Wednesday, April 9, 2008

the Official Lunch Survey

Almost every school day my third grader asks if I'll put a note in her lunch box. While I love that she wants a momlunchnote, it's hard for my early morning brain to come up with something original to write...and something that may or may not be shared with a table full of classmates. Usually, I'll write how I hope she's having a good day, studying hard and not causing too much drama. I also might add something that I plan to do while she's at school. Kind of boring stuff to write in lunchnote after lunchnote. Recently, I had this survey brainstorm to get Cara talking back about what was up with her—yes, I am soooooo tricky ; ) . I rolled up my survey (pictured unrolled above) with a fun ribbon and included a colored pencil for her to complete while she munched.

The survey was a huge success. Not only was I providing an interesting "momlunchnote alternative", but (the best part) I was getting some insider information as to what was going on at school that day. I know I'm not the only Mom who hears the "boring...nothing" response when you ask how school was and what happened at school. This idea catches the kid midday and in a fun way providing at least one interesting lunch survey result to talk about after school. I was privy-ed with some informative and funny answers as to to the happenings of Cara's third grade day. Of course I plan to save these past surveys and insert new survey opportunities in future lunches. As soon as the other two can read and write well enough, they'll find surveys too.

As the "additional comments" line above states Cara had a pretty fun time letting me know about her day (I love the exclamatory heart!) And here's a little gift from me to you...click on the survey at top of post, save to your desktop and print out for your kiddos (no mass distribution without my permission please). Let me know how it works at your house. And remember not to tell them that this survey is not all about the lunch!

19 comments:

CitricSugar said...

This is a whole lot of awesome! I wish I had kids to pack lunches for!

Amy @ Living Locurto said...

LOVE this! I'll be featuring your fun surveys:-)

melody is slurping life said...

I have a kid who will love this. Thanks.

Mariana said...

Thanks for sharing! It's is an awesome idea! I actually got a note from my 9 yr old daughter in "my book bag"! the cutest thing! So I am going to return the gesture with this wonderful creation!! :)

Thanks again!

Krista said...

Such a cute idea! I'm glad I "bumped" into your blog!

My 4th grader will LOVE to get this in his bag!

Heather said...

I just came across this today … fabulous!!!

susan@tickledpaisley said...

Just came across this today - what a cute and fun idea! I'm printing it out for my 5th grader : ) Thanks!!

Lettie B. said...

I just saw this exact same thing in a Family Fun issue from last year. Did you get it from there?

Lettie B. said...

Wait - you are probably the one who submitted it, huh? (I just realized this is an OLD post. I got the link from A Girl & a Glue Gun)

June Pfaff Daley said...

Hi Lettie! Yes it's all mine. I submitted it to Family Fun and they published it. My original Thanksgiving checklist placemat plus a brand new version will be coming up in the November 2010 issue. Stay tuned! Follow me over at my new blog for the latest!

http://www.junepfaffdaley.com/blog

kim west said...

featured this on my blog today!

kimboscrafts.blogspot.com

Kristi said...

absolutely awesome. Thanks for sharing it:)

EasyLunchboxes (Kelly Lester) said...

Cutest thing EVER. Sharing with my fans now. They'll love it! Thanks for creating this! renie

Always Reading said...

The part where it says left, right, & front of you at the lunch table is actually what I ask my son every day. It is a way to get him to start talking about his day at school. I am going to use this at the end of next month. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing! What a great idea to help stay connected with your kids! I can't wait to start packing lunches again!

cindy said...

Love this!! I'll even pack some extras for my daughter to share with her lunch pals. Oh, I'm so happy to find this .... again. I had this a couple of years ago but lost it in my computer recently and wanted to begin the survey tradition again with my youngest this year.
Thank you!

Jackie said...

Found you on The Stir. Completely love what you've done here.
: )

Alijoy said...

Great idea! I've just started the lunch box notes with my kids. This is a great alternative. I'm also adding jokes and riddles to vary it up a bit. Thanks so much. Ican't wait to see what he says.

Becka @ Just a Bunch of Momsense said...

Hi June, I'm hopping over from Lunchbox Mania. This is such a cute and clever idea! My tween is going to totally dig this! I see that you have a new blog & website, but I couldn't seem to find this post, so I will just share this one.

Thanks so much for creating it!