What Your Waldorf Teacher Wants You to Know About Your Child’s Lunch

I’ve been eating lunches in classrooms with students for years and I’ve developed some opinions about the best way to pack a Waldorf lunch. At the same time, as a parent, packing (and unpacking) lunches has always been one of my most dreaded tasks. So, I understand the situation from both sides. I’m considering this post a public service announcement that will improve the lives of both Waldorf teachers and Waldorf parents.

1. Make it at home. The lunch you send along with your child each day should come from your kitchen. A can of soup warmed on your stove and packed in a thermos counts. A burrito or sandwich from the grocery store deli doesn’t (even if that store is Whole Foods.) The best option? Leftover dinner packed in a thermos.
2. The less packaging, the better. I know those pre-packaged foods are easier to pack, but all of that waste builds up. We recycle when we can, but (at least at my school) recycling and compost options are limited, so I encourage kids to take home their trash and recycling.
3. Make sure your kids can open their containers. This is a big one, folks. It’s not easy to get around a class of 20+ kids and open all of those thermoses!
4. Not all granola bars are created equal. Dipped in chocolate, chocolate chips, chewy, caramel — just stop. How about you throw together some oats, peanut butter and honey and make your own? Fruit snacks are in the same category. Fruit — yes. Fruit snacks — no.
5. Don’t repack. If your child didn’t touch the carrots on Monday, you can guarantee they won’t be gobbled up when they make a repeat performance on Tuesday. I know it’s not fun to unpack untouched lunches. I’m sorry.
6. Involve your child as early as possible. 1st and 2nd graders can empty their lunches at the end of the day and put the containers in the dishwasher. 3rd and 4th graders can help pack (I usually did the main course, the kids did the snacks.) 5th grade and up can (and should) pack their own.
7. If your older child is continually forgetting to pack or just deciding not to, don’t allow it to go on. You don’t need to take back the job, but build incentives, double-check on your way out the door and make sure the cupboard is stocked with acceptable lunch options.
8. Don’t pack sweets. Fruit is fine. Oreos are not. Candy often finds its way into lunches just after Halloween, so please keep the stash under your control. Check with your own teacher to be sure, but I don’t mind the occasional (once/week at most) homemade treat in the upper grades. One of my students used to bring a little jar of homemade tapioca pudding every Friday — perfect.
9. You know this, but yes, protein is important. It may not be the filler food that is going to take up space in the lunch and make it feel filled out, but it is the thing your teacher will require your child to eat first. Make it count.
10. Don’t forget to pack the fork or spoon. I used to keep some extras on hand but forks and spoons in a classroom are like socks in the dryer. No one knows how it happens, but they just disappear.

Here are some of my favorite lunch-packing life-savers. (These are affiliate links. If you click and shop a little bit gets sent my way. Thanks for the support!)

This is the Zojirushi Mr. Bento lunch kit. It’s not cheap, but we bought ours 3 years ago and it’s still going strong. The best thing about it is that the four containers gave some form to our lunch-packing. There’s a bottom water-tight container that is great for soup, curry or stir-fry meat and veggies. Next is a large insulated container for rice or pasta (or on non-leftover days, a sandwich). Then two more containers for fruit, pretzels, nuts or granola. I can’t recommend this lunch kit enough.

We used this 3-Tier Metal Tiffin for years before getting the Zojirushi. It doesn’t provide insulation, but I do like that it is more compact than the Zojirushi and it provides the same kind of lunch-packing structure. A few of my students use lunches like this and they’re great for reducing waste. An added bonus — they’re super easy for little ones to open! If you regularly pack soup, you’ll have to come up with an alternative solution, but this is great for non-soup days.

Another great option are glass leftover containers. When you and the kids are cleaning the kitchen after dinner, just divvy up the leftovers into these containers and they’ll be ready to go in the morning. These containers are great because the big plastic tabs are easy for kids to lock and unlock. (Pro tip: On burrito night, have the kids make themselves an extra burrito before you put everything away. Wrap it up in foil and lunch is half-packed!)

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole reusable snack bag thing until an anonymous student left one in my classroom and it became a part of my lunch-packing collection. (This is one of the perks of my job — I own a diverse array of unclaimed lunch containers and water bottles.) I started using that reusable bag and found that it washed up more easily than I expected. It’s been in regular use ever since.

What are your best tips for packing lunches? Are you a teacher with some words of wisdom you wish your class parents knew? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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