I can confidently say that the decision to send Finn to preschool was a great one! He seems to really enjoy the experience, it provides some consistency in regards to childcare and routine and I adore the school and the staff.
He goes three days per week from 9-1 (ish…they are flexible with drop-off and pick up times, especially for the toddler class). The biggest challenge has been pushing his nap back to 1:15-1:30 and some days I find that he’s almost overtired for it and it can be hard to get him down. I know he’ll continue to adjust to this schedule. In the meantime, if he seems off or needing extra rest, we’ll pick him up a little closer to the noon side of things for that early nap.
Finn is in the toddler class and all of the kids in there were one when the school year started. Some have already had second birthdays since the start of school, some won’t have a second birthday until next summer. They have two teachers and eight students in his class. It is the sweetest thing ever to see them playing and interacting. On Monday when I picked Finn up, they’d had music class that day. Last week you might remember they had a visit from the firetruck. I love that he’s getting to have these experiences.
They eat lunch every day around noon. They all sit together at this low table with toddler chairs. This has been a bit of a big ask for Finn and from what I understand he would rather get up and wander around the room. I’m certain that he’ll continue to adjust and improve with time.
So I pack a lunch for him every day, even though I know he might only eat 25% of it at the moment if I’m lucky. I’ve been snapping photos of his lunches since school started knowing that I would write a post sharing them. This is the lunchbox that I use. Oh and FYI, I did a school label pack from Name Bubbles to label all of Finn’s preschool stuff from his lunchbox to his water cup to his shoes and more! (I don’t even recognize this person that I am now…ordering labels…haha)
Okay, here are the lunches! I’ll do this again in a couple of months, hopefully with a better report that he’s more interested in his lunch.
WHAT’S IN FINN’S LUNCHBOX
ALDI sweet potato and spinach/kale bites (these are an exact knockoff of the Dr. Praeger’s veggie bites), half of a carrot/oat/banana muffin, mini peanut butter crackers, cheddar bunnies, apple slices.
Sliced turkey and cheese, graham crackers, grapes, pea crisps. Finn L-O-V-E loves graham crackers. These pea crisps are also a favorite.
Italian olive oil breadsticks from Trader Joe’s (Finn likes these a lot…easy to hold, not too hard/crunchy, crispy), string cheese, a slice of turkey, sun gold tomatoes, grapes, scrambled eggs.
Pea crisps, apple slices, half a carrot/banana/oat muffin, peas, mac and cheese.
Italian olive oil bread sticks, string cheese, peanut butter and mashed banana, grapes.
Italian olive oil bread sticks, cheese, roasted acorn squash, grapes, meatballs.
More breadsticks, a snack pack of colby-jack cheese (he really likes this shape/flavor of cheese), half of a carrot/oat/banana muffin, bananas, cottage cheese scrambled eggs.
Turkey, half of a carrot/oat/banana muffin, cheese.
WRAPPING IT UP
They also eat a snack every day but the teachers do a rotation where each day a classmate will bring snack for the whole class. I’m not sure what he’s eating for snacks but I’ve sent things like applesauce squeezables and pea crisps, those colby-jack cheese sticks that Finn likes along with fig bars, bananas and goldfish crackers, etc. Luckily, the allergies in his class are minimal.
It’s also worth noting that I do pack things in Finn’s lunchbox that I know there’s a slim to none chance he will eat…mostly veggies and fruit. He’s still not into them. My hope is that through the power of suggestion seeing other kids eat all sorts of different things, maybe he’ll try something I pack. Who knows!?
QUESTION
Talk to me about the kinds of things you pack or serve for toddler lunches. Would love your ideas!
Does Finn drink milk or anything with his lunch?
Those lunches look great! Lunch (well, all meals really) are a struggle for us. I have a 2.5 year old who still just isn’t that into food. For her “main” lunch item I rotate between pb&j, hummus and cheese sandwich or tortilla, and pb on graham crackers. Then whatever fruit we have on hand – raspberries are a current favorite, + maybe a yogurt squeeze, and deli meat or turkey pepperoni. Pea crisps are hit or miss but sometimes I give her hummus to dip.
I’ve had some luck lately with meatballs – easy to hide veggies in, and I just crumble it up for her. Veggies with some hummus to dip usually works well too.
If you haven’t already, you should look at veggiesandvirtue.com. She has tons of information and ideas about feeding kids in general, but also tons of school lunchbox ideas. I find that it helps with variety and she preaches exactly what you talk about below – that repeated exposure to a food, even when the kid doesn’t touch it the first 50 times, is a great method to getting them to eventually try/learn to like new foods.
Love the lunch ideas! I’m always struggling to get new ideas for Reese’s lunch. She’s hit or miss on a lot of things, meat and cheese especially these days. Its not always the healthiest, but we do some chicken nuggets and hot dogs sometimes and she eats those faster than I can keep up with. I give her veggie sticks, raisins, cinnamon raisin bread, no sugar added applesauce and stony field kids yogurt (both in pouches for on the go, or with a spoon most of the time). We’ve been working on eating with a fork or spoon, the grab ease ones on amazon have been great to help her learn how to feed herself!
Great ideas! I’m going to look for those Aldi veggie bites! They have cooks at my son’s daycare and feed the kids breakfast and lunch every day which is a huge help/timesaver for me. Meatballs are a big go-to for us for suppers and those would be easy to cut up and fit in his lunchbox!
If you can, I would suggest pushing his nap back to the same time every day for consistency. It’s hard when they have different nap times at home vs school. I put leftovers in my daughter’s lunch a lot. I also will cook fish sticks and chicken nuggets and then just send them the next day in the lunch cold. I do all finger foods. I don’t want to mess with labeling, cleaning or her losing utensils!
These lunches are so cute! Does Finn actually eat the foods you pack for him?
My twin sons are 7.5 now, and when they were Finn’s age they were home full-time with a nanny. The started daycare at 2.5, and their daycare provided all meals and snacks. Which was awesome because not only did I not have to prepare some meals, they also ate foods while among their peers that they might not eat at home, so they got more variety.
Thanks for sharing, so glad that he is loving it! I am a toddler teacher myself at a local daycare and I know how sometimes it can be difficult to get toddlers to adjust to sleeping times and various things like that! Hopefully he adjusts soon!
-Kate
https://daysofkate.com/
We are also dealing with the nap battle after school with Kinley right now! She goes 2x a week and pickup is at 1:15pm. I agree with the overtired thought and she also is excited to be home and wants to play! So hard to get her down!
As for lunches, I love sending a little Mexican themed lunch sometimes. Cheese quesadilla, diced avocado and diced tomatoes. I also buy the diced ham pretty often, as that’s an easy thing to throw in she enjoys. At Camden’s first preschool they required us to send in a protein, 2 fruits and/or veggies and a grain each day. Kinley’s school is good with whatever so I definitely find myself slacking off a little with hers lately ?.
So fun watching them in their first year at school!!
When my kiddos were in a tricky phase of choosing what to eat and try, I found they loved loved anything they could dip. If he loves yogurt or ranch or ketchup or hummus, pesto, mayo, nut butters, maybe that would help encourage him to try new things ??it’s a phase. Awesome choices that you’re providing him!! He’ll get it eventually!
My daughter is 3.5 and has been at her daycare for a year – a big perk is they prepare meals and feed them there so I don’t have to pack food!! It really is special seeing them develop friendships, participate in neat activities and bring home crafts. She will be going to kindergarten next year and I’m not looking forward to having to pack her food, I think I’ll go the bento box route as well!