The Goodbyn has got to be the worst lunchbox ever made. I spent $35 (CDN) on it and I struggle to close the lid let alone having my 6 year old daughter do it. There is absolutely no way that she would be able to take this to school. Whoever the product testers were on this item should lose their jobs.

i have to agree with the former commenter about the goodbyn. it's horrible. i sent it to school with my daughter twice last year and it was very difficult to get the lid to stay shut. after a while we couldn't get the top part shut at all! and the drink container that comes with it leaks.

How come the Lunch Bots are not here? I just got one for my kindergartner.

These seem mighty cool for grownups, but I'd say are the least fun lunchboxes out there, from a kid's perspective. We have the Skip Hop lunchbox (the bee) and it is so cute, and kids just love it.

We have a Planetbox and it's great. The interior is not that exciting, but the outside has kid friendly magnets that are cute without cutesy. It would really easy to customize too, some of those sticky magnet sheets and an exacto knife and you're in business. Aside from all of the other things I love about it, the planetbox is great because it can grow with your kid. It was great for my kindergartener last year and will still be fine when he's in fifth grade.

I have the Zojirushi Mini Bento for my own use and LOVE it. I grew up with Zojirushi lunch boxes and can't say enough good things about them.

I agree about the Goodbyn. I saw it at a store that sells discounted goods and had a horrible time trying to close it. What a piece of crap!

We have the lunch totes by built:
http://www.builtny.com/gourmet-getaway-lunch-tote-prod.html

The scuba material they're made of insulates and can be washed in the washing machine (they hang to dry and are ready to use again by morning). Inside we have a variety of tempered glass storage containers.

These still look brand new after two years and my kids take a lunch every day.

We love the Planetbox too! My daughter gets lots of complements at school, even though she is one of 3 in her whole kindergarten class that brings their own lunch. It's easy to pack and the bag you can get with it is great too. Even though I debated spending the money it was totally worth it. I've heard good things about Happy Tiffin as well.

We use the Go Green lunchbox. I researched exhaustedly last year and they are affordable at $30some a piece. I even just headed a fundraiser selling them to the students at school because we wanted to reduce the lunchtime waste. Overall, we really like them.

We have the Oots for our 2-year old's daycare lunches. The system works well, but the outside of the box has gotten nasty looking. The material on it peels and takes on scuff marks that are impossible to get rid of. Sad for something that is so pricey.

saskatchewan - what brand of tempered glass do you use? I've been looking at replacing some our plastic.

Well, while there *are* a lot of mighty cute options for lunch boxes, I think that instead of accepting the inevitability of decades of packing lunches and trying to make the best of it, we should be rising up, and revolting from the tyranny!

Seriously.

Living in Europe has convinced me... Here, my children get proper 3-course hot meals at lunch -- soup or another starter, a main hot course with sides of vegetables and/or grains or pastas, along with a salad, and dessert. Everyone eats together, teachers along with kids (this is adult food, no chicken nuggets or other attempts to pander to a childish palate); this is serious food.

And you know what? After a sufficient number of these school meals, kids stop being picky. I've known more little boys than I can count who started eating salad because, well, everyone else did at school...

Also interesting is how in the whole school, there is only a single child who is slightly overweight, and not a single obese child.

This article describes what lunch is like for my kids -- except that we are in Switzerland (and so the meat or fish is Swiss, and if not, they tell you where it is from), you cannot opt out (children MUST eat the prepared lunch at school -- children with allergies are accommodated), there is no cheese course (alas! although they do get some for snacks), and there are no helpful suggestions about what to serve for dinner. But otherwise, it is the same. And it is delicious.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1967060,00.html

Really, why do we not do this for our kids in North America? If the Europeans can do it, we can do it too.

I really like the zojirushi lunch box. I have one and I like how I can change the size of the bag. The thermos are great too. I did a review on this lunchbox on my blog http://www.kitchencorners.com/2008/12/zojirushi-mini-bento-stainless-lunch.html

Just got these after using a laptop lunch box for 3 years. Less to wash and because they are inexpensive, you can get several to rotate instead of washing every night. http://www.easylunchboxes.com/