What Planet Box are you from?

Last year, I came across Planet Box when I was looking for easy to open kids' lunch boxes.  I have been a traditionalist for the most part, choosing the simple pack style that holds their water bottles, lunch and snack items. I did upgrade from the annoyingly poorly manufactured character bags to the more indestructible Land's End brand.  My boys beat up their lunch boxes.

But Planet Box was expensive; I had a hard time justifying spending 40-60 bucks on a lunch system.  So I passed, not thinking of it until this past summer when I really needed and wanted to purchase new lunch boxes.  I had been using these plastic Bento-type containers, which I am sure were not BPA free, since they were close to 7 years old.  And the guilt was getting to me.  Not to mention that the boys are creatures of redundancy when it came to what went in their lunches.

So, I sucked it up and figured to give it shot.  I hoped that it was worth its cost....

I am happy to say they were.

Planet Boxes are a system, a lifestyle I dare say.  They are stainless steel units that have an easy clasp to open and close.  Mudge, the preschooler, can easily lock and unlock the unit.  They come in two sizes, Launch and Rover.  Rover, what we have, has 5 small compartment units to help provide spots for smaller portions of a variety of foods.  Launch has fewer compartments but they are bigger for larger portions.  I chose the Complete Rover kit, because it comes with your choice of insulated carry bag, 2 dipping units, and your magnet choice. The magnets are the cool parts that can totally customize your unit, cheaply.  Mudge has ocean theme and Boog has skateboard.  But I am thinking for Chrismakkah, to order a few more since the magnets themselves are only $3.95 a pop.  Then the boys can interchange the magnets depending on their moods.

When they came in, within a week of ordering, I have to say I was excited.  And so were the boys.  They were so intrigued that Mudge insisted to eat supper in it that evening.

What I love about the Planet Box is its visual cue for me to provide an ecclectic-as-I-can be lunch for the boys.  I am more conscious, as are they, about eating a rainbow.  It fits a Danimals yogurt drink, fruits and veggies, a mini treat (like yogurt raisins or m&ms) and the sandwich of their choice.  My boys have been coming home with less and less leftovers in their boxes, which has been a real plus.

Not only are they sturdy, easy to clean, but they are helping me teach my kids portion control, healthy eating habits, and green(ish) living.  They have cut down on my morning prep time, as we often make lunches at night.  I really feel that they will last, and hope they will out grow the boys so I have the chance to use them :).  For us, it really did provide a bang for the buck.