The days of paper bag lunch sacks that get soggy and rip are long gone. Unfortunately bad cafeteria food isn’t, so it’s up to us to pack lunches that will entice our little one’s appetite. Plus, you want your kid to be the one opening their lunch box wow’ing every other kid with all the colors of tasty bites you’ve packed, right?

1. Yay Lunch Box 2. Silicone muffin cups 3. Nesting trip containers 4. Mini stainless steel containers 5. Lunch sack 7. S’Well water bottle 8. Rectangle container 9. PlanetBox lunch box 10. Skip Hop reusable snack bag set 11. POW lunch sack 12. Stainless steel bento box 13. Reusable sandwich & snack bags 14. Dabbawalla lunch bag 15. Dino lunchbox 16. The Safe Sippy sports water bottle 17. Condiment containers

So how to all of these pieces fit together? In as many ways as you like, really. But here’s how Kristina packs her older son’s lunch for preschool every morning.

On the menu today? A seedy sourdough rye bagel & cream cheese from the local farmer’s market, homemade strawberry greek yogurt, apple and pluot slices, and a babybel cheese. There are so many variations you can make though. LunchBots and Weelicious have a ton of really great ideas!

The lunchbox notes from Good On Paper are clearly the cutest! Look at all the designs Lisa came up with for us:

So super cute, right? You can download the whole sheet as a PDF right here. Cut them up with an exacto and keep them handy in the kitchen with your lunch supplies. That Lisa, she’s always got the best ideas for birthday parties too. We’ve featured some of her parties here, here, and here.