Charlie has to walk a couple of blocks to his after school program, and with his school stuff, lunch bag, and swimming gear, his backpack was getting way too heavy. I’ve tried a lot of lunch boxes over the years and though I’m still a fan of Yumbox and Planetbox, I really needed something much more lightweight for him. I think I’ve researched pretty much every lunch box and lunch bag there is out there, and this is what we’re currently using.

elementary school lunch

1) Sunsella Buddy Box – This is pretty much exactly like the popular Easy Lunchbox; they’re the same dimensions, the same price ($13.95), and come in a set of four with different colored lids. It has three compartments for food, but because I don’t pack sandwiches my ideal would be 1 larger compartment and 3 smaller ones if I could design my perfect lunchbox. I use silicon baking cups to create more compartments, and recently ordered these larger cups to divide the largest compartment in half. These containers are not leak-proof, but because we pack them upright it hasn’t been an issue. Easy Lunchbox has an insulated lunch bag that fits this box perfectly and keeps the box upright. I like that these boxes are very easy – just two pieces to wash, they’re dishwasher safe, I have extras, and they stack so they don’t take up much storage space.

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2) Built Neoprene Lunch Tote – Insulated lunchbags get pretty gross on the inside and the outside, but you can only wipe them down. These Built lunchbags are made of neoprene and can be put in the washer. They’re also super lightweight compared to insulated lunch bags, and they really stretch out; the Sunsella Buddy Box fits perfectly flat in it, and I can fit in an ice pack and water bottle too. It also takes up virtually no storage space when not in use since it lays flat.

3) Nalgene OTF Water Bottle – I’m still a big fan of Thermos’ Funtainer Water bottles, which we use daily for Olive. But the insulating feature on the Thermos bottles also adds a lot of weight. Charlie is old enough that he no longer needs a straw, which are a huge hassle to clean anyway. This Nalgene On the Fly bottle is leakproof, there is an opening where Charlie can drink from it directly, and there are only two parts — no valves or straws to clean!

4) Ice Pack

5) Fork – When the kids toss their used forks into their lunch bags, it gets the inside dirty so having a case for their forks helps keep the bag clean.

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Charlie’s backpack is much, much lighter now! And I loved the Built lunch bag so much, I got one for Olive too.