Lunch box / lunch pack recommendations?

[Liz]

Sorry... no idea which section to put this. Didn't seem to fit in the school section, but doesn't really fit in the food section either :/

We had orientation day at 'big school' today and we picked up DS's new school bag etc at the same time. We were talking about lunch boxes, and one of the mums said some people use the everyday plastic lunchboxes, others use the soft packs etc.. but she said things tend to get squashed in the soft packs.

So, what have you got for your kids for their lunch boxes? And in BekZ's thread on lunches I saw there are thermos containers for hot/cold food, which just opens up a whole range of food DS can take to school if we get that haha.

Any recommendations or things to avoid?

Thanks

[Trillian]

Liz, what I use for my kids are one of those insulated Smash brand lunch boxes. They are rectangle and have the two compartments - one bigger one that I can fit a tupperware sandwich keeper in and a smaller section that I use for their recess. I can fit a fair amount of food in there plus ice bricks (just the small ones - one in each compartment) and never had a problem with food getting squashed. I don't worry about packing food that needs to be reheated or kept warm though, it's just too hard to do because their bags are outside all the time and it's easier to keep food cool than it is warm. I also have those smaller smash brand containers - they have one each and it's enough to fit cut up fruit in for them.