Wanna know the secrets to making your kids bento lunch boxes super cute? These are 7 cute bento lunch essentials that will have your kids lunches looking ridiculously adorable!
Hi friends,
Bento boxes are such a fun way to send your kiddo lunch. We absolutely love them in this house!
If you have a picky eater, making the food you send extra cute is a good way to entice them to eat. My kid has never been huge on lunch. She’s more of a breakfast girl so I knew I wanted to make her fun lunches that she was excited to open and eat.
If you scroll Pinterest for even a second after searching for bento lunch box ideas, you’ll quickly see tons of adorable lunches. They have cucumbers stacked into perfect little flower shapes, little heart shaped eyes holding cubed cheeses together, heart and star shaped fruit salads, etc.
Today, I’m going to show you exactly how you can make your kids lunches adorable like this too! With the right tools and accessories it’s really not hard. You can easily whip up a fun lunch with minimal effort, too!
This post is about ALL the cute bento lunch essentials you need for your kids lunch!
Cute Bento Lunch Essentials
1. A bento style lunch box
There are truly a ton of bento boxes out there but these are the ones we decided to go with. This is the Bento Kids Print line.. They also have several other lines including the Bentgo Kids (solid colors), Bentgo Kids brights (bright colors) & Bentgo Kids Chill (Removable ice pack). My daughter and two boys really love the prints.
These bento lunch boxes have 5 compartments. With a bit of picky eater who likes a “snack” type set up, this works out perfectly for us! The compartments are a bit on the small side so they are great for younger kids. Additionally, they’re leak proof (we’ve even put soy sauce in the round middle section and it didn’t leak onto other food!).
Yumbox is another very popular brand for bento boxes! They also have a wide variety of different compartment sizes. I know tons of people rave about these just as much as they do the Bentgo brand. This style is great if you want to be able to fit a full sized sandwich too.
2. Fruit & Vegetable Cutters
This is the exact set that I use so I can honestly tell you that they are great! They cut through many different fruits, cheeses and veggies with no problem. They don’t bend and have held their exact shape perfectly. There are plenty of other options out there though with different shapes, too!
This is the next I’m wanting to get eventually. I just don’t have a good excuse yet for buying even more cutters. But look! These ones come with dinosaurs shapes, a mickey shape and my favorite.. a butterfly! I don’t have these yet, so I can’t comment on how well they hold up or anything. Reviews all seem to be positive though!
This is the other set I personally own. These are super fun especially if you have a younger kid who is in preschool or kindergarten. My daughters in Kindergarten and works on a set of 2 to 3 letters a week in school. She really enjoys when I cut her fruit into the letters she’s working on for that week. I also like to spell out her name with these or do “I ❤️ u” on a mini skewer.
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3. Sandwich cutter
Who wants a boring sandwich?? Not kids, that’s for damn sure lol. The same old, same old sandwiches can get super boring come the second month of school. If sandwiches are a staple for your kids, let’s make them fun! These sandwich cutters are easy to use and easy to clean. These cutters have taken a few falls and haven’t broke yet, pretty sturdy I would say. We probably use the star, heart and butterfly the most!
4. Food picks
66 Pcs Animal Food Picks for Kids
Now, I don’t personally own these (yet) but they are super popular! I’ve seen them added to carrots, baby corn, tomatoes, strawberries, etc. I think they’re adorable and can’t wait to get them myself! Give me ALL the cute lunch things! Lol.
5. Silicone Cupcake Holders
Next, silicone cupcake holders. But, this time not for cupcakes! If you’ve ever watched a life hack video of pretty much any kind, you know how versatile silicone cupcake holders are. Same is true for lunches! With the small compartments in our bentgo boxes, we don’t really use these much. If you get a lunch box with larger compartments like the yumbox though, these will come in handy!
I suggest getting a variety of shapes and sizes like the ones listed above. For example, say you wanted a section for baby carrots, the long rectangular shape would work much better than the standard round one. Good to have a variety on hand!
6. Egg Molds
Okay, I think these are little bit lesser known! These are egg molds for hard boiled eggs. Hard boiled eggs are obviously a great source of protein that’s best cold which makes them perfect for school lunches. So, these are super fun but you do have to get just right. I’ll give you some helpful tips..
First, you need large eggs for these for to work.. but not too large. I don’t know how to boil eggs so I use the oven method (Place eggs in a muffin tin in the oven for 30 minutes at 350º). I immediately take them out the oven and one-by-one place them in an ice bath for a brief second – just long enough to handle (they’ll still be hot though so be careful). Then, carefully peel the eggs (pro tip: crack them a bit and use a spoon!) and while still warm, place one into a mold. Finally, with the mold closed place back into the ice bath till completely cooled.
When done right, the hard boiled eggs turn out adorable. We’ve had the best luck with the bunny, bear and fish. They won’t always turn out perfect but they’re still fun!
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7. Lunch Box Notes
Lastly, lunch box notes! Add the perfect final touch with an adorable and sweet note for your kid. A simple and sweet way to brighten their day and remind them that you’re thinking of them.
Opening a lunch packed full with cute cute and made with love will have your kid smiling ear to ear for the rest of their day!
