A packed lunch for a child has to do three things: keep for a few hours without a fridge, be eaten by the child without help, and actually get eaten. That means cheese sandwiches rather than liver pâté, an apple rather than a banana, cucumber sticks rather than salad, water rather than squash, and everything in packaging a four-year-old can open alone.
Outing day at förskola (municipal preschool, from age one) always comes with the note: bring a packed lunch (matsäck). And every parent makes the same mistake the first time: too much, too new and in a box the child cannot open. Here is what works, from nannies who have packed hundreds of lunches for Hagaparken, Skansen and the woods behind the preschool.
The basic packed lunch
- Two small sandwiches, cut into quarters, with cheese or ham. Not cream cheese, not liver pâté, not mayonnaise.
- A fruit that survives knocks. Apple, clementine, pear. Not banana, not strawberries.
- Vegetable sticks. Cucumber, carrot, pepper. In a small tub.
- Water in a bottle the child can open.
- Something small and extra. Two biscuits, a square of dark chocolate for the older ones, a little bag of raisins.
That is all. A packed lunch with five things in it gets eaten; one with ten gets opened, rummaged through and left. Children on an outing are busy with other things and eat because the teacher says so, for ten minutes, on a blanket. Whatever you pack has to be edible in ten minutes, sitting on the ground, without cutlery.
By age
| Age | Add | Leave out |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 years | Soft bread, boiled egg in pieces, soft-cooked carrot, välling (Swedish cereal drink) | Whole grapes, whole nuts, hard pieces that can get stuck in the throat |
| 3 to 5 years | Cheese cubes, melon pieces, a yoghurt with a spoon | Anything that has to be opened with scissors |
| 6 to 9 years | A more substantial sandwich, a boiled egg, fruit, biscuits | Nothing, but do not pack more than they can carry |
| 10 and up | Let them pack it themselves from the list | Your supervision |
What survives a day in the bag
| Keeps well | Keeps a few hours | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Hard cheese, crispbread, apple, carrot, biscuits, raisins | Soft sandwich with cheese, boiled egg, cucumber, yoghurt with an ice pack | Liver pâté, mayonnaise, chicken, cream cheese, banana |
Five ready-made packed lunches
| Occasion | Pack | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Förskola outing, morning | Two cheese sandwiches, clementine, cucumber, water, two biscuits | Gets eaten at ten. Less than you think. |
| A full day at Skansen or in Hagaparken | The basic lunch plus crispbread with cheese, a boiled egg, another fruit, an extra bottle of water | Two eating breaks: eleven and two. Pack in two bags. |
| Car journey | Crispbread, cheese cubes, apple wedges, cucumber sticks, water | Nothing that crumbles, drips or smells. A snack every two hours. |
| Winter outing, sledging or skating | Hot chocolate in a flask, sandwich, clementine, biscuits | Cold fingers cannot manage a tub with a lid. Thin gloves on. |
| The beach in summer | Watermelon in pieces, cucumber, crispbread, water, ice pack | No cheese in the sun. Keep the bag in the shade. |
The packaging
A box with a lid the child can open alone, tested at home. Small tubs for anything that drips. No foil, no bags tied in a knot. Sandwiches in sandwich paper the child can unfold. And a name on everything, because every packed lunch looks the same in a pile on a blanket.
The box also has to close again with half the contents still in it, because that is how it comes home. And the child has to be able to carry the bag alone: a small rucksack with the lunch at the bottom and a rain jacket on top. Heavy water bottles go in the adult's bag.
Travel, car and train
Same principle, but more of it: what works in the car is whatever does not crumble, drip or smell. Crispbread, cheese cubes, apple wedges, cucumber sticks and water. Add a snack every two hours, because children in cars are hungry every thirty kilometres. On the train you can bring more, since there is a table, but still steer clear of anything that stains. More on long journeys in our guide to Travelling with children.
Allergies and förskola rules
Many preschools and schools in Stockholm are nut-free, and that applies to what you pack at home too. Skip nuts, almonds, peanut butter and muesli bars with nuts in anything going to förskola. If there is a child with another allergy in the group, the preschool usually says so on the outing note. Ask if you are unsure; it is a question the staff would much rather get than an incident on a blanket in the woods.
Winter and cold
In winter the rules change. What would otherwise keep cool freezes, and a frozen clementine is no joy to anyone. Pack a flask of hot chocolate or warm squash, sandwiches in paper inside the jacket or deep in the bag, and something that can be eaten with mittens on: crispbread in pieces, cheese cubes, biscuits. The sledging hill and the ice take more energy than a summer outing, so here it can be a little more than usual. And eat before the fingers get cold, not after: a child with cold hands does not want to hold a sandwich, it wants to go home.
Common mistakes
- Too much. Half comes home. Pack as for a snack, not a lunch.
- Too new. The outing is the wrong day to try hummus. Pack what the child ate on Tuesday.
- Squash. Sticky hands, wasps, and nobody drinking water for the rest of the day.
- Yoghurt without a spoon. And a spoon without yoghurt. Tape the spoon to the pot.
- The box that will not open. Test it at home. A three-year-old who cannot get the box open waits quietly for ten minutes until someone notices.
How we do it with our families
If the nanny is with you the evening before an outing, she packs the lunch, and she packs it so the child can manage it alone. That is the whole secret: a child who can open the box, hold the sandwich and knows what is in it eats. A child who needs the teacher for everything waits. Doaa, who has been with us since February 2025, lets the four-year-old she picks up choose the fruit herself the evening before, and writes the child's name on the box with the child beside her. The next morning the child knows exactly what is in the bag, and that is the child who eats it all.
Would you like a nanny who comes on the same days every week and whom the children know? Book a free first meeting with the nanny in your home, and we will work out a plan around your hours.
Read more: Things to do with kids in Stockholm · Food for children · Food children actually like · Prices
Frequently asked questions
What should go in a packed lunch for a förskola outing?
Sandwiches with a filling that keeps, such as cheese, a fruit that does not get squashed, such as an apple or a clementine, something to drink, ideally water, and something small and extra, such as a couple of biscuits. Everything in pieces the child can handle alone, in a box the child can open alone.
How do you keep a packed lunch cool?
A small ice pack or a frozen juice carton between the sandwiches. Avoid mayonnaise, liver pâté and cream cheese on warm days. Cheese, an egg boiled that morning and vegetables keep well for a few hours. A cool bag is rarely necessary for a morning outing, but good for a full day in the sun.
What do the children drink?
Water. Squash and juice put sugar on the teeth and make hands sticky, and the youngest spill. A bottle with a spout the child can open alone, and only half full for the smallest so it is not too heavy to lift.
What do you do with a child who will not eat a packed lunch?
Pack what the child usually eats at home, not something new. Three small things the child recognises beat one big new one. And expect the outing lunch to be eaten at ten o'clock, whenever lunch was meant to be. A child who has not eaten on the outing eats all the more at snack time.
Are nuts allowed in a packed lunch?
Most preschools and schools in Stockholm are nut-free, and that includes food brought from home. Skip nuts, almonds and peanut butter in anything going to förskola, and ask if in doubt. On your own outings, nuts are good energy for children from four, but no whole nuts for the smallest.