4 Tips for Creating Easy Bento Lunches

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It’s here – school time is here for most of us and one aspect of going back to school that I’ve both looked forward to and dreaded is… school lunches! Sure, I used to love creating adorable bento lunches for Sophia, but now that she’s in Kindergarten and going to school every day, it makes taking the time to create them a little more challenging.

Not only do I have a 3 and 5 year old to get dressed in the mornings, but I also need to make sure they’ve eaten a well-balanced breakfast, have all their school supplies and folders ready, homework finished [ok, not yet, but I am psyching myself up to be ready for that], and have lunches packed and ready… all before 7:30!

So taking the time to make elaborate bento lunches just doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen quite as easily as it did 2 years ago when I was making them twice a week. But luckily for Sophia [and me… and you!], I’ve got a few tips and tricks up my sleeve… 4, in fact, that make creating bento lunches easy!

1. Buy a Lunchbox with Compartments

Compartments are a kid’s best friend, when it comes to lunchboxes. It keeps all the foods separate and it makes the food look even cuter because it’s all in it’s place. I’ve found that my girls eat much better when they’re foods are separated.

2. Buy Cute Food Picks

The above lunch looks super cute, right? Well, with the exception of the bunny egg [although it’s SUPER easy, I did boil the egg and let it sit in the mold over night], that lunch was thrown together in less than 10 minutes.

By putting the blueberries and sandwich rolls on cute food picks – I took this whole bento lunch up another level, especially with the hidden flower in the apple slices! You can find a ton of bento supplies, like lunchboxes and food picks at local retailers and on Amazon too!

3. Buy Bite Size Foods

Sure you can cut all foods down into smaller sizes to be bento-friendly, but save yourself some trouble and buy smaller foods that fit within bento lunches easy.   A couple of my girls’ favorites are the Snack Grahams for Sophia and Moreaya is in love with the Cheddar Sandwich Crackers.

They’re cute, small shapes that make for a perfect fit in bento box compartments. I included a small handful of the cow and Earth shaped grahams with a little spoonful of Cookie Butter for dipping – a fun, delicious way to wrap up this adorable bento lunch!

4. Fix Their Favorites in a Variety of Ways

Maybe your kiddo wants to eat Peanut Butter and Jelly every day… yeah, I have one of those kids, so instead of making her a PB&J sandwich every day, I try to mix things up. Sometimes I might do a PB&J wrap or even these PB&J Princess Scones.

For this easy bento lunch, I made a quick wrap with pickles and turkey. Slicing up those rolls took about 7 minutes and was the most time consuming part of the bento box – which is saying quite a lot, right? It doesn’t take long at all to create easy bento lunches as long as you have the right tools [and tips and tricks]!

What are your kids’ favorite lunchbox foods and snacks?