Back To School with Munchkin Bento Mealtime Sets

This year is an epic for us academically and boy no.3 is playing a major part by starting on his first year at school, and like his bigger siblings he'll be taking a packed lunch. Over the past 15 years none of  my children have ever eaten cooked school dinners, so I've prepared around 42 gazillion packed lunches (approx).

I've always felt that sending a tiny 4 year old (even if they are very nearly 5) to school with a huge bag of crisps, a big apple and a sandwich rattling around in a big lunchbox was a bit intimidating and destined to make them get the evil eye from the dinner lady as they're still sitting there 30 minutes later wading through it.

Muchkin have sent us a lovely Click Lock™ Bento Mealtime Set which is perfect for a new starter at school. It has secure 'Click Lock' clips at the sides to hold on the main lid securely, and interior sections each with their own lid.

This Bento has two small and one large compartments, and the lids are securely fitting, but still easy for a child to remove. They will keep your foods fresh and airtight, so your prepared fruit won't go brown, and your breads will stay soft. It has a clip on spoon and fork which hopefully won't get lost, and is available in 3 colours - green, blue or pink. There is even a space on the bottom for your child's name.

Bento are becoming popular and are ideal for smaller and more sensibly sized portions, and also encourage us to add more interesting and unusual items that we might not think of, or just don't include because of mess or problems with storage or transportation.

I've chosen to show lunch ingredients my children are used to, rather than a far more exotic and adventurous design like this one by ET Speaks From Home, but if it was a special occasion or an evening meal then I would definitely go more to town.

 

I think this Bento is a great idea. My youngest boys have eaten their lunch from it for 2 days and they felt as if they were having a special meal. They ate their food more quickly than normal, and ate well, including having extra fruit and cheese sticks.  

The only thing that isn't perfect about this lunchbox is that it's a tiny bit shallow, I'd like it to be taller as most yogurts or a whole clementine won't fit and sometimes my son doesn't eat everything and if it was 'open' he'd feel obligated. Otherwise I think it's a brilliant design and excellent for young children or even older ones. 

The Munchkin Click Lock™ Bento Mealtime Set is microwavable and freezer safe and is priced at £7.99. For stockists visit www.munchkin.com.