11 Bento Boxes That Make Packing School Lunch the Easiest Thing You’ll Do All Day
Mere weeks into last school year, my daughter seemed to lose all interest in lunch. Every afternoon, I’d tip her lunchbox into the kitchen trash can, a trail of barely touched food sailing into the bag below. In her defense, lunch had gotten routine at best—the same old sandwich and cut veggies her dad packed every morning. No wonder she wasn’t digging in with gusto; I’m yawning just thinking about it.
This year, however, we’re determined to do a bit better in the lunch department, and we’re relying on a bento box to keep things interesting. A centuries-old staple in Japan, a bento box makes transporting a single-serving of a full meal as easy as can be. For our purposes, think of a bento box as a glorified lunchbox, often with compartments to encourage variety and keep foods separate.
While some bento boxes (specifically those called kyaraben) contain Pinterest-worthy creations, whipping rice into adorable cats and sausages into octopuses, a bento lunch can be incredibly easy. Fill the compartments with whatever items you have on-hand and voila, your little one has plenty of options to choose from.
To get you started on your bento journey, we have 11 boxes your kids will love.
More Lunchboxes and School Lunch Ideas
- 10 Cute (But Not Cutesy) Insulated Kids’ Lunch Bags That Might Even Last Into the Teen Years
- 5 Instagram Accounts to Follow for Easy Kid Lunches
- My Kids Love This Lunchbox So Much They Now Pack Their Own School Lunches
- How I Pack a Week’s Worth of School Lunches for 5 Kids from $51 Worth of Trader Joe’s Groceries