Custom Kids Meal Boxes

Board, Coatings and Food Contact

Kids meal boxes are normally made from solid white folding boxboard, which gives a clean surface for bright artwork and folds crisply at the handle. For heavier or greasier meals, a board with a grease-resistant coating on the inside stops oil spotting through to the printed outer face, which matters when the box is supposed to look cheerful at the table.

Food-contact grade board is available on request, and we will tell you on the quote which board and inner coating suit your menu. If the food goes in hot and wet, such as pasta in sauce, we usually suggest a lined pot inside the box rather than putting the food straight onto board.

Kraft board is another option where the brand leans towards a natural look. The print is a little less vivid on brown board, so bold shapes and strong outlines tend to work better than detailed illustrations.

Designing Artwork Children Will Notice

The best kids meal boxes give a child something to do. Mazes, spot-the-difference panels, colouring outlines and simple jokes all work, and they keep a table quiet for those few minutes while the adults finish their food. Put the activity on the side panels or the back, where it can be seen while the box sits open.

Keep your logo and restaurant name clear on at least one panel so the box still works as branding when it leaves the building. Large, flat areas of colour print reliably and look bold from a distance, which suits a younger audience far better than fine text or small type.

If you plan to change the activities through the year, we can keep the box structure the same and swap only the artwork on reorders. That way the cutting forme is already made and each new design only needs a fresh proof. Characters and bright colours reproduce best as full colour print for characters on white board.

Sizing a Box Around the Meal

Start with the largest item and the total volume of food. A typical children's portion of burger and fries fits comfortably in a gable box with a base around 150 x 100 mm, while a meal with a drink carton needs a taller body. Pizza slices and wraps prefer a wider, flatter footprint.

Leave some headroom under the roof so the handle closes easily when the box is full. Staff often fill these quickly during a busy service, and a box that is too snug slows them down and tears at the handle. If you are unsure, send us the menu and the containers you already use and we will suggest dimensions on the custom quote.

It is also worth checking how the boxes travel once they are full. If they go into a takeaway bag alongside adult meals, a slightly lower roof stops them leaning against other cartons. If they are carried by hand around a soft play centre or a party hall, a firm handle and a flat base matter more than saving a few millimetres. For events where boxes are packed in advance and stacked on trays, square footprints line up neatly and are less likely to slide off when the tray is moved.

Finally, measure any extras you plan to include, such as a small toy, a sticker sheet or a packet of crayons. These often end up squeezed in at the last minute, and a box sized only for the food leaves no room for them. Our guide on how to measure a packed meal covers drinks cartons and toys.

Pack a Real Meal in a Paper Mock-Up Before You Choose the Size

Kids' meal boxes are sized from the meal, not from a chart, and the meal varies more than people expect once a drink carton and a toy are added. Fold a paper mock-up of the box you have in mind, pack a real burger, fries portion, drink and toy into it, and see whether the handle still closes. That tells us the length, width and height to the shoulder, and whether a divider is needed to keep fries away from the burger. Then decide on the board: a stiff folding board with a grease-resistant inside for fried food, and food-contact grade on request if food touches the box directly. Restaurants with an adult menu often match the box to their burger and chip boxes for adults so the bag looks consistent.

Send the menu, the number of boxes and any artwork, and a custom quote comes by email within one working day. The free proof shows the artwork with the handle and any activity panel. Production takes 4 to 7 working days after approval, boxes arrive flat by tracked courier to UK mainland addresses, and crushed or misprinted boxes reported within 10 days are reprinted or refunded.