Eating well: Packed lunches for 1 to under-5 year olds
This guide has been written to provide practical ideas for anyone who is preparing packed lunches for children aged 1-under 5 years. We hope it will be particularly useful to early years settings who may want to provide guidance to families and child carers about how to provide a nutritious, cost-effective and practical packed lunch for children of this age.
The packed lunches shown in this resource all provide the amount of energy (calories) needed by children of this age at a main meal and, if a range of packed lunches are eaten over a period of a week or more, they will provide the important nutrients that young children need to develop and grow. There are recipes within this guide that cater for vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, egg-free and dairy-free diets.
It contains practical advice, recipes and photos of portion sizes appropriate for different age groups.
