Just go ahead and get Planet Box. They’re the best and my kids 9/11 year olds still use theirs for camps etc. We have two different configurations/variations and they work really well.

Anonymous wrote:Our DS also used the planet box last year. Worked very well for him.

I used planetbox for my son (he is 17 now so it was a longggg time ago) and although it was a neat concept, it did not keep messy foods or foods with even the slightest of liquid from not spilling. Hopefully they updated now though.

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of what you purchase, please make sure they can open the box and can take it in and out of the lunchbox.

+1
As a former Kindergarten Teacher, this is key!

We use the “Bentgo Pop” inside the “Bentgo Kids Lunchbag.” The Pop is a bit roomier than the Bentgo one with the round little compartment in the center. It is plastic, though.

We have used Ecococoon for years. Its a stainless steel bento box and the comaprtments are leak proof - https://ecococoon.com.au/collections/lunch-boxes

Anonymous wrote:My rising 4th grader still uses the Bentgo lunch box we got for K. That thing is fabulous.

+1

Ours is 4 years old and gets nearly daily use and it’s going strong. It’s small though so I also pack things outside of the box

Someone on here recommended the Yumbox many years ago and we are still using it.

Bentgo

My rising first grader has been using Mighty Hippo lunch and snack boxes since preschool. We have had these boxes with daily use for three years already. They are still holding up very well. My son could had no problem opening them since 3.5 years old.

https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Hippo-RECTANGLE-Stainless-Container/dp/B01DOQGV18/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=mighty+hippo&qid=1628453108&sr=8-3

Our DS also used the planet box last year. Worked very well for him.

When our kids needed those, we used (and still have) ones from Goodbyn. It is plastic, so OP may not want it, but they were good containers. They were top-rack dishwasher safe so we just put them into the dishwasher every day when the kids got home from school. We had two for each kid (one big and one smaller) and we alternated so that we didn't have to run the dishwasher every day if we didn't need to. These each have an insulated cooler. We made lunches the night before, left them in the fridge and put them into the cooler with a small blue ice pack and then the cooler could go into their backpacks.

Ours are both microwave-safe and top-rack-dishwasher safe.

Large one (we have one blue, one red):
https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m93835781448/

Smaller one (also have one blue, one red):
https://poshmark.com/listing/Goodbyn-bento-lunch-containers-60f8b4b9efd0e467e0676654?utm_source=gdm_unpaid

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The stainless steel ones are hard to open and the lids get stuck sometimes causing the food to spill out when it finally gets pried open. Plus, the container gets passed around to multiple people attempting to open increasing the chances your kid gets exposed to germs. I know this because I’ve been on lunch duty enough in my years working in the schools. The stainless steel ones with plastic lids are fine though. Like the funtainer thermoses and the contigo containers.

13:24 here. The stainless box I suggested is not hard to open.

NP here. You have be handle the box with care. I chaperoned a pre-school field trip once and a kid has one of these. It had been purchased new at the start of the school year. We were on a spring field trip so it had been used only about 7-8 months at that point. The box had warped slightly (if you held the lid up, it was no longer flat) and it was difficult to open due to the warping. Not sure if the warping was due to dishwasher heat, from kid and /or helpers abusing it, but it was warped. I tried to make the lid straight, but it flexed and then returned to the warped state and would not stay flat. And once warped, it was almost impossible for the kid to open himself. An adult had to help him when he used it. I was told by one of the teachers that he used the box daily and it had been that way since winter break, so by about 3-4 months of use, it was warped.

Anonymous wrote:The stainless steel ones are hard to open and the lids get stuck sometimes causing the food to spill out when it finally gets pried open. Plus, the container gets passed around to multiple people attempting to open increasing the chances your kid gets exposed to germs. I know this because I’ve been on lunch duty enough in my years working in the schools. The stainless steel ones with plastic lids are fine though. Like the funtainer thermoses and the contigo containers.

13:24 here. The stainless box I suggested is not hard to open.

Anonymous wrote:The stainless steel ones are hard to open and the lids get stuck sometimes causing the food to spill out when it finally gets pried open. Plus, the container gets passed around to multiple people attempting to open increasing the chances your kid gets exposed to germs. I know this because I’ve been on lunch duty enough in my years working in the schools. The stainless steel ones with plastic lids are fine though. Like the funtainer thermoses and the contigo containers.

Just saw the suggestion for planetbox. That would be an exception because it has the latch that opens/shuts it. I’ve seen kids with those and they never need any help opening or closing it.

The stainless steel ones are hard to open and the lids get stuck sometimes causing the food to spill out when it finally gets pried open. Plus, the container gets passed around to multiple people attempting to open increasing the chances your kid gets exposed to germs. I know this because I’ve been on lunch duty enough in my years working in the schools. The stainless steel ones with plastic lids are fine though. Like the funtainer thermoses and the contigo containers.