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Cool Bento Lunch Ideas For a More Fun Lunchtime!

I want to be the cool mom, and part of this was getting my son excited to open his lunch every day at school. I thought it would be so awesome if he opened it up to find a lunch that was not only healthy, but fun to look at, so all his friends would look forward to see what exciting new design he has every day, and he’d look forward to eating lunch more often too.

So, I started getting creative with bento lunches, from supplies to books with tips, and even noticed what cartoon characters they were drawn to, for inspiration. Sometimes I’ll pack it into his bento lunch box for school, other times I’d just lay it on a plate for lunch at home, but either way, the focus was healthy and fun. I became creative with bread, cheese, veggies (with a focus on the sliced American cheese that he loves, and avocados and carrots because they are so healthy). Here is what I came up with:

Cool Ideas For Healthy Bento Lunches For Kids

1. The space alien bento lunch! I cut a slice of bread into the shape of a circle, added some legs, and some healthy veggies on the side (it’s so fun to look at they’ll barely even notice it’s all actually healthy!). I covered the alien’s bread body with mashed guacamole, put on three eyes (because everyone knows aliens have three eyes), and voila!…an outer space adventure in his lunch box! We make sure our bento boxes are airtight so the alien’s green avocado skin stays nice and green until lunchtime.

alien guacamole bento lunch sandwich

2. Hmmm, how about this for a fun lunch? Using a strip of fruit leather and American cheese slices for a toothy smile, avocado strips for hair, and a bit of edible accessories, it’s a spunky little dude with freckles (edible gourmet marker). Inside I put some sliced roasted turkey, so all the food groups are in this tasty and healthy sandwich.

veggie boy bento lunch sandwich

Finally, because my son loves animals (particularly Bad Piggies from Angry Birds), I knew I had to make him some for his lunch! On a bed of shredded carrots and lined with tasty crackers, I turned a boring old cheese sandwich into a green pig using a cookie cutter to shape the sandwich, and covering it with mashed avocado and baker’s sugar eyeballs…he liked it so much he didn’t even mind eating the carrots!

bad piggy bento lunch idea

Do you get creative with your children’s lunches too?