Forget Boring Bread

Revamping your child's school lunch may be as easy as changing up the bread you use for their sandwiches. Instead of the same wheat bread day in and day out, try one of these fun alternatives:

• Small bagels, or bagel bread;
• Flat "deli" rounds, like those from Pepperidge Farm or Arnold Select;
• Pita pockets;
• English muffins or English muffin bread;
• Croissants;
• Rice cakes; and
• Gourmet breads like banana bread or homemade zucchini bread.

Kids love finger foods that are easy to grab and fun to eat. Use soft tortillas to create wraps or rollups using sliced turkey, cheese, guacamole and lettuce. Make sure the wrap is tightly rolled to prevent it from falling apart and cut into kid-friendly pieces, or wrap in aluminum foil and show your child how to unwrap as they eat to prevent spillage.

Alternatives to Peanut Butter & Jelly

The peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a quintessential American school lunch staple, but even the classics get a little dull after a while. Mix it up by trying something new, like peanut butter with honey and bananas, honey peanut butter, cashew butter, hazelnut butter or almond butter.

Or, take a break from peanut butter altogether and try sandwiches made with new and interesting flavor combinations that will delight and possibly even expand your child's palate:

• Fresh veggies and vegetable cream cheese;
• Turkey and diced avocado; or
• Light cream cheese and jam.