So I know we like to have a break from the lunchbox routine during school holidays, but my biggest tip for the rest of school holidays is this:
Use the school holidays to your advantage. Get the kids in the kitchen for fun school holiday lunchbox activities, and prepare for next term at the same time.
Here’s how:
- get your kids in the kitchen
- cook foods, eat them hot, then have left-overs the next day to practice eating them cold (as if they were in the lunchbox). You may also like to read this post about how to get kids to eat cold left-overs.
- put extra’s in the freezer for next term
And yes, having kids in the kitchen will be a bit messy and it will take longer to cook, but the pay-offs are so worth it. You’re teaching your children the valuable life-skill of how to cook in the kitchen with real food ingredients, you don’t have to pay for this activity (unless you have to buy ingredients, but then that’s an investment) and your encouraging them to eat healthier.
Included below are some school holiday lunchbox activities for you to try out.
Doughs
Kids love making doughs. It such a tactile cooking experience. To take some ingredients, play with it, then turn it into food you can eat.
Here’s a few recipes for you to try:
- Multi Purpose Dough – this is a real simple dough to make for pizza, and I also turn it into crackers by rolling it really thin. Eat the pizza hot today then cold tomorrow. If they eat it cold, you know you can make them for next terms lunchboxes.
- Gold Coin Cookies – these are a great replacement for Tiny Teddies. This makes over 100 cookies that freeze well, so there’s a school lunch treat sorted right there.
- Playdough – this has 2 benefits. First they have fun making it, and then they have fun playing with it. Of course, it’s no good for the lunchbox, although if your little ones are like our almost 5 yo, they will try eating it too – lol!
Batters
Like doughs, kids love mixing batters. Cracking the eggs is a sought after (almost fight worthy) part of the batter making, then using the spoon to mix the flour is another thing itself.
Try these recipes.
- Super Simple Lunchbox Pikelets – these are so simple to make. Better than any shake and bake, and let your kids sweeten them with their own fresh fruit topping. Banana and peanut butter is a favourite in our house. If you have older kids, you might find they respond to this like our 9 year old did – she know makes Sunday Family Day breakfast using this recipe.
- Caramelised Banana Cakes – these make great ‘treats’ for lunchboxes. One every few days is a nice surprise.
- Mix n Match Muffins – this great recipe is one I use from Brenda Janschek Health & Lifestyle page
- Zucchini and Corn Fritters – this is another great recipe to get the kids involved in making, then eating hot and cold. They are great for breakfast lunch or dinner.
Crumbing
Ok so this can get as messy as you want. Here’s some simple principles for crumbing. You can use this simple approach for chicken, chicken nuggets, fish fingers, fish nuggets, schnitzel and more.
Ingredients
You’ll need 3 large bowls, in each one place the following:
- seasoned flour – I use Gluten Free Plain flour (or LSA for a healthier version) and season it with salt and pepper (or herbamare and pepper, sometimes some chopped herbs – however you want to season it)
- 1 egg with 2 tblspns of milk – whisk well
- your crumb of choice – this can be plain bread or rice crumbs. You can add finely grated cheese to this mix if you wish, or you can even use crumbs from weetbix, cornflakes, pretzels – this can be a fun activity for the kids to crush.
Method
Make this into a little work station. Have your plate with pieces of what you’re going to crumb on one plate, then have the flour, then the egg, then the crumbs, then an empty plate to put the crumbed pieces on. This will also help your kids remember the order in which to do things.
The messy way
Get your kids to dunk your food in the flour first, then the egg, then roll them in the crumbs. This is sure to get fingers messy and sticky which they’ll love at first. Be sure to have a cloth on hand to wipe hands.
The not so messy way
Give each child a fork, then they can pick up a piece of what’s to be coated on the fork, roll it in the flour, then dip it in the egg, then roll it in the crumb mixture. Here’s a quick you tube clip showing this method.
You may wish to try these Lunchbox Crumbed Chicken Fingers
If you want more ideas on how to prepare in advance for school lunches with loads of recipe ideas check out The 5 Minute Healthy Lunchbox System eCourse. It’s a 4 week online, self paced eCourse with education modules, menu plans, shopping lists and preparation plans.