic colors so the containers don’t “belong” to any particular child. It will make your packing lunch life easier.
  • Wean Green– we have had our first set of Wean Green containers since our youngest went to daycare at 9 months. We packed baby food in them, and now they hold her salad dressings! They now offer a variety of sizes and they are super durable. Dishwasher friendly and the square sizes pack really well in the lunch box. As you go up in size, they are also great for meal prep!

plastic free lunch box wean green kids

Plastic Free Lunch Box Bags and Accessories

  • Beeswax wraps- skip the bag and use a beeswax wrap. This is great for young kids as it’s easy to open, and doesn’t add extra weight to their backpack like glass does.
  • Lunchskins are our favorite fabric sandwich bags. Itzy Ritzy zippered fabric bags are my favorite for smaller snack size options. They have a ton of cute patterns too!
  • Bamboo utensils to pack for oatmeal, salads, or yogurt parfaits for lunch. Stainless steel kid utensils are great for the dishwasher, but adds more weight to the lunch bag.
  • Stainless steel thermos options are another great way to add more variety to your kid’s lunch. We like the Lunchbots Thermo Soup Jar. It works for when we send in oatmeal or a yogurt parfait. (Or a fried egg that stays hot and can be used for an egg sandwich!)

Plastic Free Water Bottle for Lunch Box

This has been a struggle for way longer than I would like to admit. Between straws that are hard to clean, leaky snap covers, and paint that chips off, we have seen it all. I can give you a few suggestions of what everyone has been happiest with lately.

  • Contigo Thermalock bottle– we bought this last September and it’s still in great shape for the school year ahead! No straw, easy to clean. I do think it’s better for older kids as it may be challenging to open it.
  • Eco Vessel Kids Scout bottle– this has also latest over a year for us. It does have a food-grade silicone straw, but it detaches easily and the spout cleans well too. My younger kids have this one and love it.
  • As our kids get older I see them asking for bigger water bottles. Certainly for sports they need more water. The Hydro Flask brand is a favorite in our house as they have a variety of lids, depending on what you need. The sport top is the easiest for the kids to “lock” so we don’t end up with wet backpacks!

Whew! That’s a lot of info about how to switch to a plastic free lunch box! Happy back to school everyone!

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Don’t Lose It! Label it with Mabel’s Labels. {Giveaway}

Back to school Giveaway from Mabels Labels

If you have kids in daycare, preschool and beyond, you know how important it is to label EVERYTHING with their name on it. Even if you are just bringing in your kids to the daycare at the gym you need to label everything, like their shoes. {ask me why I know some time…} We have used Mabel’s Labels since Madison was in daycare and I have passed along clothes to friend’s babies with her name labels still attached. This year you too can get organized for back to school with the Ultimate Back to School combo pack of labels.

Shark Mabels Labels

JJ was the lucky winner of getting to pick out new labels this year. He was excited about the shark logo. I got started using those cute shoe tags to label his new back to school sneakers. His best buddy (or his Mom) picked out the same sneakers as JJ so having a label makes life a little easier.

Don’t forget to label lunch supplies too– lunch boxes, water bottles, reusable bags and an ice pack.

Label those ice packs for the lunch box

Note~ This is our favorite ice pack for the kids lunch. It’s “sweat-free” so it makes clean up at the end of the day a lot neater.

There’s still time to order your favorite set of labels for back to school from Mabel’s Labels. Got big kids? There is a Stylish Scholars combo that may interest them. Are you a blogger? I have seen lots of people use their Skinny labels on their iPhone case, chargers, and water bottles when they are at a blog conference. Just because you are a grown up it doesn’t mean you can’t get in on the fun!

Please enter below in the Rafflecopter. You will be able to pick the Ultimate Back to School combo package or the Stylish Scholars combo. Entries will close this Saturday at midnight~~ enter soon!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure~ JJ got a new package of Mabel’s Labels to help facilitate writing this post. All opinions shared here are my own. Some links included are Amazon affiliate links. 

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Finding balance between Kindergarten preparation and encouraging creativity

As we get ready to send our daughter to Kindergarten next year, I’ve partnered with Bright Horizons Early Education and Preschool to share some thoughts on kindergarten readiness.  Bright Horizons is hosting their annual Kindergarten Prep and Preschool Showcase events around the Boston area the week of January 27th.

Promoting Creativity for Pre-K learners

Although it’s hard to believe, our oldest child will start kindergarten next year. She turns five in just two weeks and I feel this tug to get her ready for kindergarten, while also pushing her to play more without any structure. I went to a lecture recently about the demise of kid’s imagination and creative thinking skills, all because of the toys and media we let into their childhood. It was eye-opening. Now it’s changing my thoughts on how we play, and how I can encourage creativity while still making sure she is prepared for the demands of kindergarten.

Counting Activity Pre-K

The idea of getting my daughter ready for kindergarten through play really makes sense to me. When I searched Pinterest for kindergarten preparation, I found tons of wonderful activities. Math, writing, story telling all play a part of learning new skills, but can also encourage creativity. When I spoke with J.J. Lynch, the director from the Sudbury Bright Horizons, she shared a great activity that is popular in their Kindergarten Prep classroom. Let them draw a picture in a notebook, then pass the book to an adult and have them write down everything the child says about the story. It’s a great way for them to connect the creativity of drawing with the skills of writing and reading.

sock puppet diy

Making a sock puppet is a great way to encourage creative thinking. Source

The lecture I went to was run by Dr. Susan Linn, who is a co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. She worked with Mister Rogers, so you know she is a good egg. She wrote the book: The Case for Make-Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World. I loved her message of what kids need in order to foster their creativity:

  • Time
  • Space
  • Silence
  • Inspiration

Good toys are 90% child driven. Most toys on the market are not. As I walked through my house the morning after the lecture, I felt less excited about the talking toys, and those with a predetermined identity. Where are the toys that are gender neutral? Maybe we need some sock puppets in our home. When we give children a branded toy (say Princess Sophia) then we have already given them the toy’s identity, the script and have drastically reduced their need to be creative. Even coloring books fall into this realm of reducing our children’s opportunity for creativity.

Finding the right balance is what is most important. Letting the kids play to learn is a part of childhood that we as parents need to protect. The influence of T.V. and branded characters is a whole new world to navigate. There are some helpful tips and tools on the Coalition for Commercial Free Childhood’s website.  {Their TOADY awards are crazy.}

Bright Horizons will be hosting their annual Kindergarten Prep and Preschool Showcase event, which is an opportunity for rising preschool and Kindergarten Prep aged families to engage with the teachers and educate them around the curriculum for the program that their child will soon be entering. The kids are invited and dinner is included. It’s a great way for the whole family to get an idea of how Bright Horizons teaches kids to get ready for Kindergarten. I appreciated learning about their approach to educate the “whole” child, not just the academic side of learning. They have preschool locations all over Massachusetts and you can find the schedule of events by location here. 

Image Source

This is a sponsored post by Bright Horizons but all the stories and opinions shared here are my own.

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PEG + CAT Inspires Preschool Math Activities

 

Preschool Math Activities

Do you remember thinking math was fun when you were a kid? Is it a struggle for you now? Math was never one of my favorite subjects, even though I generally did well in school. I want my kids, especially my daughter, to learn from a young age that math can be fun.  With the help of educational sites like PBSKids and Pinterest, I keep finding easy ways to integrate math into our daily life. Baking together lets me talk about fractions, restaurant play offers an opportunity to talk about money and snack time can become a counting activity.

In celebration of PEG + CAT, PBS KIDS’ newest series, Whole Foods partnered with PBS to create some fun ways to build math skills and encourage healthy eating habits. You can find activity sheets, grocery store bingo cards, recipes and more inspiration to get kids excited to make healthy choices. PEG + CAT focuses on preschool math and problem-solving skills and starts October 7. My kids got a sneak peek and keep asking to watch it again which is always a good sign!

Use a muffin tin to serve a variety of food

The red pears were the top choice in the muffin tin of fruit.

We created our own activity using a mini muffin tin and fresh fruits from Whole Foods. Using a muffin tin to serve food is a great way to ensure you are offering variety, both in options and in color. We cut up the fruit and then sorted it by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, and so on. For early learners, you could also do this activity and have kids count how many pieces of fruit are in each cup. There is a fun pirate craft you can print out and make with your kids that encourages counting, plus you can work on learning colors too with a variety of fruits.

Peg + Cat Treasure Chest

 

How else do you incorporate math and problem-solving skills into your daily life?

For more ideas, visit the PBSKids.org/healthykids website. Check your local listings for the time of PEG + CAT starting on October 7th on your local PBS station! Thank you to Whole Foods who partnered with PBS Kids Ambassadors to bring you these tips and activities! All ideas and opinions shared here are my own.

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A book to get you out of the lunch packing rut

Lunch ideas besides sandwiches

At the beginning of September, packing lunches for the kids was just one more thing to do at the end of the day (or first thing in the morning.) Now a few weeks into the month, staying motivated to pack healthy lunches with variety can be a bit draining. There are two new books on the market that I think will help you with packing lunches, whether you are cooking from scratch, or not. It’s real lunches here, not the super fancy bento box creations that are all over Pinterest and Instagram. Today I’m sharing my thoughts one of those books.

The Healthy Lunch Box eBook by KitchenStewardship 

I know I was guilty of always sending a sandwich into school towards the later half of the school year. Raspberry and cream cheese was the staple, since school is nut-free. This ebook has changed how I think about the kid’s lunches, so there’s hope my kids will get something different even when lunch packing time is nutty. The Healthy Lunch Box is an ebook which you can read as a PDF, or on your iBooks app, Kindle or Nook. The first half is all about strategy…I learned that there is a right, and a wrong, way to pack the ice in the lunchbox to keep the food safe. It also made me think about packing the next day’s lunch throughout the day, not just at the end of the day when you are tired.

Kitchen Stewardship Healthy Lunch Box

The first half of the ebook is filled with tips and tricks with new ways to think about packing lunch.

This collection of both tips and recipes is geared towards moms who are cooking with real food. Think fresh fruits, homemade yogurt, mayo, dips, etc. Many things are totally doable, or you can purchase part of the recipe and make it your own. The ideas are helpful when it comes to moving “beyond the bread.” There are a number of recipes that I liked for dinner, which would then translate into a healthy lunch for the kids the next day. Plus there are ideas for lunch that I tend to forget about, like sending in guacamole and pita bread. A healthy, fun option for the kids, yet now a sandwich. (Click here to see the entire table of contents.)

What are some fun new ideas I’ve gotten out of this book?

  • Fruit and protein skewers
  • Guacamole, shredded chicken, salsa and GMO-free tortilla chips
  • Lettuce wraps with a mix of proteins
  • Yogurt and granola
  • Nitrate free pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and pita bread slices

Click here to order your copy of The Healthy Lunchbox  If you are a real food newbie, this book is also helpful in educating you on what to be mindful of as you grocery shop. Katie’s site, Kitchen Stewardship, is one of the first blogs I started reading four years ago and it really changed how I cook today. We make our own yogurt now, regularly make our own chicken stock and because of her articles, I know why bone broth is so healthy for my family. Her Healthy Lunch Box book fits into our cooking lifestyle and it has given me a lot of good ideas to continue to test out in the coming months.

The Healthy Lunch Box eBook by KitchenStewardship

I received a copy of the Healthy Lunch Box to review and I’m so glad I did and happy to share it with you. There are some affiliate links in the post, but really I’m just sharing this because I know a lot of moms struggle with what to pack for lunch and I think this is one helpful resource.

photo credit: kayepants via photopin cc

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