Finally, your child is ready for daycare! For most families, starting kindergarten marks the beginning of a new and exciting time, especially if it's their first child attending kindergarten. Many daycare centers provide breakfast and lunch for the kids, but in some facilities you have to pack a lunch box yourself for breakfast or a snack. It should be healthy, but also provide energy, because daycare can be quite stressful for your child. Sugar, empty carbohydrates, and fatty snacks have no place in children's lunch boxes – instead, there are delicious vegan alternatives. So that you don't run out of ideas and can pack more than just boring sandwiches in the lunch box, we've put together five tips and tricks for you. This way, even picky eaters can look forward to their snack at daycare.
Vesper Kita: 5 Healthy and Vegan Alternatives
Over time, always putting the same old sandwiches in their lunchbox can lead to your child just poking around in their breakfast, or even bringing the boxes home completely untouched. But not all parents have the capacity to craft elaborate bento boxes for their child, bake special meals, get busy with the cooking spoon first thing in the morning, or turn every meal into an experience for toddlers. Nevertheless, you can offer your child more than the same spread in their lunchbox every day. The alternative is variety and fresh products. We've compiled the five most delicious vegan ideas for your lunchbox in this practical article.
1. Kindergarten skewers
Everything tastes so much better in small, bite-sized portions. If mom or dad had prepared the snack and lovingly arranged it, children would probably eat just about anything, or at least try it. If you want to offer your child a healthy alternative to white bread with chocolate spread, but are unsure whether it will be accepted, try this slightly different way of packaging vitamins and nutrients:
What you need:
- wooden skewers
- A round cookie cutter
- Whole-grain bread or whole-grain toast
- Vegan cream cheese and cheese cubes, vegan sausages
- Cocktail tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and other beloved vegetables
- Grapes, pears, apples, tangerines and other delicious fruits
How it works:
For these healthy and vegan kindergarten skewers, first spread cream cheese on the bread or toast and build small sandwiches, which you then shape using the round cutter. Alternate between the cherry tomatoes, sandwiches, and cucumbers on the skewers. Do the same with sausages, peppers, cheese cubes, and other vegetables. Fruit can also be used to make delicious snacks for daycare, quickly and easily. Try combining cheese with grapes, cucumber, and tangerines, or sandwiching an apple slice between the sandwiches. The possibilities are endless.
2. Pretzel snacks with raw vegetables
Are you familiar with those little pretzel rolls and pretzels from the refrigerated section? They're not a significant amount for adults, but they're perfect for your child's lunchbox. They're ready in minutes in the oven, or our pro tip: even faster in the air fryer. Deliciously topped with vegan sausage or vegan cheese, your child will surely be delighted when they open their box with the small pretzel or child-sized roll. You can also cut a few raw vegetable sticks out of carrots, bell peppers, and cucumbers and stuff them in the lunchbox with delicious hummus or a dip made from vegan yogurt or quark.
3. Exotic Overnight Oats
Prepared the day before and easily packed from the fridge into your daycare backpack in the morning, this snack idea is not only super healthy, but also time-saving and stress-free. If your kids are skeptical of exotic fruit, you can of course use local fruit instead. But one thing is for sure: This tip isn't just a great breakfast for kids!
What you need:
- A screw-top jar
- oatmeal
- Coconut milk or other plant-based milk
- Exotic fruits such as mango, papaya or bananas
How it works:
Layer oatmeal, your exotic fruit, and, if you like, some maple syrup or another sweetener in your screw-top jar. Now carefully pour in the coconut milk or your plant-based milk up to the rim and seal the jar tightly. Store it in the fridge, and the next morning you'll have delicious oatmeal with fresh fruit that tastes like the Caribbean. Thanks to the screw-top jar, you don't have to transfer the oatmeal; you can simply throw the jar and a spoon into your kindergarten backpack, and you're ready to go.
4. Underrated all-rounders: rice cakes
When you think of rice cakes, you probably don't exactly conjure up the ultimate taste experience. But wait: The rice cake is completely underrated and so versatile that you'll be surprised. Did you know that you can conjure up an excellent vegan Mett (meat dish) from this crispy rice-based wafer? The crispy slices are also a great alternative to plain bread and are just as delicious with toppings. Crushed into small pieces, the rice cake makes a great topping for yogurt and muesli, and with delicious nut butter, dark chocolate, and a dash of caramel, you can quickly and easily make almost healthy bars. Give it a try.
5. Quick wraps for kids
Crisp lettuce, vitamins and nutrients, colorful vegetables, and a yogurt sauce to die for: Wraps are quick to make and a hit with kids. The different textures are fun, and you can use almost anything your little ones like—the perfect preschool snacks. To prevent the tortillas from getting soggy too quickly, make sure you sandwich a layer of crisp lettuce between the yogurt sauce, cream cheese, or other toppings. A particularly popular combination is vegan sausage and vegan cheese; simply roll it up and secure it with a small skewer.
As you can see, a preschool lunchbox doesn't always have to be filled with fancy treats. Sometimes things can be quick and still be healthy. We hope our ideas have given you some inspiration to ensure your child's meal is varied and balanced, without you having to dig through countless recipes. All of our ideas are, of course, vegan and delicious even without meat substitutes. And if the next lunchbox contains just a loaf of bread instead of grapes, quark, sausages, and vegetables, your little one will surely still enjoy it – because nobody has to be perfect all the time, and children don't need works of art in their snacks every day; they need caring parents, above all.
