Are you looking for healthy lunch ideas for 5 year olds? If you are, then you have come to the right place. We have compiled some of the best ideas for packing healthy lunches for your 5 year old.
Today we are going to be exploring some healthy lunch ideas for 5 year olds! Personal health is very important and there are a lot of things that we need to do as adults to keep our mind, body and soul fit. But these things don’t only apply to adults they also apply to children.
Healthy Lunch Ideas For 5 Year Olds
Toddlers and 5-year-olds can be very picky eaters. However, exposing them to a wide array of foods from an early age can help to circumvent this. Prepare lunches and snacks for your toddlers and 5-year-olds that are wholesome and nutritional. In general, have your kids fill up on fruits and vegetables instead of processed foods. Our bodies become regulated to crave what we eat most frequently, so avoid foods containing a lot of refined sugar. Conveniently, many lunches and snacks for toddlers are also perfect for 5-year-olds, and vice versa.
Lunch for Toddlers
Toddlers tend to not eat a full meal for dinner, so lunch is one of their larger meals. Keep this in mind when you are preparing lunch, so that you make something filling and wholesome. Toddlers should have around four servings of fruits and vegetables a day, 24 ounces of dairy and four servings of grains. Try meals such as pasta salad, banana and peanut butter sandwiches on whole grain pita, or whole grain bread sandwiches with meats of your choice. Good sources of protein for toddlers include turkey, ham or chicken slices. On the side, always include a fruit or vegetable, or both, such as bananas, apples, broccoli, carrots or cucumbers. Always opt for fruit rather than a dessert made from refined sugar, such as gummy fruit or other types of candy.
Snacks for Toddlers
Since toddlers need fruits and vegetables as well as dairy, use snack time to give your toddler healthy foods. For fruits, try a bowl of strawberries, sliced apples, grapes, blueberries or peaches. For vegetables, try carrot sticks, celery sticks or broccoli (raw or cooked). For dairy, try yogurt or a cheese stick. Other options include rice cakes, applesauce or plain Cheerios.
Lunch for 5-Year-Olds
Five-year-olds have similar nutritional needs to toddlers, and can eat all of the same foods as mentioned above. They may tend to be pickier, but they are also able to eat a wider variety of foods. If you can coax them into trying a salad, mild vegetarian chili or a homemade soup, do so. You can also start to expose them to eggs and fish more frequently. A tuna fish sandwich on whole grain bread, paired with fruit and vegetables, can be a well-balanced lunch for a 5-year-old.
Snacks for 5-Year-Olds
As with toddlers, it is important to make sure that 5-year-olds are eating snacks that are filling and healthy, rather than an overload of bad carbohydrates or sugar. Choose foods that will sustain them while they learn and play. Stay away from processed foods and veer toward fruits, vegetables, cheese sticks, yogurt or crackers.
10 best recipes for kids aged 3-6 years old
Are your kids aged between 3-6 years? Do they love getting messy in the kitchen? Well, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve rounded up our 10 best recipes for 3-6 year olds which include homemade sausauge rolls, banana muffins and funny face pizza…
Looking for lovely recipes for cooking with kids aged 3-6 years? You’ve come to the right place! We’ve got loads of lovely recipes for getting a bit messy in the kitchen and having fun cooking up a feast.
As part of our cooking with kids guide, we’ve rounded up our 10 best recipes for 3-6 year olds which include homemade sausage rolls, banana muffins and funny face pizzas.
Cooking is a great activity for the school holidays and a way to spend time with your child. It’s the perfect excuse to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty together!
From chocolate chip cookies to soft brown rolls, teach your kids a new skill today!
Scroll through our 10 best recipes for 3-6 year olds to get you started…
How to make sausage rolls
Sausage rolls anyone? With our step-by-step recipe you’ll have these kids’ favourites made in no time! Make sure they wash their hands after touching the dough and raw meat – it’s a good opportunity to start to explain to them to dangers of food poisoning.
Tasks for the kids
- Rolling out the dough
- Folding the dough over the sausages
- Making prints in the dough using a plastic fork
Jam tarts
The kids can do so much with this recipe. From sifting the flour to spooning the jam, your little ones are going to feel very proud of the end result – especially when they get to sample them too!
Tasks for the kids
- Sifting the flour
- Rubbing the butter and flour together to make breadcrumbs
- Making the pastry and kneading it
- Rolling the dough and cutting circles
- Spooning the jam into each pastry case
Banana muffins
If you and the kids love bananas this recipe is going to be right up your street – there’s plenty of mixing and mashing to keep your little ones occupied!
Tasks for the kids
- Mixing the ingredients together
- Mashing the bananas
- Spooning the mixture into muffin cases
- Topping each cake with a sliced banana
Funny face pizza
These funny face pizzas are a great way to get the kids working together to make their own dinner – especially when they’ve got their friends round after school. Just get all the veggies chopped and then you’re ready to go.
Tasks for the kids
- Making the dough
- Kneading and rolling out the dough
- Spreading the tomato sauce and sprinkling on the cheese
- Topping with a mixed of pre-chopped veggies
Mary Berry’s iced fairy cakes
Get creative with these iced fairy cakes and soon your kids can be baking pros just like Mary Berry! You can take charge of the baking and they can take charge of the making – simple!
Tasks for the kids
- Mixing all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon
- Spooning the mixture into the paper cases
- Mixing the ingredients to make the icing
- Decorating the cakes
Annabel Karmel’s chicken Caesar salad
This chicken salad is not only really easy to make, it’s also a great way to encourage your kids to eat healthily too! Your kids can do all the hard work and all you have to do is be in charge of the oven!
Tasks for the kids
- Cut star shapes from the bread
- Mix ingredients together to make the dressing
- Divide the chicken salad and spoon into lettuce cups or wrap the chicken salad mix in a tortilla wrap
Cheesy scrambled eggs with bacon
Get the kids involved with scrambling eggs for an eggs and bacon feast
Tasks for the kids
- Cracking the eggs over a bowl
- Beating the eggs with a fork
- Spreading butter on the bread with a plastic butter knife or spoon
- Topping with eggs and sandwich fillers to make faces
Chocolate chip cookies
Kids just love chocolate chip cookies, so get them to make their own instead of munching on shop-bought ones. Oozing with melting chocolate and a gooey cookie dough – you’ll enjoy making these as much as the kids will.
Tasks for the kids
- Beating the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon
- Mixing the rest of the ingredients together
- Rolling the cookie mixture into balls
- Popping each cookie ball onto a greaseproof baking tray
Phil Vickery’s caramel swirl chocolate brownies
The kids are going to love making these gooey chocolate brownies – with a wooden spoon in hand they can mix and mix until their hearts’ content! (Remove any nuts from brownie recipes if cooking for smaller kids).
Tasks for the kids
- Mixing the ingredients together with a wooden spoon
- Breaking the chocolate up into pieces
- Mixing the caramel to soften it
How to make soft brown rolls
Begin to expand your kids’ cookery skills by teaching them how to make these soft brown rolls. Our simple step-by-step picture recipe will make it even easier for them.
Tasks for the kids
- Mixing the dry ingredients together
- Mixing the honey and yogurt into the dough
- Kneading and rolling out the dough
- Shaping the dough
-
Healthy Lunch Box Ideas For Toddlers And Preschoolers
- Southwest Quinoa (quinoa tossed with corn, black beans, avocado, and chopped tomato), chicken breast, ½ and ½ Greek yogurt (½ plain and ½ strawberry), steamed broccoli, grapefruit
- Apples with sunflower seed butter, mini bell peppers, low-sodium turkey rollups, pickles, dried cranberries
- Graham cracker and peanut butter sandwich, “Dippable Salad” (thanks Sally for the idea!) with butter lettuce, rainbow carrots and ranch, Pirate’s Booty, cheddar cheese, dark chocolate square
- Mini Veggie Quiche, raspberries, string cheese, low-sodium turkey, pistachios (I swapped pistachios for raisins for my 2yo since nuts are a choking hazard for toddlers.)
- “White Out” Lunchbox: Kitchen Sink Couscous (couscous with feta, zucchini, rainbow carrots, and asparagus), apples, grilled chicken, ½ and ½ Greek yogurt (½ plain and ½ vanilla), white chocolate chips
Lunch Box Ideas For Toddlers And Preschoolers
My girls, Ellie and Frances, tend to be “choosy” when it comes to what they eat. But I’ve found that lunch is definitely when they eat the most food, as well as the best variety. Maybe it’s from peer pressure–or maybe they’re just hungrier midday. Either way, I take advantage of their undivided attention to provide a wide variety of nutritious foods. In this post, I’ve shared 20 of my favorite lunchbox concepts with you as well as what I call the “ABC’s of Lunchbox Packing”.
The first five lunch boxes have a few concepts that are a bit more like an actual “recipe” than just finger (or favorite) foods. They also reintroduce some foods (specifically vegetables) that the girls have rejected in the past like bell peppers, asparagus, black beans, and tomatoes. The end-of-the-day results from these lunches: one ate almost everything (minus the peppers) and the other didn’t. I’m not telling you this so you’ll wonder why I’m not sharing 100% no-fail lunchbox ideas with you. I’m sharing because I want you to know that as moms we all are faced with many of the same challenges around the table (or in this case, lunchbox) and there just isn’t one perfect meal (or lunchbox) prescription. It is up to us as parents to offer variety, color, and, of course, fun so our little ones learn to grow and cultivate an appreciation for food.
-
- Fruit salad, low-sodium ham rolls, brown rice, brownie, green beans
- Breakfast for Lunch: homemade whole grain chocolate chip pancakes, maple syrup, plain Greek yogurt with strawberry yogurt heart, and a happy (stickers)
- Hummus and veggie skewers, chicken breast, pears, whole grain O’s, happy (Cinderella sticker)
- Honeydew melon, hard-cooked egg, cottage cheese, whole grain pretzels, note from Mommy
- Applesauce pouch, graham cracker, low-sodium ham, green beans, noodles