Foods that Fuel Attention, Good Behavior, and Learning
School is hard work for kids. They have to sustain attention and focus, manage frustration when learning gets hard, work cooperatively with other students and adults, and try lots of new things. This all requires incredible amounts of energy.
Parents often want to know how they can help their kids with school. While things like reading with your kid or playing math games are certainly good ideas, there’s something even more important you might consider. Pack them foods to eat that will help them sustain positive energy and be productive all day long.
This is no small thing. The foods we eat play a huge role in the energy we have throughout the day, and this may be even more important for kids than for adults. As a teacher, when I see a kid getting cranky, distracted, and tired by the middle of the morning, one of the first things I wonder is, “What has this student eaten so far today?” If they haven’t eaten, or if they’ve had highly processed foods packed with sugar, it might explain why they’re crashing.
Providing kids with healthy foods throughout the school day might be one of the most important ways we can help our students stay calm, regulated, and focused on learning.
Check out the ideas below for some affordable and easy-to-prepare foods that fuel attention, good behavior, and learning.
Breakfast: Start the Day Right
A good breakfast fuels focus, memory, and energy. Look for hearty foods high in protein, fiber and nutrients and low in added sugars.
Quick and Easy Cereals & Grains
- Oatmeal (add fruit and/or nuts for extra flavor and nutrients)
- Overnight oats (prep the night before with yogurt, milk, chia seeds, or berries)
- Whole-grain cereal with milk (choose low sugar, high fiber)
- Whole-grain toast or English muffins (topped with peanut butter, avocado, or eggs)
- Mini whole-grain pancakes or waffles (make ahead and freeze)
Protein-Packed Options
- Scrambled or boiled eggs
- Egg muffins (eggs baked with veggies and cheese)
- Greek yogurt (add fruit, granola, or chia seeds)
- Nut butter on toast or fruit slices
- Cottage cheese with fruit
Fruit-Based Breakfasts
- Smoothies (milk or yogurt + fruit + a spoon of oats or nut butter)
- Banana pancakes (mashed banana + egg + oats)
- Apple or pear slices with nut butter
- Frozen berries with yogurt
Grab-and-Go Options
- Low-sugar granola bars
- Trail mix packs (oats, nuts, dried fruit)
- String cheese or mini cheese sticks with fruit
- Mini muffins made with oats, banana, or zucchini
- Breakfast sandwiches (egg + cheese on whole-grain English muffin)
Lunch: Keep Them Focused
A good lunch helps kids sustain positive energy through the afternoon. Combine protein, complex carbs, and vegetables for steady blood sugar.
Simple, Packable Homemade Lunches
- Whole-grain turkey or chicken wraps with lettuce or spinach
- Hard-boiled eggs with a little salt and pepper
- Hummus with whole-grain pita or pretzel chips
- Tuna or chicken salad on whole wheat crackers
- Peanut or sunflower butter sandwich with banana or apple slices
- Mini whole-wheat muffins with yogurt and fruit
- Greek yogurt cups or tubes (low sugar preferred)
- Cheese sticks or cubes with whole-grain crackers
- Apple slices with nut butter
Prepackaged Healthy Options
- Tuna or salmon packets with whole-grain crackers
- Single-serve hummus cups with pretzels or veggie sticks
- Ready-to-eat hard-boiled eggs
- Snack boxes with deli turkey, cheese, and fruit
- Greek yogurt or cottage cheese cups
- Individual oatmeal cups
Snacks: Sustain Energy Between Meals
Healthy snacks help kids maintain focus and curb afternoon crashes.
- Fresh fruit (apple slices, grapes, berries, clementines)
- Veggies with hummus
- Trail mix (nuts, seeds, dried fruit)
- Whole-grain crackers with nut butter
- Mini muffins with oats or zucchini
- Air-popped popcorn
- Greek yogurt cups or squeeze tubes
- Cheese sticks or cubes with whole-grain crackers
- Freeze-dried fruit packs (no added sugar)
- Nut or seed butter squeeze packs
- Whole-grain granola bars (low sugar, high protein)
A Few Foods to Avoid
Here are a few items to avoid when possible. These are high in sugar and low in protein and fiber. They may give short bursts of energy, but they can lead to crashes and may negatively impact kids’ attention and behavior at school.
- Sugary drinks (soda, sports drinks, juice cocktails, flavored water with added sugar)
- Candy, cookies, or dessert snacks
- Chips and fried snacks
- Highly processed lunch kits with white crackers and sweets
- Flavored yogurts and granola bars with high sugar content
A Few Final Thoughts
Hopefully these lists have given you some easy and affordable ideas for foods that will help your kids maintain attention and positive energy throughout the school day.
These idea aren’t just good for kids, of course. A benefit of packing your kids healthy foods to eat is that you can eat them too! If you’re interested, here’s a blog post I wrote for teachers about how oatmeal might just be the best breakfast food around.
If you’re interested in learning more about healthy eating, I highly recommend the book In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. Another interesting resource to check out is the Netflix series Live to 100: Secrets of Life in the Blue Zones. Both of these resources have had a profound impact on the way I eat.
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