Well, it happened. We’ve officially entered big kid territory. Kindergarten.

The upside? We had an extra year with her as a “little kid”. 

It’s not often (if ever) that we are given the GIFT of TIME. It’s readily available, doesn’t cost anything, and can dramatically alter the course of our lives, yet many of us rarely experience it. 

You see, her birthday is three days before the cutoff, so technically she could have gone last year. After months of ob-stressing about the right thing to do, we finally decided to delay the start of Kindergarten by one year.

We essentially BOUGHT another 365 days of her amazing presence into our lives.

The GIFT of TIME.

And never once did we take this gift for granted – knowing exactly where it would end…right here, on this morning, at this bus stop.

She got on that big yellow bus like the boss that she is, and never looked back. It took me a while to pull it together, but after a few whiffs of Joy in my essential oil diffuser necklace, I was back in the game. 

Then the reality set it. I now needed to think ahead and pack a healthy and kid-friendly lunch FIVE days a week, and not get stuck in the rut of yet another (freaking)PB & J. 

Plus, she had this super cool new PlanetBox lunch box that I’d been swooning over since she was in preschool (yes, I have issues).

The PlanetBox is basically a bento box on steroids. Check it:

• It makes packing lunch fun and easy. The perfect portions for little bellies is ideal and forces you to offer a little variety (which they dig). 
• It’s eco-friendly. No plastic baggies or paper bags to fill up the landfills.
• It’s safe. The boxes are made from 100% food-grade stainless steel, so no BPA, phthalates, or lead leaching into your little’s food.
• It’s built to last. With a 5 year warranty, it can take the inevitable abuse that lunch boxes get – on and off the school bus. 
• It’s cost-effective. No really, hear me out on this one. I know it seems like a LOT of $ to drop on a lunch box, when you could hit up Target for one with Elsa staring you down, but coupled with its 5-year warranty PLUS awesome sections, you’ll end up SAVING money on tossed food that your kids don’t eat because they’re bored or you overpacked. Or gasp – buying the dreaded school lunch! 
• Encourages healthy eating. The compartments give you that gentle reminder you might need in the midst of the morning madness to remember to pack a rainbow of healthy foods. PLUS it’s fun for them to eat out of. Sometimes us mamas need Jedi mind tricks to get veggies down the mouths of our babes. This is one of them. 
• Easy to clean. The stainless steel 6 healthy back to school lunch ideasis totally dishwasher safe, so if you’re not into hand washing, no problem.
• Customizable. OMG, I went into serious analysis paralysis when I was choosing her kit. Between the magnets, the bag options, and extras, there truly is a PlanetBox for everyone. My super-talented friend even customized the magnet for her! 

We ended up going with the Rover, because it’s the most bad-ass, but frankly – they are all pretty awesome.

 

And the best part? They have some ah-MAZING inspiration on their website and Pinterest page to get the juices flowing. Check it out here. 

In addition to spending oodles of hours on Pinterest to concoct the most brilliant lunches (I kid, ain’t nobody got time for that), I also called in the experts – my fellow mama and real food blogger friends – to help me expand my repertoire. 

Here are some of my top picks for healthy and kid-friendly school lunch box ideas:

• 3-Ingredient Crackers
• Almond  & Oat Protein Balls
• Almond Butter Stuffed Dates
• Baked Oatmeal
• Beef Jerky 
• Cheese ‘n Chia Crackers
• Easy Granola
• Energy Bites (Dairy-Free | Gluten-Free)
• Grain-Free Graham Crackers
• Healthy Granola Bars 
• Healthy Sour Kiwi Gummies 
• Healthy Tuna Salad with Cucumber Bites
• Homemade Apple Sauce
• Homemade Fruit Leather & Fruit Roll-ups
• Homemade Hot Pockets
• Homemade Oven Dried Banana Chips
• Honey Orange Fruit Snack
• Simple Hummus {Dairy-Free | Gluten-Free}
• Soaked Granola Muffins 
• Soft Homemade Pretzels {Gluten-Free}
• Spiced Sweet Potato Apple Fruit Leather 
• Toasted Sunflower Honey Crackers {Gluten-Free | Dairy-Free}
• Zucchini Bread with Apples & Carrots

You might also like…

• 6 healthy back to school lunch ideas that fit the PlanetBox perfectly
• 8 grain-free healthy lunchbox ideas
• More Real Food Lunch Ideas for Back to School – Pre-K Friendly!

Full disclosure, the night before the first day of school was a bit crazy, so I didn’t really use these resources to my full advantage, and truth be told, ended up hitting the easy button with this little number on day #1. 

Not bad for winging it, right? Imagine what I’ll be able to do when I put some thought into it? 

Grab your PlanetBox here, and tell me – what are some of your littles’ lunchtime favorites? I’d love to hear – please leave a comment below!