Tuesday, May 8, 2012

lunchboxes

Like most mums I have tried everything in regards to things like baby bottles, sippy cups, drink bottles, nappy bags, lunchboxes in the quest to find a really good one (I was going to say perfect but I really hate that word!!) With Amelie starting school it was time to find a really good lunchbox and drink bottle - she used to have 'lunchbox Tuesdays' but doing a lunchbox every day is a whole different ball game!
The lunchbox I've found for her is the one I like the best so far out of all the lunchboxes I've used over the years so I thought I'd share it with you, and the pro's and con's of the other lunchboxes if you are looking to get one for your kids. (Of course it's just my opinion and this isn't a sponsored post or anything!) I do like the other lunchboxes, but for school and for fitting into a school bag I like the Nude one the best.

This is the one I'm using for school and is my favourite- The Nude Food Mover Mini.  I bought it from Plastic Box but you can buy them online from Yum Yum Kids. There is also a larger Nude Food Mover but it is pretty huge!

Nude Food Mover Mini
Pro's

  • not too bulky or long so easily fits in her bag along with her book bag and jacket
  • easily fits a sandwich, muffin or other treat, raisins, babybel in the main compartment (I don't use the sandwich 'seatbelt') that comes with the lunchbox
  • the two pod containers are great for things like pretzels, popcorn, crackers, cheese and carrot sticks, grapes, yoghurt...
  • can take out one of the pod containers and put a small apple in the space
Con's
  • The only con I can think of is your child losing the lids or the whole containers from the pod compartments so I've labelled the lids and the containers as well.
  • and it can't fit a banana

Tupperware lunchbox


Pro's

  • lots of compartments so don't need any extra containers which is great
Con's
  • can't fit an apple as it isn't very high
  • can be quite difficult for kids to open
  • I find it a bit too long when stuffing it in a school bag with everything else in there!
Penny Scallan style lunchboxes

Pro's
  • look very cute and the kids love the look of them too
  • insulated lining
  • fits an apple or a banana
Con's
  • I found it quite bulky and difficult to fit in a school bag with everything else
  • have to use gladwrap, snack bags or a lot of little plastic containers if like me you are not a fan of gladwrap!
Sistema lunchbox 'Quaddie'
3970
Pro's
  • compartments on top plus a compartment for small water bottle that comes with the lunchbox so no need for separate containers
Con's
  • another one I found just too bulky to easily fit into a schoolbag
  • the lid is quite heavy and actually takes up a lot of space in the main lunchbox compartment
  • I could just see my 4 year old forgetting to shut the lids on the top compartments properly and then opening up the main lid and anything left in there tipping out everywhere. Maybe not but highly likely!
For her drink bottle I went with this Sistema one I bought from Plastic Box as well. It was only about $5 and is small, light and BPA free (I was looking for a small one as school bags can be heavy enough without a large, heavy drink bottle as well, and there's water fountains at her school too) and it's easy to open and close.
3780


So there you go, my two cents worth on kids lunchboxes...
And here's a couple of tips from a really great blog post I read last year that had heaps of lunchbox tips and ideas but I can't for the life of me remember where I read it (if you have written a kids lunchbox type post let me know!) 
  • buy two of the same lunch boxes and drink bottles so you've always got one ready to pack
  • freeze a whole lot of muffins and mini muffins so you've got something to grab from the freezer. 
Any more lunchbox tips gratefully appreciated!
Megan x

13 comments:

bee said...

We have the slimmer quaddie which we find great for kindy but you can't fit a pottle of yougurt in a a banana is a bit of a squash. I really liked the look of these
http://goodbyn.com/
but they're pretty expensive and not available in NZ yet. I found it was good to have Miss 4 with me when shopping for the lunchbox so I could check that she could open and close it by herself.

Kirsty @ Bowerbird Blue said...

http://tumblingblocks.net//blog/index.php/2007/7/31/oilcloth-lunch-bag
This is definately my favourite typ the oil cloth lunch box. Fits easy in the bag, holds a little or a lot, easy for small hands to open (can you believe how hard some are to open?), best of all they last really well we are on our second year with ours. I also love the wrap for sandwiches made of the same fabric.

Lesley said...

Great post. After 2 terms at school for Carly - we are onto lunchbox number 2. I went for the big Nude Food mover - you're right - too long for the bag. And I feel obliged to fill it up, and she doesn't need that much food at 5! So we are moving onto the tupperware lunchbox... hopefully I won't find that too long either! Wish I'd tried the shorter Nude Food mover now. And big warning about the Nude Food Movers! They do break easily if dropped - Carly's is already sporting duct-tape on the hinges - very weak spot. It's a disadvantage to having the hinges molded onto the main lunchbox - the tupperware one is better in this regard.

Devour the words said...

I went out once and got 3 of the big nude food lunch boxes for my kiddos but in two weeks one cracked, one the hinges broke and the other warped in the top drawer of the dishwasher (where it was meant to be ok to use as I did look on website first). I was really gutted.

I have since gone to tupperware and love them but agree they need to be 2cms or so taller for yoghurts and fruit etc. We not have cooler bags that fit the tupperware box and have room on the side for a bottle or fruit etc.

CHD said...

I use the tupperware ones and have one for each child (even the pre-schooler) and a spare. My older 2 kids (age 7 and 9) take week about bring in charge of lunch boxes, with the 5 year old assisting. Before dinner they make up all 4 lunch boxes for the next day and put them in the fridge over night. In the morning they make sure they are in the relevant school bags and the pre-schoolers one on the bench. They can choose what goes in (or so they think), but know they need to have sandwiches, a piece of fruit/veg, a piece of baking (fresh or from the freezer), crackers, popcorn or whatever lunch box allocated stuff we have in the cupboard. It only took a little training. They love doing it and I have one less job. Cx

Rebecca said...

I can remember having this dilemma myself a few years ago (my son just turned 8). So of course we have a selection of lunch boxes in our house as I could not decide. However, the one I use the most and that little son prefers is the Penny Scanlon type insulted one - fits so much in and is brilliant for keeping things the right temperature. Good luck! Becks xxx

Fay said...

Great post! I haven't seen the nude food mover mini before. Might have to look into getting one for when my DS starts school at the end of the year.

Craftysquirrel said...

We have Tupperware one, I just cut apples in half, no need for other wrapping but yes quite long so hard to fit in some bags. The catch has loosened up a little so not so hard to open. Also it doesn't seem to leak if you put eg cut up orange in one compartment it doesn't leak juice into other parts.

A Life Less Complicated said...

We went through a few different lunch boxes but have settled on good sized one with compartments. I bought two just in case. Elijah's school is a no rubbish zone so having compartments means no icky gladwrap (which I have always struggled with)
Great post - I know it will help a lot of Mums

meg said...

I loved the nude food mover too but it broke so quickly, I think it only lasted one term. We now use the tupperware ones and I think they're worth the extra cost. Our school is really keen on rubbish free lunches and it makes it easy not to use glad wrap. another bonus... They'll replace the lids if the catches break off.

Hana said...

Ava's kindy just introduced rubbish-free lunch days, and the current lunchbox we use is no good for that. I've been eyeing up the nude food mover each time I go grocery shopping - so I think I'll get one now - thanks for the rundown Megan - nice to see some of the options compared - makes it so much easier as there are a huge array of choices out there!

Ailsa said...

After having kids at school for the past 19years and trying everything out there (our Nude ones broke pretty quickly, but the small individual containers are great!) this year I went all out and bought Planet Boxes from the USA! The best thing ever. We will not be returning to plastic. The best thing is my kids are never eaten so healthily at school.

Unknown said...

I work at a school. I see A LOT of lunch bags/boxes. One thing that parents don't always think about is if their kid can get into the bag on their own, and close it back up. Also not considered is ease of cleaning.
Best lunch box if there is access to a fridge is Goodbyn. Best lunch bag if no fridge is available is Packit. Best for keeping hot lunch is Thermos brand canisters.

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