Meal preparation · Your kitchen companion
Lunchbox week planner
Choose food for each day and make one shopping list for all your children's lunchboxes.
A little help in the kitchen
How to use it
Choose 1 to 7 days and enter how many children you are packing for. Each child receives the same menu for a given day.
Choose a day, then edit or add food names and quantities per child. The apple example is fully editable. An empty day is shown as Not planned.
Use the same food name each time you want quantities combined. Quantities count the named item, such as apples, sandwiches or milk cartons. Fractions such as 1/2 are accepted.
Choose Create lunchbox plan to see the week grid, quantities for all children and one shopping list. Only the selected number of days contributes to the list.
Save, share a link, print or save a PDF, or download CSV. Clear empties the form while keeping saved plans.
How it works
For each day and food: total quantity = quantity per child x number of children. The shopping list adds those totals across all selected days. For 2 children over 5 days with 1 apple each day, the total is 2 x 5 x 1 = 10 apples.
A day can contain up to 20 food items. Empty days add nothing to the shopping list. Reducing the number of days keeps later entries available if you extend the plan again; those later entries are excluded from the current result.
Food names combine when they match after ignoring capital letters, extra spaces and equivalent Unicode characters. Use one consistent name, including the same singular or plural form. Different foods or pack sizes should have different names. Fractional quantities are retained, with displayed values using up to 12 significant digits.
The planner uses your food choices and quantities. It does not calculate nutritional needs, check allergens, recommend a balanced menu or provide storage deadlines. No external food data is used. One root page serves all countries and the plan stays in your browser until you choose to share its link.
Frequently asked questions
How does the planner calculate the shopping list?
It multiplies each day's quantity per child by the number of children, then adds matching food names across the selected days. Two children with one apple each for five days need ten apples.
Can each day have different food?
Yes. Choose a day and add its food items directly. The menu can change each day. Every child receives the same menu for that day.
Can I leave a day empty?
Yes. Remove that day's items to leave it Not planned. It contributes no quantities. Add at least one food item somewhere in the selected days before calculating.
What does the quantity mean?
Enter how many of the named item one child receives that day. For half a sandwich, name it Sandwiches and enter 1/2. For a carton, use a clear name such as Milk cartons, 200 mL. The planner adds item counts; it does not convert units or pack sizes.
Why are two similar food names separate?
Capital letters and extra spaces are ignored, but different spellings, singulars, plurals and pack sizes remain separate. Use exactly the same food name when you want the quantities combined.
Can I keep or print my week plan?
Save keeps a plan in browser storage. Share link puts the settings in a URL fragment. Save as PDF includes every selected day and the shopping list, even when one day is shown on a phone. CSV includes quantities per child and for all children. Delete my data is in the footer.
