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an insulated bowl with a siliconelined snap lid and its own fork and spoon. (bentgo.com)
Ditch the disposables
“What’s new is that you’ll see a lot of girls with traditional boy designs,” says Cicero. “Gender-neutral options include geometric patterns, stars and animals.”
Unicorns are trending strongly with girls, she says. Zazzle.com has a nice variety; a lot feature rainbows, too. Target has the Skip Hop Zoo unicorn-shaped bag, and Gymboree offers a unicorn-printed box that clips to a matching backpack. (target.com; gymbo ree.com)
Other popular patterns? Cute cats and fun food.
Pottery Barn Kids has a lunch sack shaped like a kitten’s face; it wouldn’t look out of place on a 20-something’s office desk. (pbkids.com)
Photo-printed lunch boxes and bags stand out from the crowd; some are even 3-D. (aliexpress.com)
For younger kids, dinosaur, galaxy, mermaid and camouflage patterns in glow-in-the-dark inks are popular. Cicero also mentions quintessential favorites like superheroes and sports themes. Nike has lunch-size versions of its classic duffel bag. (store.nike.com)
Crocodile Creek has designs with jungle, robot and backyard animal themes. (crocodilecreek.com) And Hanna Andersson offers soft lunchboxes in whimsical designs including a galaxy and spaceship, fluttery butterflies, race cars, and smiling suns with rainbows. hannaandersson.com)
For older boys, consider video-game references like Minecraft or Halo 5 lunchboxes.
Licensed characters are perennial lunchbox favorites. This year, a Wonder Woman lunchbox picks up on the movie’s popularity. And the front of a Star Wars Chewbacca lunchbox is covered in washable fake fur. (lunchbox.com)
Fashion forward
Allison Spampanato, senior vice president for product development at Pottery Barn Kids and PBTeen, is betting on a few stylish designs: “Our Emily & Meritt gear features neon pink and oversize florals, bringing two trends together,” she says.
Other graphic standouts in that collection: a chic, black-zippered lunch sack with the word MEOW in white type, and a bold, black-and-white-banded sack. There’s also a shibori motif. Larger-scale gingham and polka dots, and icons like sailboats, bows and hearts are a fresh take on preppy. (pbteen.com )