
A free printable with 40 lunch box jokes (plus a blank page for special notes!) to help you get ready for back-to-school madness and bring a smile to your kids’ faces.
I’m not good at lying, so I’m not going to pretend here. I am not prepared for the school year to start. I know that a lot of the country is already back in the swing of things, but my girls have another few weeks before the big yellow bus comes rolling down our street. And I’m not so good with the whole preparedness thing (although sometimes I really do try).
That’s sort of my problem: a lack of preparation. I always have good intentions, but my complete and utter lack of preparation sidelines my big plans more often than not. I’m really good at making lists of things to do. But the getting started part? Not so much.
So I’m going to try to be better this year. And I’m going to start with Ellie’s lunchbox.
A few years ago I got into the habit of tucking little notes into Samantha’s lunchbox. Sometimes they said I love you or told her to have a fabulous day. Sometimes they were song lyrics that were stuck in my head that I knew would make her laugh. And sometimes they were jokes. She loved getting notes every day and especially loved trying to see if she could figure out the answers to the jokes.
The problem?
Some mornings (OK, most mornings) I was running a little behind schedule and didn’t have time to look up funny jokes that I could sneak into her lunchbox. I kept telling myself that at some point I’d take a half hour or so to scour the internet and make a list that I could refer to. Life happens and I never got to it—but the mom guilt sure as shit got me.
This year, Samantha is heading into middle school and she would be horrified if I stuck a note in her lunchbox. Ellie, however, is not embarrassed by expressions of maternal love just yet.
The solution? A set of free printable lunchbox jokes!
To get myself in the preparation zone, I put together a list of 40 silly jokes and made a free printable so you can use them too. I even included a blank page for days when you want to write in your own special note or drawing. Or, you know, until Ellie can read a little bit better.
Click here to have them delivered directly to your inbox. All you have to do next is print them out (do it on card stock if you have any—it stands up to spills better!), cut them, and leave them in the kitchen for days when time is not exactly on your side—which is juuuuust about every day for me.
Here’s a sample page:
Looking for more free printables for your kids? Try these:
- Random Acts of Kindness Cards
- 3 Fun, Free Kids Printables: BINGO, Restaurant Checks, and Comic Strips
- 30 Picture Books Your Family is Guaranteed to Love (with a library card printable!)
For more back to school DIY inspiration, check out these ideas from some other creative ladies:
4. For My Love Of 5. Home. Made. Interest. 6. Restless Arrow
7. Little Red Brick House 8. Little House Of Four 9. Cuddles and Chaos
10. Our House Now A Home 11. Kent Heartstrings 12. The DIY Mommy
13. Curly Crafty Mom 14. Houseologie 15. Canary Street Crafts
This is such a cute idea, Jen! So great to discover your blog through the blog hop! Have a great day!
Thanks Sarah!
These are perfect, Jen! Such a cute idea!!
Thank you, Amy! I know my daughter will love them!
What a fun idea…..I bet the kids will love finding these in their lunch every day 🙂
Thanks Kat! I know my daughter and her friends used to look forward to figuring out the jokes together at lunch last year!
I love these, now that my daughter is going into first grade and reading I can up my notes. I always gave her something, but usually hearts with I love you or something. But jokes is a great idea. I am going to print these out for sure!
My younger daughter is in preschool so I was just thinking after this post went live that I should think of something that works in a pinch for her too. I’m not sure what yet, but the brainstorming has begun!
I hope your daughter likes these as much as mine does!
Jen, I love this idea :)!
Thanks Mari! If you end up using them, let me know! 🙂
Cute! My kiddos will love these!
Thanks Leigh Anne! Most of them have been pre-approved by my 8 year old, so I hope they’re a hit! 😉
Love these jokes! I think any kid would want these in their lunch boxes.
Thanks Emily!
These are GREAT! Thanks for sharing the free printable. I’m totally the same as you – horrible in the preparedness department. 😉
Haha! Glad to know I’m not alone, Christina!
What a fun idea! I love it!
Thanks Sara!
I love the idea of making these up ahead and the graphic designer in me loves how adorable they look! I have NEVER done notes in my son’s lunch box, but now that my daughter will be doing lunches next year, too… maybe I should surprise them with some every so often! Great idea! Thanks!
I started off saying that I would just write a little note once in awhile to surprise her, but my daughter got really into it and started looking forward to them. She would come home from school and say all scoldingly “You forgot to write me a nooooote.” So much pressure! I’m hoping this will relieve some of it. Haha!
Ok these jokes made me crack up – I’m officially 5 years old!
Haha! I was going through a list of jokes with my daughter and sometimes she would just look at me like “Really Mom?!” I tried to keep the list to jokes she thought were funny— but I may have snuck in one or two that cracked me up 😉
These make me laugh! I was listening to K-LOVE on the radio today and they talked about a boy whose father always put notes in his lunch boxes and that it really helped since school was socially hard for him. I would love to bring a little sunshine to my boy’s day with these even if he didn’t have it rough at school!
These are really cute. I think I am going to try doing something like this for my daughter when she goes to school.
To put a smile on her face even when I’m not there is important to me and this will definitely do it 🙂