Children need the essential nutrients to grow healthy, so they should bring healthy snacks to school because the brain can better capture the information it learns in the classroom, having a better school performance. However, playtime needs to be tasty, fun and attractive and so here are some great suggestions for what the child can carry inside the lunch box.
Examples of healthy snacks for the week
Some examples of snacks to take to school can be:
- Monday: 1 slice of homemade orange cake with natural orange juice;
- Tuesday: 1 bread with jelly and 1 liquid yoghurt;
- Wednesday : 250 ml strawberry vitamin with 10 g almonds or raisins;
- Thursday: 1 bread with cheese or turkey ham and 250 ml cow's milk, oats or rice;
- Friday: 2 toasts with cheese, 1 carrot cut into sticks or 5 cherry tomatoes.
In addition to making these healthy combinations it is important to put a water bottle in the lunch box because hydration is also important to be aware of in class.
To see these and other great options for your child's lunchbox, watch this video:
What foods to bring in the lunch box
Parents should prepare the lunch box that the child should take to school, preferably on the same day so that the food looks good at snack time. Some options are:
- Fruits that are easy to carry and do not easily break or knead like apple, pear, orange, mandarin or natural fruit juice;
- Bread or toast with 1 slice of cheese, turkey ham, chicken or a teaspoon of sugar-free jelly;
- Milk, liquid yogurt or solid yogurt to eat with spoon;
- Separate dried fruit in small packages, such as raisins, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or Brazil nuts;
- Homemade biscuit or wafer, for having less fat, sugar, salt or other ingredients that are not suitable for children's health;
- Simple cake such as orange or lemon, without filling or topping can also be a healthy option.
What you should not take
Some examples of foods that should be avoided in children's snacks are fried foods, pizza, hot dogs, and hamburgers, which contain many fats and are difficult to digest snacks and can hinder school learning.
Soft drinks, stuffed cookies, and cakes with filling and topping are rich in sugar, which makes the child hungry again a little after the recess and this increases irritability and difficulty concentrating on class, and so too should be avoided.