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Make your little one’s lunch box extra special during the holidays with these festive Christmas lunch box ideas! They’re loaded with lots of fresh fruit and veggies to make them extra delicious, and are a fun alternative to your regular rotation. Your child will be so excited to see what you packed each day!
Christmas Lunch Ideas for Kids
Make those December lunch boxes extra exciting this year! The Christmas lunch box ideas below are all packed with healthy foods to keep your child energized all day, while featuring lots of fun Christmas designs to make them extra special.
This is a great way to make sure your little ones are eating well balanced meals, especially during this more indulgent time of the year!
Try these Cold Lunch Ideas or Vegetarian Lunch Ideas for Kids too!
Why We Love These Christmas Themed Lunch Ideas
- Fun to eat (and make): The kids will absolutely love these fun lunches with all the cute faces and holiday decorations! It’s fun to take a moment to add cute little eyes to a sandwich or turn veggies into ornaments. These meals are like food art (but it’s real, delicious food your kids will actually want to eat)!
- Lots of healthy options: Each of these themed lunches is formulated by a mom and dietitian to make sure they are high in fiber and protein with healthy fats as needed. You’ll see lots of fruits, veggies, and whole grains, and the only added sugar comes from a little chocolate here and there!
- Great make-ahead options: Take a minute to prep these lunches on the weekend and serve up adorable treats all week long! It’ll feel great to just pop everything in the lunchbox and go!
CHRISTMAS LUNCH BOX IDEAS
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Required Supplies
- Bento-box style lunch boxes (I used the Yumbox for the lunches pictured)
- Cookie cutters (letters, gingerbread, stars, etc.)
- Small skewers
- Small containers for dips and sauces
- Round sandwich cutter (or use a glass)
Best Christmas Lunch Box Ideas for Kids
1. Cream Cheese Snowman Bagel
This adorable snowman has an iconic carrot nose with a variety of sliced fruits for the rest of his features. Use star-shaped cookie cutters to make regular cucumber slices into something so exciting!
Featured in this lunch box:
- Snowman bagel: Spread half a whole grain bagel with cream cheese. Stick on strawberry slices and halved green grapes for ear muffs, blueberries for eyes, cucumber wedges for mouth and place a carrot in the center of the bagel for the snowman’s nose.
- Cucumber stars + hummus
- Raspberries + strawberries + green grapes
2. Gingerbread Man Sandwich
Kids of all ages will lose it over this adorable gingerbread man! It’s a fun twist on a PB & J with chocolate seed butter, and the red and green apple slices fit the festive theme so well.
Featured in this lunch box:
- Gingerbread man sandwich: In the center of one piece of bread, cut out a mini gingerbread man using a cookie cutter. Spread another piece of bread with preferred seed or nut butter (we used this chocolate seed butter for a nut-free option). Place the piece of bread with the cut out on top of the piece of bread with the spread. Decorate the gingerbread man with a few sprinkles or desired edible decorations.
- Cut cucumber slices using a mini star cookie cutter.
- Arrange red and green slices of apple in a pattern.
3. Holiday Pasta Salad with Snowman Truffle
You can’t go wrong with a festive pasta salad and chicken tossed in for extra protein. The cheese letters are so cheerful! You could easily follow this trick on other seasonal salads, too. The snowman truffles will really grab your kid’s attention, too. This a colorful, balanced meal any kid will devour.
Featured in this lunch box:
- Festive pasta salad: Make Greek pasta salad or this 4 Ingredient Pasta Salad using preferred noodles (we used fiber-enriched fusilli pasta) and toss in some cherry tomatoes, olives, feta, leftover diced chicken and cut out cucumber stars using a mini star cookie cutter. Toss with Greek or Mediterranean dressing. Use letter cookie cutters to cut out the word “Ho Ho” (or desired word) from a mozzarella cheese slice.
- Green grapes + pomegranate seeds
- Popcorn
- Snowman Truffle
4. Holiday Yogurt Bowl
This seasonal lunch box idea is perfect for snackers! The yogurt is decorated with pomegranate seeds and star-shaped melon pieces for a little fun, and the rest can be eaten as finger food. I love using cookie cutters to make these tortilla pieces a little bit more fun!
Featured in this lunch box:
- Greek yogurt (can use plain or vanilla) with honey melon stars and pomegranate seeds arranged in the shape of a wreath.
- Cheerios
- Extra pomegranate seeds
- Snap pea crisps (fresh snap peas are a good alternative too))
- Tortillas cut into Christmas trees using small Christmas tree cookie cutter
5. Pita Christmas Tree with Chocolate Raspberries
This colorful pita wedge is a great example of how to make a packed lunch more exciting! It’s just a slice of pita with tzatziki sauce, but the toppings are arranged to make a little Christmas tree.
Save the work and have your kids assemble these trees for their own lunches! Your kids will fall in love with the chocolate-stuffed raspberries, too. They’re such an easy recipe and so much fun to eat!
Featured in this lunch box:
- Pita Christmas trees: Spread a layer of tzatziki over a pita wedge. Decorate with finely diced green, yellow and red pepper, leftover diced chicken, and sprinkle of crumbled feta cheese. Use pretzel sticks for the trunk and cut mini stars out of yellow pepper using a mini star cookie cutter.
- Red and green pepper strips
- Raspberries stuffed with white chocolate chips
- Greek yogurt topped with pomegranate seeds
6. Christmas Star Crackers
Sometimes, kids just want snacky finger foods like crackers and cheese! Use your star cutter to turn regular cheese slices into a festive treat. This trick works with any cheese that is slightly soft, like cheddar cheese or provolone cheese.
You can also send little slices of deli meat for your kids to make mini sandwiches (like a DIY lunchable). Don’t forget the red and green veggies for the holiday colors!
Featured in this lunch box:
- Whole grain crackers topped with cheese stars
- Kiwi + strawberries + pomegranate seeds
- Cucumber slices + red pepper strips + tzatziki (or preferred dip)
7. Reindeer Sandwich
This trick is a great way to turn any sandwich into a holiday treat! Use a round cutter and add fruits and broken pretzels to create a fun reindeer face. The kids love the little red nose for Rudolph!
You could easily use this same trick with roast chicken or turkey sandwiches to add a little extra protein. The chocolate-covered strawberry penguins are a great way to offer a healthier sweet treat and have a little extra fun, too.
Featured in this lunch box:
- Rudolf sandwich: Cut out a large circle from two pieces of bread. Spread with your preferred nut or seed butter and jam (we used chia jam). Used some of the spread to stick on blueberry eyes and a raspberry nose. Place some pretzels broken to resemble antlers underneath Rudolf’s head on each side.
- Mini star skewers with sliced cucumbers and cherry tomatoes
- Chocolate covered strawberry penguins
Keep scrolling for more lunch box tips!
LUNCH BOX TIPS
- Some of these designs need to stay put during transport, like the pita tree or the Rudolph sandwich. One option is to gently place a layer of plastic wrap over the design and then fill a plastic sandwich bag with air. Press it over the plastic wrap to gently hold the food in place.
- It can be time-consuming to make all of these completely from scratch each day! Work ahead by preparing your special treats (like the snowmen truffles), fruits, and vegetables on the weekend. Store everything in the fridge, then grab and serve. You might find having fruits and veggies prepared in the fridge gets your kids to eat more of them during snack time, too!
- Pick and choose! I get it. Life is busy, so don’t feel pressured to make all of these ideas if you don’t have time. These Christmas lunch box ideas are designed to give you inspiration, so feel free to mix and match or come up with your own design! You could also add some cute Christmas lunchbox notes too!
- These lunch ideas are intended for taking to school or daycare, but you could easily offer them as a small healthy lunch on Christmas Day before the big meal.
- These are all cold lunch ideas, so you’ll need an ice pack to help keep all of the items cool. Check out the best ice pack for lunch boxes here!
- Stock up on some cute cookie cutters! This is a really easy way to spice up any lunch or snack and doesn’t take long at all. You can use them on a variety of foods, like cheese, meats, cucumbers, carrots, butternut squash and more. I like to keep the alphabet on hand and stars, plus a few fun seasonal shapes, like Santa, Christmas trees, snowmen, reindeer, etc.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, these are all cold lunchbox options, so they can easily be prepped in advance, although some you may prefer to prepare the night before or morning of to keep them as fresh as possible. Be sure to store them in the fridge to keep them nice and fresh. They’ll typically last for 3-4 days.
Although you can easily prepare meals with holiday flavors, like roast beef or ham, many kids aren’t a big fan of those traditional Christmas dinner flavors. I prefer to keep my lunches similar to what I normally serve, like sandwiches, pasta salad, yogurt, wraps, and pitas, but I add fun colors and details to make them more festive and exciting.
So, instead of serving regular apple slices, thinly slice both red and green apples and alternate them together for a colorful snack. Add faces to sandwiches or bagels to look like reindeer or snowmen. Use cookie cutters to trim ordinary tortillas or cheese into stars, Christmas trees, and more. Focus on serving colorful, fun food, and make sure you offer lots of fruits and veggies!
This is a tough one because there are a few things to consider. Parents often worry that their kids will end up eating just the sweets and leave the rest behind. I prefer to include a little something sweet most days, but try to offer healthier options whenever possible.
Typically, I like to serve lots of fresh fruit and add a little chocolate here and there. We also like to dip strawberries in chocolate or stuff chocolate chips into raspberries. This little touch of sweetness is perfectly fine to offer as part of a balanced meal and helps kids learn that all foods can fit.
More Holiday Lunch Ideas
If you want even more festive ideas, feel free to incorporate any of the following into your child’s lunch box or any holiday lunch!
- Green Apple Christmas Tree
- Watermelon Christmas Trees
- Christmas Fruit Wreath
- Santa Pancakes with Strawberries
- Banana Snowmen
Storage Guidelines
- Store the ingredients for the lunches in airtight containers in the fridge for 3-4 days. Some of the items are best prepared the night before or morning of, such as the strawberry penguins since these have the best taste and presentation when served within 24 hours.
- You can also assemble the lunch boxes and refrigerate them if you have multiple containers.
healthy little bites
Want more ideas for homemade snacks and treats? Get my ebook Healthy Little Bites for 40 delicious make-ahead snacks and meals that you can keep in your freezer and serve anytime!
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