5 Healthy Kids Lunch Ideas

Whether your children are at school, or home on holidays, it can be really difficult coming up with healthy kids lunch ideas day after day to keep them interested.

We're all extremely busy these days, so the last thing we need is to get complicated at lunchtime.

But, what should your child's lunch contain?

Here are some guidelines:

• Source of protein to help them stay alert
• Fruit and vegetables for vitamins, minerals and fiber
• Complex carbohydrates for slow-release energy and fiber
• Calcium for growth, healthy bones and teeth

If you're stuck for kids lunch ideas, here are 5 simple suggestions:

1. Vary their breads
Most kids love of bit of variety and surprise, so rather than sticking with the same bread day in, day out, choose from a range of sliced bread, bread rolls, pita pockets, wraps, bagels, crackers and breadsticks.

Encourage your children to eat wholegrains, to make sure they're having plenty of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.

If your kids are young, try cutting sandwiches into different shapes using a cookie cutter, or roll them up and slice to make pinwheels. It's amazing how a boring sandwich gets gobbled up when in the shape of something interesting!

2. Ditch the processed meats
Instead of using processed meats every day, which are unhealthy and a bit dull, use leftover meat from the night before, such as roast chicken, or beef. Alternatively, you could go for fish or boiled eggs, if your kids will eat them.

You could also think about preparing a range of shredded vegetables, with meat, a little sauce, and wraps or pita pockets, which your children can make up themselves. Obviously this depends on your child, some kids will love this idea, others won't eat if it takes a lot of effort--playtime is much more important!

3. Be creative with salads
Cook a batch of potato or pasta salad with lots of chopped up vegetables, some lean sliced chicken, turkey or ham, and store in the fridge for a quick and easy lunch throughout the week. Then all you need is a green salad, and lunch is ready in a flash.

4. Get your kids involved
At the weekend why not take a few hours in the kitchen with your children and have a go at making healthy versions of your favorite cookies and muffins? This is a great way to get kids interested in what they're eating, and also to teach them about healthy food choices. Whatever you make will be perfect the following week as a lunchtime treat.

5. Cut the sugary drinks
We should all be cutting back on the sugar-laden beverages, and our kids are no different. Water, milk, or calcium fortified soy milk are the best beverage choices for children.

If your children are resistent to trying new foods, why not ask them when they would like to have at lunchtime? I'm sure you'll get a range of interesting answers!

What are your favorite kids lunch ideas?