I’ve been packing Charlie a bento lunch for daycare for a couple of months now.  Since he’s a picky eater, there are days he won’t even touch his favorite foods, so I’m always mixing it up and offering tons of variety. Packing a daily lunch is a lot of work because I go to the market 3 times a week to buy fresh ingredients, but there’s nothing more satisfying than when he brings home an empty bento box.

I’ve tried so many different lunch ideas, hopefully they can give you ideas for your little ones as well!


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Charlie will eat a lot of things if I just add soy sauce to it, so I sautee a lot of vegetables in soy sauce, as well as add it to eggs, rice, and noodles.  The shape of food is also very important.  He eats better when I cut food into long, easy to grab strips or fun shapes with cookie cutters.  He even eats Dr. Praeger’s fish sticks just because they’re shaped like fishies!  Making food more fun is another trick.  When I put decorative bento picks in his food, he’s more likely to eat them. This week I’m going to experiment with putting stickers of the foods in his bento box to entice him to eat more.

Do you have any tricks to get your toddler to eat?  What are some of your toddler’s favorite foods?

Food Ideas for Children part 1 of 1

1. Toddler Lunch Ideas by Checklists