Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Schoolhouse

Send your kids back to school with this fun Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Schoolhouse packed in their lunchbox. When they sit down at the lunch table with their friends and find this cute sandwich, it will surely make their day special.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company. The opinions and text are all mine.

Pack your kids a back-to-school lunch that they will love. One that will brighten their day and fill them up so that they can tackle the second half of their school day with energy and enthusiasm. In less than 10 minutes, you can craft this fun Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Schoolhouse using Jif® Peanut Butter and Smucker’s® Strawberry Jam, along with some crackers, pretzel sticks, and taffy.

Surround the PB&J sandwich with some carrots and grapes and send your kid off to school with a well balanced lunch. Yes, it will take a bit longer than making a plain sandwich, but imagine how your child will react when he or she sees this cute little schoolhouse.

I know how much this special meal would have meant to me when I was young. I loved opening my lunch to find a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with Jif Creamy Peanut Butter and Smucker’s Strawberry Jam in any shape or size, but this would have really made me happy.

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I don’t remember thinking about my mom or how she prepared my lunch while I sat in the cafeteria, giggling with my friends, chomping on a sandwich. Lunch was just lunch. But, if I opened my lunch box to find this special sandwich or a special note from her, I would have stopped for a moment and been reminded of just how much she cared. It would have brightened my day for sure.

I know how busy you are as a mom and getting your kids ready for school is no easy task, but taking a few extra minutes to prepare something fun like this sandwich for their first day back at school is so worth it. If mornings are too rushed, you can get all the decorating done the night before then spread on the Jif Creamy Peanut Butter and Smucker’s Strawberry Jam in the morning. Then pop it into a lunch box or cooler and this special lunch is ready to go.

You can find everything you need to make this Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Schoolhouse at Walmart. 

• sliced bread
• Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
• Smucker’s Strawberry Jam
• a piece of yellow and a piece of red taffy candy
• pretzel sticks

How to make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Schoolhouse

• 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.

• 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 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.

The sandwich looks so cute when packed in a lunch box or on a plate. When I make my sandwiches I always use Jif Peanut Butter and Smucker’s Strawberry Jam. They are better together! Make them your go-to brands for back to school.

Pair the sandwich with your child’s favorite fruit and veggies to round out this meal. Adding a little something sweet, like some gummy butterflies, is a nice touch too.

I look forward to hearing how your kids like their special back-to-school lunches. Leave me a comment below and send me pictures of your sandwiches, if you like, to beth@hungryhappenings.com.