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    Home » Everyday Meals

    Fun School Lunch Ideas

    Modified: Jul 20, '24 · Published: Jul 24, '17 · By: Beth Klosterboer · Commission earned on paid or sponsored links.

    Your kids will love these fun school lunch ideas. Surprise your kids with a sandwich with a special message imprinted on the bread or a sandwich that looks like a book, an animal, or a schoolhouse. These back-to-school lunchbox ideas are all easy to make and fun to serve.

    fun school lunch ideas including schoolbook sandwiches, stamped sandwiches, monkey sandwiches, and school house sandwiches.

    Do you pack lunch for your kids to take to school or do they come home at lunchtime? Make them something fun to power them through their school day. They'll love it!

    I realize you may already be rushing to pack lunches, but adding a special touch to your kid's lunchbox will really make his or her day and it will only take an extra few minutes.

    These school lunch ideas are sure to brighten any kid's day, especially at the beginning of the year when they are heading back to school.

    Lunchbox Sandwiches

    back to school lunch with a personalized sandwich that says, "You're My Super Star" served with blueberries in a star-shaped bowl.

    Stamped PB&J Sandwich

    Add a sweet message to the top of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or any other sandwich your kid enjoys.

    Use new or well-cleaned garden stone stamps to imprint your sandwiches.

    stamp a message onto bread using garden stone stamps then turn it into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
    • Press alphabet stamps into a slice of soft sandwich bread creating your own personalized messages like "Have a great day," "I believe in you," "You're my superstar," and more.
    • Then, make a sandwich with the stamped bread on top. I spread peanut butter and jelly inside these personalized sandwiches but any fillings will work great.
    pb&j sandwiches imprinted with special messages like "You're my super star," "Have a great day," and "I believe in you!"

    Easy right?

    Package the sandwich in a lunch bag or lunch box along with your child's favorite fruit, veggies, and drink.

    stamped sandwich bread and tortilla wrap.

    You can use this same school lunch idea on tortillas instead of bread. Use the tortillas to make wraps filled with ham, turkey, roast beef, veggies, and more.

    You can even imprint cheese using the stamps and add it to your lunchbox.

    stamping a message into a tortilla using plastic alphabet garden stones.

    To make a wrap, stamp the message into a tortilla. Be sure to add the message near one end of the tortilla so it shows when you wrap it around the fillings.

    More back-to-school lunches

    Here are more fun school lunch ideas. If you don't see step-by-step instructions below the image, click the link (purple underlined text) and you'll be whisked away to another post featuring that recipe.

    Kid's school lunch of Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich cut and decorated to look like a schoolhouse along with grapes and carrots.

    Schoolhouse Sandwich

    Or, you can make a cute Peanut Butter and Jelly Schoolhouse Sandwich you just cut out the bread and add some edible decorations.

    Step-by-step guide for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich schoolhouse.

    Instructions

    • Print the schoolhouse template out and cut out around it.
      • You may need to resize the template to fit your bread.
    • Cut the crusts off your bread.
    • Set the template over a slice of bread and cut out around the template.
      • I found it easiest to use kitchen scissors to cut the bread.
      • Cut two schoolhouses for each sandwich.
    • Spread Jif Creamy Peanut Butter over one of the schoolhouse shaped slices of bread.
    • Top with Smucker's Strawberry Jam and a second piece of bread.
    • Then decorate the sandwich to look like a schoolhouse.
    • Use some peanut butter to attach two pretzel sticks along the lower roof line of the schoolhouse.
    • Break another pretzel stick in half and attach it along the bell tower roof line.
    How to make a peanut butter and jelly schoolhouse for a back to school lunch.
    • Attach two small crackers in the middle along the bottom edge of the sandwich to create two doors.
    • Draw two door knobs using a black food coloring marker.
    • Flatten a piece of yellow taffy and cut it out into a bell shape.
      • If the taffy is too firm to flatten, heat it in the microwave on the defrost setting for about 5 seconds to soften.
    • Attach the bell to the middle of the bell tower.
    • Flatten a piece of red taffy and cut it into a long oblong or rectangle shape.
    • Write "SCHOOL" on the taffy using a black food coloring marker.
    • Attach with peanut butter just above the schoolhouse doors.
    School book sandwiches made with soft tortillas printed with school book titles using food coloring .

    School Book Sandwiches

    You can fill these sandwiches made using flour tortillas with your child's favorite lunchmeat or fillings. Each book-shaped sandwich is easy to decorate using food coloring.

    a Bookworm Snack decorated with cheese and olives in served with a bowl of marinara on a white plate set on a book.

    Bookworm Snack

    This adorably cute Bookworm Snack is sure to delight any child who loves to read. I used mini mozzarella bites to make the bookworm but sandwiches made on round pieces of bread would work fine too.

    graduation cap sandwich

    Grad Cap Sandwiches

    Be sure to surprise your graduates with this fun end-of-school lunch. Check out the tutorial to make these cute Grad Cap Sandwiches.

    fruit leather school books

    Fruit Leather School Books

    Make the cutest little fruit leather school books out of fruit leather to add to your lunch boxes. They are simple to make using honey and white chocolate.

    baseball sandwich

    Sports-themed Sandwich

    Top a sandwich with a slice of cheese that looks like a sports ball. Create the sports ball-shaped cheese using cookie cutters and food coloring.

    making sports ball-shaped cheese slices using food coloring markers.

    To make a baseball, cut a circle out of white cheese and draw on red laces using a food coloring marker or a paintbrush dipped in red coloring.

    To make a football, use a football cookie cutter and brush brown food coloring (blend red, yellow, and blue to make brown).

    Other balls can be made using food coloring too. You could even get 3-D printed sports ball cookie cutters with stamps to imprint the cheese.

    cute dog sandwich made with Nutella is served on a white plate with a glass of milk and bowl of blueberries.

    Sandwich Dog

    Make an adorable dog-shaped sandwich for your puppy-loving kiddo. This is one of the cutest sandwiches ever! Don't you think?

    making a dog-shaped sandwich using round pita bread, peanut butter, and chocolate spread.

    You can make your puppy sandwich using pita bread, plain Naan bread, or white bread, Cut out two big ovals for the dog's head and two floppy ears. Spread peanut butter and jelly on one oval-shaped bread and add two ears.

    Top with another oval bread. Fill a zip-top bag with chocolate spread and pipe on the puppy's eyes, nose, mouth, spots, and ears.

    smiley face egg sandwich

    Smiley Face Egg Sandwich

    Here's another fun idea for a back-to-school meal. This fun Smiley Face Egg Sandwich will be great for breakfast or an after-school snack.

    Make an open-faced egg sandwich into an actual face to make a back to school breakfast more fun.

    Simply top an English Muffin with some cheese (I heated the cheese in a toaster oven so it melted, scrambled eggs, and a bacon smile.

    Cut a slice of white cheese into circles and top with slices of black olives to create eyes. Top your egg sandwich with the eyes and it's ready to serve.

    Instead of eggs, you could make a lunchmeat sandwich topped with a slice of American cheese then add the bacon smile and cheese and olive eyes.

    A day out at the zoo can be expensive and tiring, so bring along some Monkey Sandwiches for your kids. They'll fill them up and make them happy.

    Monkey Sandwiches

    What kid wouldn't go bananas over these Monkey Sandwiches?

    This fun school lunch is made using PB&J Uncrustables but could be made by cutting a sandwich into a circle. The monkeys are made using peanut butter but could be made using any other type of nut butter or spread including Biscoff.

    PB&J Bunny Sandwiches are so easy to make using Smucker’s® Uncrustables®.

    Bunny Sandwiches

    You can also use Uncrustables or a round sandwich to make adorable Bunny Sandwiches. Each bunny is decorated with a chocolate spread, white chocolate, and a candy nose.

    Fun After-School Snack Ideas

    chicken nugget butterfly

    Chicken Nugget Butterfly

    This cute Chicken Nugget Butterfly will make super fun lunch or after-school snack. It's easy to make using nuggets and nacho tortilla chips. Yum!

    corn dog butterfly

    Corn Dog Bumble Bee

    When your kids get home from school and find this Corn Dog Bumble Bee on their plate, they will be buzzing with excitement. It's so cute and easy to make too.

    More back-to-school recipe ideas.

    yellow school bus rice krispie treats coated in yellow candy melts and decorated with candy windows and wheels.

    Cereal Treat School Buses

    inside out caramel apples.

    Inside Out Caramel Apple

    decorated apple cookies filled with red M&Ms and topped with icing that is flavored with apple juice.

    Apple Piñata Cookies

    I have lots more fun back-to-school recipes for you to check out. See all of my School-Themed Recipes.

    • Author
    • Recent Posts
    Beth Klosterboer
    Beth Klosterboer
    Hi, I'm Beth Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com
    Beth Klosterboer
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    1. Carol Habib says

      June 24, 2020 at 6:46 pm

      How can i order a food safe stamp for sandwiches?

      Reply
      • Beth says

        June 26, 2020 at 9:59 pm

        You can find fondant alphabet stamps/cutters on amazon. This set looks good - https://amzn.to/3dxXYRn

        Reply
    2. The Partiologist says

      July 25, 2017 at 7:11 am

      I'm going to start sending messages on sandwiches, super cute!

      Reply
      • Beth says

        July 25, 2017 at 10:53 am

        It's a fun way to send them!

        Reply
    Beth Jackson Klosterboer

    Welcome to Hungry Happenings!

    I'm Beth. I've been a professional chocolatier & baker for over 30 years, have written 5 cookbooks, and love creating fun food for holidays and special occasions.

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