Pack it up: lunchbox ideas for kids

It’s so disheartening to open your child’s lunchbox at the end of the day and find a sad, uneaten Vegemite sandwich and a bruised apple still rolling around in there. To make lunch fun, and much more tempting, try these delicious ideas:

• Pinwheel sandwiches Make an event of dull ham and cheese sandwich. Simply cut off the crusts, roll up the sandwich and cut into several round pieces to make them look fun;

• Cookie-cutter sandwiches Use cookie cutters to cut the kids’ sandwiches into shapes. What child could resist a dinosaur jam sandwich or elephant cheese sandwich?;

• Mini muffins They are always tempting, so make a savoury version. You can hide veggies, like grated zucchini and carrots, in dish they’ll never question; and

• Mini pizzas Use leftovers to turn one meal into two. Make mini pizzas using dough, pita breads or English muffins for dinner, add a few extra and slip the leftovers into a lunchbox the next day. The added bonus is that kids love to help make pizzas and will enjoy being involved in choosing ingredients.

You could take a trick from another nation. Japanese school children take pride in their daily bento box, which has many compartments filled with small servings of food. This type of presentation can be super appealing to children. Small servings – some cherry tomatoes, a couple of slices of cheese, some grapes or slice fruit – also mean that if they’re fussy and reject one option there are more from which to choose.

If you’ve got some great lunchbox ideas, particularly for fussy eaters, make sure you share them with us.