If you need a lunchbox to pack lunch for your toddler or big kid to go to daycare, preschool, school, camp, or just a day out of the house, these product picks will help you choose from the best of the best!
I’ve been packing toddler lunches for my girls for years and I’ve learned a lot about what makes a great lunchbox. It comes down to the material you prefer, easy of washing, durability, price, and the sorts of lunches you prefer to pack (warm or cold, mostly). What you choose will depend some on your toddler’s appetite and where they eat lunch of course, but I hope that this helps if you need to pack a lunch but are unsure of which might be the best container to use for your little eater.
Best Lunchboxes for Kids & Toddlers: Easy Lunchboxes Snack Boxes
Perfectly size for a snacky lunch, this affordable set made of BPA-free plastic stacks easily in the closet and are easy to wash. The compartments are perfectly sized for toddlers and they are incredibly handy for packing multiple lunches at once—or for traveling!
Best for: Toddler lunches that don’t need to be reheated, making multiple lunches at once (since you get a set of 4)
Price: $12.95 for a set of 4
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Best Lunchboxes for Kids & Toddlers: Easy Lunchboxes
These heavy-duty BPA-free plastic lunchboxes are incredibly handy: They are easy to stack and store and they’re super affordable. They are fairly large for just a toddler lunch (they’re perfect for age 4 and up though!), but I used these for almost a year packing lunches and two daily snacks for my one year old. I like to put silicone muffin tin liners in the large compartment to hold different foods. These are also great for a full day of traveling since they hold a lot of food in a compact container.
Best for: Packing a day’s worth of food in one container, lunches for kids (and adults!) 4+
Price: $13.95 for 4
P.S. There are a few copycat versions of the Easy Lunchboxes and they are NOT as good. They leak and break easily, from what I’ve heard, so go with the real brand!
Best Lunchboxes for Kids & Toddlers: OmieBox Bento Box
With an insulated 7.5 ounce center compartment to keep cold foods cold and warm foods warm, this is a great option for packing daily lunches with a mix of temperatures. (And it’s easy to clean since the insulated compartment comes out!) So you could pack warm pasta alongside cold fruit and sides. Genius! And on days when you don’t need the insulated part, you can simply remove it and pack a sandwich or whatever you like to put there.
Best for: Packing lunches with some warm food and some cold food, all in one box.
Price: $39.50
Best Lunchboxes for Kids & Toddlers: Lunchbots 8 oz Thermos
This small insulated thermos is perfect for pasta, soup, oatmeal, pizza rolls, rice and beans and more. I know that everyone always thinks that thermoses are just for soup, but I’ve actually never once used it for soup! It’s a good size for toddlers (you may not need to fill it all the way for littler ones) and it’s super durable. My husband and I share ours with the kids!
Best for: Packing occasional hot lunches, being able to pack a larger portion of the main hot (or cold) food.
Price: $24.99
Best Lunchboxes for Kids & Toddlers: Lunchbots Trio, $21.99 (top right)
The LunchBots Trio stainless steel container is perfectly sized for a toddler appetite. It won’t hold liquids, but it’s otherwise a great option for little eaters.It’s easy to clean and it’s small, so it packs into a backpack, insulated lunch bag, or a diaper bag nicely. It’s also affordable for a stainless steel model. I do wish that the top snapped on more securely, but otherwise, we love it.
If you’re looking for containers that can be warmed up, I recommend Wean Green glass containers. If you’re looking for a Planetbox stainless steel lunchbox, I like the Shuttle, though I think these are better for older kids. (They’re fairly large and heavy for toddlers.)
Need ideas for what to pack? Here are 25 Toddler Lunch Ideas for Daycare and my Master List of Toddler Lunchbox Ideas.
Do you have a favorite lunchbox? Tell me in the comments, I’d love to hear!
In preparation for preschool, I just posed this question to a group of FB friends. Everyone uses the Pottery Barn lunchbags with inserts. I wonder how they are…. Ditto the bento boxes like Yumbox. We have and like the Lunchbots now, though I wish the lid was hinged, too. This school is weirdly glass-free (but they reheat on regular plates). I just want to find the one perfect thing and use it forever….!
Interesting. I don’t know anyone who uses the Pottery Barn one, though it looks a lot like a regular Planet Box. Do they actually serve the food on plates at the school? Meaning that she doesn’t eat out of the lunchbox? If you just need something to get the food to school, I’d probably go with the Easy Lunchboxes since they are affordable and durable…I would think that she’d have a lot of feelings about the bag that lunchbox goes in once she gets to elementary school, so I’m not sure I’d place too much emphasis on that aspect at this point.
They take the food out, reheat on china, and put it back in the original receptacle. Haha, whatever happened to tinfoil and saran wrap, ya know? I want a system! LOL.
Try these 9 innovative and healthy lunchbox ideas to make lunch-packing a pleasurable and fun-filled exercise!
https://www.parentcircle.com/article/9-best-lunchbox-ideas-for-children/