Is it just me, or are summer mornings somehow even crazier than school day mornings? Even though it’s summer, parents often still have to pack lunches for summer camps, picnic outings or beach days. Picky eaters, ingredient rules, and sweltering days make packing camp lunches harder than ever. As a mom and Registered Dietitian that packs a lot of lunches, I know it can be hard to come up with summer camp lunch ideas for kids that they will actually eat and we can feel good about packing.
When my kids are hungry and hot, they don’t want a full meal, but I know they need those calories to keep them going for several more hours of play. Instead of packing a heavy lunch, I serve up their favorites, snack-style. Bento boxes are great for this. Fill each compartment with a fresh fruit (grapes keep well and always taste good when it’s hot out! ), crisp veggie, flavorful dip, or easy protein, like nuts, nut butter, cheese, or rolled deli meat. Don’t forget to include crackers for a balanced carb (like these homemade Lunchables!). Bento boxes not going to cut it at camp? Use snack-sized baggies and a paper bag so that everything can be recycled or trashed after lunch each day.
Bread can get super soggy in a steamy brown bag. Skip the slices and upgrade to a wrap. My kids love PBJs on a tortilla. I can slice it into pinwheels or leave it whole depending on how jostled their lunchbox will be. Or, consider turkey-and-cheese roll-ups, with or without the tortilla. Hungry summer campers want cool, refreshing foods, so pair those chilled roll-ups with sliced cucumbers and a fun dip.
Yummy Summer Camp Lunch Ideas From @lunchboxmafia!
If your kids love sandwiches, but you’re worried about soggy bread, try separating out the ingredients for a DIY sandwich – like this Deconstructed BLT Bento Box.
I do my best at home to be environmentally aware. We pre-portion our own snacks from bulk bags when we can, and always recycle any packaging, but when it comes to lunchboxes, sometimes prepackaged is the better choice. If your camp won’t let you keep any products after lunch (likely due to cleanliness and trying to keep ants at bay), look for individual squeeze yogurts or applesauce packets without added sugar. Cheese rounds, cheese sticks, freeze-dried fruits and single-serve hummus packets are also favorites of mine.
Lunch doesn’t have to be cold cuts, chips, and fruit (though it totally can be!). Think less about “lunch” and more about what your kids love to eat. I love packing Bento boxes with my kids’ favorites, just deconstructed. Pasta becomes pasta salad with veggies tucked separately with a dip in its own container so everything stays fresh. Here are 125 of my favorite healthy lunchbox ideas.
Bento Box Kids Lunch Box
Even if your kids aren’t going to camp, you’re likely hitting the park, playground, or pool early in the day before the heat settles in. Don’t discount how much exercise your kids are getting; earlier mornings (thanks, longer days) mean they expend more calories by mid-morning, so they’ll want lunch earlier. Save your kitchen and serve them al fresco. I prep easy meals the night before that I can stuff into a cooler in my car in case the craving for lunch hits. This saves us from hitting the drive-through at least once a week. Keep squeezable yogurt in the freezer; it makes a great mini ice pack for a few hours.
Holley Grainger is a nationally recognized lifestyle, culinary, and nutrition expert as well as a wife, mom, and business owner. She does her best to keep it real and have fun with her family, readers, and clients all while balancing a sink of dirty dishes, a clingy toddler, a preschooler that lives for endless games of hide-and-seek, and a glass of red wine. Holley’s blog, Holley Grainger Nutrition, shares simple, healthy, flavor-packed meals as well as practical, doable nutrition advice. The former nutrition editor for CookingLight.com and MyRecipes.com, she has instructed millions of accomplished and aspiring home cooks on how to make simple, healthy, family-friendly meals through online video, media appearances, speaking engagements, national news segments, online instructional guides and social media.Find easy camp lunch ideas to make heading out for the day quick and simple. These easy kids lunches require minimal prep time, involve little (to no) cooking, and are easy to store safely in a lunch bag.
I know many of us are in need of lunch ideas for camp that will hold up well, are easy for the kids to eat, and don’t require a ton of work to pull together. This post is here to help! These ideas check those boxes to fit your reality and are also versatile enough that you can make them—or variations of them—according to what you have on hand and what your kids prefer.
Summer Camp Lunch Ideas For Preschoolers & Little Kids
Packing lunch for camp is a little different than sending it to school since the environment may be less predictable—and there may not be a fridge or air conditioning where the lunch is stored in the morning.
Which means you might want to use more shelf-stable ideas, more ice packs, and generally keep things a little simpler, if only to ensure that the food you pack can be eaten by the kids at day camp.
These ideas are meant for little kids who may be in summer care on up through elementary-aged kids. Adjust any of them by cutting the food smaller to ensure it’s easy to eat as needed for your unique child.
A No Fail Summer Camp Lunch Formula
You can make one sandwich at a time, or make a batch of a few to stash in the freezer. Adjust this as needed for your preference.
Pasta salad is an easy make-ahead lunch that can be eaten cold or at room temperature. Add white beans, tomatoes, cheese, chicken, and/or any other mix-in your kids like.
This is an easy family dinner or lunch. I like to use Spinach Pesto for this, but any will work if you prefer to buy it pre-made from the store.
Summer Camp Lunch Ideas That Kids Will Love
Reach for whole grain crackers (or the ones your kids like best), cheese, and easy sides such as sliced or freeze-dried fruit. This is an easy snack lunch to pack that’s usually a hit with the kids.
If this isn’t enough food for your kiddo, you could add a hard-cooked egg or two, a few slices of turkey, or another protein that they enjoy.
Making a lunch around a muffin—whether homemade or store-bought—is such an easy option. This is a sort of breakfast-for-lunch that’s fun for the kids. I often top yogurt or cottage cheese with a few sprinkles to make the meal a little more fun.
Easy Summer Lunch Ideas (fast, Fresh, Delish!)
Make a smoothie and freeze it in reusable pouches, then add to a lunch box in place of an ice pack and it will be thawed by lunchtime. We like our Green Smoothie for this option, paired with dry cereal, turkey, and some sliced peppers.
Frozen bananas give the smoothie a creamy, naturally sweet base, though you can make this with a fresh banana as long as the other fruit is frozen. It’s easy to add whatever berries or fruit you have on hand, so customize it for your kiddo.
Fill a whole grain tortilla with hummus, thinly sliced veggies, and cheese (optional) for a filling vegetarian lunch that works as well for kids as it does for adults. Add easy sides to round this out.
Camp Lunch Ideas: Out Of The Box Ideas To Make Camp Lunch Packing Easy
Quickly combine a few simple ingredients to make a really yummy lunch wrap. This recipe makes one wrap, so increase the serving size as necessary.
Layer thinly sliced hard-cooked egg inside bread (cut it out with a cookie cutter to make a fun shape, then save the crusts to make French toast) for a yummy lunch idea.
Learn how to make quick tea sandwiches for kids to have at a tea party or a special lunch or snack. There are 6 filling options here, plus tips for cutting bread, which breads to use, and which tea to pair with the finger sandwiches.
Easy Nut Free Kids Lunch Ideas For Camp Or School
Simple is often (always?!) best, and an easy sandwich is always a go-to. Fill soft bread with what your kids prefer such as peanut butter and jelly, sunflower seed butter and jam, hummus, cheese, turkey, or anything else! I like to pack a clementine, too, with the peel started so my older kids can finish it on their own—and it will stay fresher.
Below is the recipe for the Avocado Egg Salad, with the other ideas in the Notes section for easy reference. Add fresh fruit, an applesauce pouch, canned fruit cup (in 100% juice), easy veggies for lunch, milk, and/or water to any lunch to round it out.
Spread a bagel with cream cheese (or a nut or seed butter or jam) as an easy camp lunch option. Add simple sides to round out this easy meal. You can use a mini bagel if that size works better for your kids.
Amazingly Creative Bento Box Lunches For Kids To Try Now
Pack up leftover breakfast foods, like pancakes or waffles, into a fun lunch for kids. Add applesauce, some easy veggies, and some milk to make it filling.
These fluffy Applesauce Pancakes are easy
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