Make packing school lunches easier with these yummy kindergarten lunch ideas. These are easy to make, kid-friendly, and a perfect way to start off the school year…or break a rut when you can’t decide what to send.
School Lunch Ideas for Kindergarten
Starting kindergarten is such a big milestone, and it can bring up a lot of emotions for kids and parents alike. Lunchtime should be a source of comfort, so having a list of easy, yummy, and nutritious meals that the kids will love to eat can go a long way toward making the lunch packing (and eating) efforts much easier on everyone.
These kindergarten lunch ideas work for starting the school year and beyond into elementary school. They are meant to give you lots of options to choose from so you never have to stare into the fridge wondering what to pack as an easy kids lunch idea.
You’ll find nut-free school lunches, vegetarian lunch ideas, cold lunch ideas, easy packed lunch ideas, and more in this easy-to-use list of school lunch ideas.
Table of Contents
Easy Lunch Ideas for Kids
You may want to pack a kids water bottle, juice box, or boxed milk with the kindergarten lunch. Always pack lunch with an ice pack, if the food is meant to be cold or is perishable, and put everything into an insulated lunch bag for kids to keep it extra cool.
Use these school lunch ideas for kindergarten as starting places for packing easy, nutritious lunches.
Easy Sandwich Lunch Ideas
From sandwiches to pinwheels, wraps, and more, these easy sandwiches for kids make easy kindergarten lunch ideas.
- SunButter and jam sandwich, applesauce pouch, cheese stick
- Turkey and cheese sandwich, snap pea crisps, raspberries
- Ham and cheese sandwich, snap peas, clementine
- Cheese sandwich, fruit, veggie of choice
- Hummus sandwich, banana, cookie
- Cream cheese and jam sandwich, apple slices, roasted chickpeas
- Pita pocket sandwich with hummus and cucumbers, veggie medley (in a thermos), fruit cup
- Pita pocket wedges with hummus or ranch, diced chicken, baked chips, strawberries
- Meatball sandwich, blueberries
- Tortilla with SunButter and banana (sliced into rounds), bell peppers
Snack Lunches for Kindergarten
Combine a few snacks from different food groups to make a filling school lunch idea for kids.
- DIY lunchables with meat, cheese, crackers, and fruit in a lunchbox
- Crackers, cheese, fruit, veggies (carrots, cucumber, snap peas)
- Crackers, hummus, fruit, veggies (carrots, celery, mini cucumbers)
- Pretzels, cheese, fruit, veggie
- Pretzels, hummus, fruit, veggie
- Cheerios, raisins, yogurt, grapes
- Snap pea crisps, cheese, fruit, veggie
- Granola bar, cheese, fruit, veggie
- Granola bar, cheese, salami, fruit, veggie
- Turkey wrapped around a cheese stick, pretzels, cucumbers, orange slices
- Ham wrapped around a cheese stick, roll, rainbow carrots, pineapple
- Apple slices with nut/seed butter, crackers, cookie
- Tortilla with hummus and cucumbers, strawberries, cheese crackers
- Tortilla with refried beans and cheese, applesauce, peas
- Tortilla with turkey and cheese rolled up, baked chips, fruit
Breakfast for Lunch
Packing breakfast foods as easy kids lunches is one of my favorite options since these tend to be easy, satisfying, and nutritious.
- Healthy Chocolate Muffin with cheese and fruit
- Blueberry Banana Muffin with yogurt pouch and cucumber
- Banana Zucchini Muffin with pepperoni and cheese
- Leftover yogurt pancakes with syrup and fruit
- Leftover banana oatmeal pancakes as a sandwich with nut/seed butter, and fruit
- Leftover French toast with syrup and fruit
- Hard-cooked egg, crackers, grapes, carrots
- Hard-cooked egg, pretzels, berries, bell peppers
- Yogurt and granola, blackberries
- Greek yogurt, Banana Bread, sliced carrots
- Greek yogurt, crackers, banana, olives
- Cottage cheese with pineapple, whole grain crackers, bell peppers
- Cottage cheese with blueberries and granola
- Mini bagel with cream cheese, celery sticks, small pear
- Mini bagel sandwich with turkey and cheese, applesauce
Burrito and Pizza Lunch Ideas for Kids
- Pesto Pizza Roll, fruit
- Mini Pizza Bites, applesauce pouch, carrot sticks
- Broccoli and Cheese Pizza Pocket, Strawberry Applesauce
- Black Bean quesadillas, corn, apple
- Bean and cheese burrito, fruit
Easy Pasta Lunch Ideas for Kindergarten
Pack a hot lunch in a kids thermos to keep it safe and warm until lunchtime.
- Mac and Cheese with Peas, fruit
- Pesto Pasta Salad, fruit
- Pasta and meatballs, clementine
- Favorite pasta salad, watermelon cubes
- Baked tortilla chips, salsa, diced chicken or black beans, shredded cheese, fruit
Frequently Asked Questions
You can pack simple sandwiches, wraps, cheese and crackers, yogurt and granola, or leftovers for an easy kindergarten lunch.
Sandwiches, pasta, pasta salad, hummus and pita, cheese and crackers, yogurt and granola, leftover dinner foods, and more as easy lunch foods for kids.
You can make wraps, pinwheels with tortillas, easy quesadillas, pastas of all kinds, burritos, snack lunches and more.
Best Tips for Success
- Pack cold lunch ideas with 1 or 2 ice packs in an insulated bag to keep the food at a safe temperature.
- Pack hot lunch ideas in a kids thermos to keep the food warm until lunch.
- Add lunch snacks as needed to round out any meal.
- Try to make sure the food is easy for the child to chew and that packages are easy to open since school lunch periods are often short.
- Make a list of the kids favorite kindergarten lunch ideas and put it in an easy to access spot so you can let them choose to simplify packing.
So grateful for your blog. I’ve used your recipes for years and love your Instagram content. My oldest starts kindergarten this week and asked for packed lunches even though kids get free lunch where we live. You’re making my life so much easier and I can’t thank you enough!! Thinking of picking 5 to start with and rotating through till I find all his favorites.
I’m glad to hear it and thank you for commenting!
Love these, thanks
This is so helpful! We do pb&j every day for lunch and I was starting to worry about what to send to school when my oldest starts kindergarten in a few weeks. She is going to love helping me pick her lunch from this list!
I’m so glad that it’s helpful and I hope she has a great start to the year!
Love these
Great ideas for parents and their kids. I’ll pick one of them for my son
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Love these ideas for packing lunches for myself and my siblings!
Wow!! I thought they didn’t name people Alice no more. I love our name lol
Thanks for these great ideas! I’m new to packing a thermos with hot foods. Do you have food safety tips? I’ve read saucy foods stay hot better, but my kiddo is not a fan of sauce on pasta yet. Any advice? Thanks!
First time school mom and I’m fre4aking out lol
How do you keep the food hot???
do you pack extra in case they are still hungry???
What if they don’t like what you pack then what do they eat???
sorry for all the questions
For keeping food hot, I recommend a thermos. At the start, you can pack a little extra and see what comes home to get a sense of whether it’s too much or just enough. I try to pack mostly foods I know they like—you can pack it together if that helps with this issue. Also, afternoon snack is never too far away, so they will always have another chance to eat if needed!
I used to make tuna macheese casserole
I would make macaroni and cheese according to the box directions and I would just drain a can of tuna and a can of peas to the pan and some times I would even add a can of cream of mushroom soup to it my kids loved it
Total school lunch newbie here…this list is a huge help, thank you! It would be great to know which are served warm vs cold. Are the quesadillas and chopped chicken stored in a thermos to keep warm or served cold? Thanks!
The ones that I’d pack in a thermos include: mac and cheese, pesto pasta, bean and cheese burrito, quesadillas, leftover pancakes (not the sandwich, but if sending cut up with syrup), French toast, Pizza Rolls…I use a Lunchbots thermos and also the Omie bento box to send all of these regularly for my oldest. They work really well!
Great ideas for my grandson! Thanks!
Its funny that I picked this site that I found on google search (lunch ideas for kindergarten) and I also follow you on Instagram! Thank you for the great ideas.
I’m so glad you found what you were looking for!
Wow! This list is great! Thank you! My daughter loves lunchables , chicken and rice!