Kids in school need healthy food so that they can stay on top of their schoolwork and get the energy they need to concentrate for the whole day.

Packing your kid’s lunchbox might be a chore sometimes, but if you want your child to grow up healthy and strong you need to make sure he or she gets a proper lunch every single day.

Here are some nutritious and easy to make lunch box ideas that your kid will love.

Remember to include an ice pack with some of these so that they stay fresh until lunchtime.

Pizza Quesadillas

10 kids out of 10 approve of the taste of yummy, cheesy pizza. Here’s a way to make a healthy variation with the same delicious flavors.

Take a normal flour tortilla or a piece of pita bread and put it in a frying pan on medium heat.

Spread some spaghetti sauce over the top, add a sprinkle of grated cheese, and finish it off with meat and chopped vegetables.

Place another tortilla over it and fry it like a grilled cheese sandwich, making sure both sides are brown, until the cheese melts.

Cut it into mini pizza slices and wrap in cling wrap or aluminium foil.

Frozen Fruit Salad

Apples, bananas, and watermelon make for a delicious meal no matter what age you are.

Kids like their fruit cut into pieces for them, so here’s a great way to make a fruit salad that will stay fresh until the lunch bell rings.

Chop up all the fruit the night before and put it in a freezer container, then freeze it overnight.

In the morning, put a bunch into a sealing container and pop it into the lunchbox.

Homemade Lunchables

Lunchables are a type of prepackaged meal that come with divided sets of cheese, lunch meat, and crackers so that kids can make their own mini sandwiches.

If you’ve ever seen these at the grocery store, you might know that they’re a little costly.

To make your own tasty version, use cookie cutters to slice bits of polony/devon (depending on where in Australia you live) or ham and cheese, and buy Jatz crackers.

Put it all together into a divided Tupperware container.

Shaped Sandwiches

Speaking of cookie cutters, if you want to get your kid to eat a regular sandwich, just cut it into a fun shape.

This is healthy and nutritious, but gives the old boring concept a fun new twist.

Stuffed Apple

If your kids are like most, fruit slices that turn brown are worse than global warming.

Instead of slicing the apple, try this: Cut out the core and then stuff the inside with peanut butter (if they are allowed to take it to school!).

Put some raisins or nuts on the top for extra flavor.

Ham and Avocado Sandwiches

Ham and cheese, polony and cheese, chicken and cheese, everything starts to taste the same after awhile.

Mix it up by substituting some of the ingredients with new ones.

Avocado makes an excellent sandwich filling, as do tomatoes.

Mini Muffins

Maybe it’s because they’re smaller than us, but for some reason kids just can’t get enough of “mini” anything.

Maybe it’s because smaller tastes better! Make some mini banana muffins to send to school with your kid.

They’re healthy, and five or six of them make for a pretty filling meal.

Mini Pizza Sub

Once again, mini is mega in your kid’s mind.

Make a miniature sub sandwich with a hotdog bun, tomato sauce, pepperoni slices (or ham), and cheese.

Grill or bake the sandwich until the cheese melts.

The Mexican Twist

Tortillas can be a lifesaver if your kid is getting tired of the same old sandwiches day in and day out.

Take all the normal fillings but wrap them up in a tight flour or wheat tortilla for a healthy alternative.

What are your healthy kids lunch box ideas?