This DIY lunchbox note holder post and shop have been compensated

Packing cute lunches with foods that I feel good about the boys eating is really difficult sometimes. We are not early morning people, so I like to have foods already available and lunches ready to assemble when I wake up. I love packing lunches that the boys will enjoy, but it can be hard to find the right balance between what the boys want and what Mommy wants them to be eating.

I love the adorable Peanuts movie packaging and am excited about the upcoming “The Peanuts Movie” coming out November 6th! (Click on the link to see the adorable new movie trailer!)

Beyond the cuteness of the packaging, did you know that the single serve milk boxes provide 8 grams of protein, are an excellent source of calcium, contain no high fructose corn syrup, and the chocolate and vanilla have organic flavoring? AND the sandwich crackers contain real, organic ingredients that I can feel good about.

I had all the makings of the perfect lunch, but I wanted to give the boys’ school lunch a special touch. Lunchbox notes are all the rage, it seems, and with good reason! Kids love to open their lunchbox and see that Mom or Dad thought about them and wanted to surprise them with a sweet note. We have quite a few issues with the lunchbox notes, though. This is the first year back to public school for my first grader, after being homeschooled for a year. The Captain is loving it, but after a few days, he finally told me that the notes I left for him in his lunchbox made him miss us….talk about sad!! So, I found that handwritten notes without much mushy stuff or printables with jokes or fun facts were the best route. I usually quickly write something on a napkin like “Have a great Monday!” and that is usually perfect for the Captain. D, on the other hand, is still adjusting to school and is sad during lunch regardless, so I have to make something fun with absolutely no mushiness to make him smile!

While I try to send things that don’t leak, if anything is cold or jostles around at all, the lunchbox note often gets soaked, ruined, or even lost before lunch time. And if the Captain gets a quarter to buy an extra treat in the lunchroom, he always frets about losing it out of his pocket before lunchtime. I wanted to create something simple for their lunchboxes, a safe, dry place where they could immediately find their note, money, or anything else that needed to be sent for lunch time. I played around with a few options, some that looked cuter, but ultimately, the good old plastic bag worked the best.

Materials needed:

lunchbox
snack size plastic bag
clear packing tape
scissors
washi tape

Directions:

Position snack size plastic bag on the inside of lunchbox lid.
Use clear packing tape on the bottom three sides of plastic bag to secure it firmly to the lid.
Use washi tape to pretty it up a bit in any way you like. (The Captain loves bright colors so I chose neons.)
Leave resealable side open to the top so it’s easy to insert and remove lunchbox notes and money.

The Captain was pretty impressed with this solution to our problems and I think it is making lunchtime at school more special for him, even though it was pretty cheap and totally easy!

How do you make school days special for your kids?