Toddler Packed Lunches
Eating snacks and packed lunches is a rich developmental experience in the Toddler Community. At Clover Montessori School, the food for morning and afternoon snack is provided by the school and all children eat the same foods (we carefully avoid diagnosed allergens). The children love serving themselves snack at the prep table using tongs, large spoons, spreaders, and other utensils. At noon, the children get very excited about eating their packed lunches.
Packed lunches are well-loved because:
Children feel connected to home
Children observe and discuss what their friends are eating
Children enjoy packing their lunches at home with their families
Food is a fundamental aspect of cultural identity and offers learning opportunities
Food is a sensory experience and allows exploration of texture, shape, color, flavor, aroma, and temperature
Food offers ample exploration of vocabulary (crunchy, sweet, cold, etc.)
The packed lunches you send every day are an important learning tool for the children. We appreciate families’ support of the Toddler Community’s approach to self-care skills, vocabulary acquisition, and, most of all, nutrition. We recognize, though, that it can be difficult to think of lunch ideas every day and hard to know how much food is enough. We want to support you in feeling confident that your child has a full tummy and is getting adequate nutrition, so we have compiled the chart below for your consideration.
If you wish, this portion chart can be used to mix and match packed lunches. Our suggestion is that, for each packed lunch, families choose three items from the chart and ensure those three items are from different columns.
Why do we suggest limiting toddlers’ packed lunches to three items?
Three items from differing columns of this chart will be sufficient nutrition for one meal, based on guidelines developed by a pediatric dietician.
Children genuinely love to finish a task. If their packed lunch is a manageable quantity of food, they are able to finish eating and feel pleased.
When children are overwhelmed by the task in front of them, they often disengage. It sounds paradoxical, but our observation is that large quantities of food and several choices of foods result in less food being eaten.
Morning and afternoon snacks at Clover Montessori School are plentiful and children are able to serve themselves multiple times from the prep table. The children eat a lot of food at morning and afternoon snack.
Food waste is a serious problem in the United States. We want to partner with families in raising community-minded young people.
We hope the chart above is helpful and you and your toddler enjoy preparing packed lunches together. There is nothing quite like a toddler's pride when showing friends the lunch she or he packed! If you have questions or suggestions for us, we would love to hear from you.