Easy bento meals for toddlers #bento #cutefood
It may seem strange for some, but I prepare my toddler’s lunch for daycare. Yes, they can make his lunches for him, but I prefer to have *some* control over what he’s eating. And the fact of the matter is, he’s uninterested in most foods unless it’s a bad-for-you option, which I’ve been trying hard to steer clear of. A few months ago, I restarted my bento challenge. I have several tools from Bento USA and through trial and error, I have some shapes that my kid really enjoys.
My goal has been to create a different lunch for my son every day of the week. These photos may not be from the same week. Sometimes, I send leftovers for his lunch (macaroni & cheese, spaghetti, other food items that we don’t eat weekly, but he loves.) But this is a good representation of what you can do each day of the week with only a few tools. Also, these meals only take a few extra seconds each day. I sometimes spend more time tracking down the outside cutter than I do in making an entire sandwich.
I have the CuteZCute sandwich cutter. I like this cutter because it comes with a frog, cat, pig and bear face. If I cut the sandwich after it’s assembled, jelly shows through the eyes or nose spaces and it looks not so appetizing. Sometimes, I opt to take all of the pieces out. As you can see below, I didn’t take the eyes out some days, and I left the whiskers on the cat. It’s all about preference that day.
I have a set of Sesame Street cookie/fondant cutters
, that I scored on eBay a while ago – before his 2nd birthday last summer. They actually make really cute tiny sandwiches. I can get one “sandwich” out of one slice of bread. I can also cut cheese shapes with these and they look really cute.
Elephant cheese is a favorite!
Actually, cheese isn’t a difficult item to get my toddler to eat, but when it’s in different shapes, he loves it even more. (He really, really loves the star shape.)
These three sandwiches are actually from a four-pack sandwich template. The bread I use is just a bit too small for the template, so we only get three shapes out of it. Same as before, I cut the bread first, then put jelly on them. He has a blast with the car, elephant and dog. He likes playing with the sandwiches before eating them.
I just ordered these puzzle sandwich cutters
through Amazon. I’m excited to try them out soon!
I also just purchased a dinosaur bread cutter, which he really enjoyed. (And it just so happens that the puzzle and dinosaur sandwich cutters – plus two others – a heart and butterfly – are on Pick Your Plum for SUPER CHEAP today and Thursday – or until they sell out.)
My boy’s lunches are never the same, even if they may be the same types of foods. Some days he gets cheese sticks, while most days he gets shaped cheese. His sandwiches are always different shapes and I include various fruits or a pouch of applesauce. When his foods are a bit boring, I make sure he has fun accessories to dress things up.
His Elmo sandwich container is a hit. As is his monkey lunchbox (which goes into his Skip Hop Monkey lunch bag
– making him feel like a pretty cool kid.) The monkey lunchbox is a bento lunchbox from Green Sprouts. The bag can be found on Amazon (it was a Christmas gift.) I’ve picked up Sesame Street snack containers from the Target OneSpot which also help brighten things up.
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How creative do you get with your child’s meals (or are you lucky enough that they are entertained with whatever you may give them?)
It doesn’t seem strange to me at all. I like having control over what my kids eat, too! I love your idea. Super cute 🙂
I love these they are all so cute,I would love to see when you have gotten the puzzle ones :).My kids normally are happy to eat anything I put in front of them.
I love this! It’s super cute. This is a great way to make healthy food fun for the little ones. Make their sandwiches with whole grain bread, and use the shapes to encourage them to eat it.
I love this! My daughter would love the elephant sandwiches. Time to go get some sandwich cutters.
My toddler eats what she feels like but when foods are cut up she loves it even more. That is a great idea with those cookie cutters and they sure look so much better.
Those sandwiches are so cute! And I love how detailed the cheese is.
See learn something new, I didn’t know you could pack a lunch for daycare, or that anyone did. I love Bento boxes and have a few of my own.
These are adorable! y kids would love these, Pinning for later.
I almost always make my older kids lunches for school. I too, like control over what they eat when they are away. I LOVE LOVE LOVE those cookie cutter cheeses, OMG soooo cute!!
I never thought to use cookie cutters on my kids sandwiches. They would love it! I am so stealing this idea for lunch boxes this year!
I like knowing what my kid ets as he has an ulcer so knowing what he eats is important.
So cute! Case would absolutely love the dino sandwich. I am going to have to do that. I also love bento-style lunches. They’re so much fun. Pinned.
I love the whole Bento Box idea. I may have to try this when school starts in September!
These bento meals are cute. My grandkids would love it.
That is so awesome you pack his lunch even for daycare! I would love to try bento lunches.
My kids always liked food more when it was in cute shapes. I love the elephant cheese!
I totally need to up my lunch game with my son. I’m going to try doing Bento boxes with him for lunch this year. He’s a picky eater, I’m sure I can fill it with one or two things he’ll take a bite of!
That dinosaur is cute,. I like your choices. Smart food.
I used to be so good at making fun and creative lunches for the kids, but have gotten in a rut. We’ll have to do more things like this. Thanks! 🙂
I have not had to send my son off with lunch yet. In two weeks, when he goes to school will be the first time I am making a lunch to go to school. So nervous for this task.
I just love all the Bento box ideas I have seen lately! Kids will really enjoy eating at school and will have food that is better for them also!
Everything is so cute, and I’d like to have cheese cut into shapes too. I think they’re cute. 🙂
These are all such cute bento box ideas! I want to get some of those little cutters!
I’m so impressed by your cute meals! My boys get pretty plain lunches from me… sometimes I use the dinosaur cutter for their sandwiches, that’s it! I should try something like this.
These are so adorable! I can’t see any kid being able to resist eating food if it looks that cute.
Those cheeses are super cute! These look super easy to make!
I always plan to do these but never have time. Well, outside of the dinosaur – I have and use that one! lol
I’m grabbing all sorts of ideas for my son and kindergarten this year! Thanks for the suggestions!
Oh my goodness! How cute are these! My daughter would love these ideas for school lunches!
Very cute – I have been using cookie cutters to make food for my kids for years – they love ti and I enjoy makign them!
What a cute way to encourage children to eat. I love the cheese shapes…the elephant is my favourite as well. 🙂
There are so many fun bento ideas! I love them and it is great to encourage healthy eating with a twist. Thanks for sharing these. Love the cheese!
You’re making it fun for him to have lunch at school. His lunch is probably a lot more exciting than the rest of the gang’s.
Those are adorable. I know with my son in K this year I am going to have to up my crafty lunch game.
I feel like I’m turning toward the Bento side more and more each day. My kids would love it if I served their food this way. Heck, they would probably even eat it!
This is adorable! I think the pig is so cute! My daughter would have loved something like this when she was little.
I love these ideas, I can not believe how fun and creative people are when they make their kids lunches. When my kids were growing up, school lunches were peanut butter and jam sandwiches cut in half. I love your ideas!
This is really cute! I would probably end up using one of these for my own lunch!
ahhh the cheese shapes are TOO cute. I especially love the elephant!
I’m always looking for ways to ge tmy kids to eat. These are some cute and good ideas.
Oh I love this! My kids would get such a kick out of these lunches.
You are always making the cutest things! I love this. I think Davis would love to have something like this for lunch this year at Pre-K
What fun way to get kids to eat. They did not have cute little forms like that when my kids were little.
We pack all of our kids lunches. I prefer to be in control of what they are eating. Those sandwiches are really cute! What a simple way to make lunch fun.
I love the different shaped foods! What a fun way to eat snacks and lunch!
Awe! Those are really adorable! Would that just make lunch time so much fun!