nursery packed lunches - children eating food

Published April 7, 2025 Written by NDNA

Nursery packed lunches: things to consider

Nursery packed lunches requires careful thought to ensure meals are safe, nutritious, and enjoyable.

The following key considerations will help create a positive and supportive mealtime experience for every child in your nursery.

Share your expectations with parents through your Nutrition and Mealtimes Policy.

Where to store nursery packed lunches

Ensure you provide a designated storage area to keep packed lunches cool throughout the day.

Lunchbox guidelines for nursery parents

Encourage parents to use insulated lunch bags and ice packs where refrigeration isn’t available. Ask parents to use easy-to-open containers that promote children’s independence and request that all lunchboxes and containers are clearly marked with their child’s name.

Eating equipment in nurseries

Ensure children have access to appropriate cutlery, such as spoons for yoghurts and forks for salads and keep a small supply of spare cutlery in case children forget to bring their own.

Eating facilities for babies in nurseries

To support parents of babies, signpost them to NHS Start for Life weaning advice and support your younger children with feeding, ensuring a calm and comfortable experience.

Healthy eating in early years settings

The packed lunch needs to be nutritious. You could signpost parents to NHS lunchbox ideas and recipes and Food for Life’s packed lunches guidance.

Ensure you encourage a variety of nutritious foods that are easy for children to eat independently.

Allergy awareness and dietary requirements in nurseries

Refer to your Allergies and Allergic Reactions Policy to keep all children safe from allergens such as nuts, dairy, or eggs
You may choose to have a peanut-free environment due to serious risk of anaphylactic shock for children with severe peanut allergies
Ensure staff are fully aware of individual children’s dietary needs and prevent cross-contamination
Communicate with parents about any food restrictions within your setting
Ensure seating is monitored for children with allergies
Consider whether staff will sit with children who have allergies and, if appropriate, discuss food allergies with the children and the potential risks
Inform parents that children’s lunch boxes are checked prior to giving the contents to the children to ensure any risks from potential allergens or choking hazards are managed

Choking hazards and safe eating practices in early years settings

Encourage parents to pack age-appropriate foods, avoiding choking risks such as whole grapes, popcorn, or large chunks of food. You can refer to the ‘Early years choking hazards advice’ from Food Standards Agency here.

Provide parents with guidance on safe food preparation, such as cutting grapes and cherry tomatoes in half and lengthways.

Ensure staff follow guidance when supervising mealtimes and support safe eating habits, such as chewing food properly and sitting while eating.

Creating a positive mealtime experience in nurseries

Reassure parents that they are not required to provide a drink with their child’s packed lunch. Water is the best drink for children with food, so ensure that you provide water at every mealtime in your nursery. You may wish to inform parents that any other drinks brought to nursery will not be given to their child, as they will have adequate access to fresh water. Ensure children who need to be seated in different spaces to avoid cross contamination of food are not labelled or singled out.

Support children in developing independence by staff sitting with them, where possible, to model eating, behaviour, opening containers etc.

Ensure you provide gentle encouragement for children to try new foods in a pressure-free way and offer help opening containers and encourage children to eat suitable portions.

Providing drinks in early years settings

It’s important to ensure you provide water at mealtimes in nurseries. The Nursery Milk Scheme entitles children under five to receive 189ml (⅓ pint) of milk each day, free of charge too, find out more about the England/Wales Nursery Milk Scheme here and the Scotland Nursery Milk Scheme here.

Training and reminders

Staff are made aware of the basic food hygiene standards and personal hygiene as set out in your Healthy Workplace Policy
Refer to the Food Standards Agency
Access FREE Food Allergy and Intolerance Training
Complete Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene Training
Ensure staff supervising mealtimes have completed the full 12 hour Paediatric First Aid (PFA) certificate, which covers choking and anaphylaxis (note that the 6 hour Emergency PFA does not include anaphylaxis training)
Regularly review your practice, discuss with your staff team how your packed lunch approach is working, and carry out parent surveys to ensure ongoing effectiveness

Further information and support for nursery packed lunches

Help for early years providers: Food safety
Help for early years providers: Nutrition
NDNA Factsheet – Healthy Eating
Nutrition for toddlers and pre-schoolers
Setting the table guidance (while this guidance is for Scotland, it is relevant for all early years providers).

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