A mom creates fun characters out of her son's school lunches, and the elaborate bento boxes have gon

Publish date: 2024-06-30
2020-02-25T16:31:30Z

Like a lot of things in elementary school, lunchtime can sometimes turn into a game, with kids showing off their candy bars or sandwiches cut into the shapes of stars.

But in Oceanside, California, Sera Winston-Kascak's 4-year-old son, Kouki Kascak, would win every lunch showdown thanks to the character-based bento boxes she makes him.

Kyaraben is a popular lunch tradition in Japan. Sera Winston-Kascak

Winston-Kascak has been making her son 'kyaraben,' elaborate bento boxes that feature characters and kid-friendly shapes, for a year now

"Kouki started a new school that did not provide school lunches, so I took that opportunity to make lunches for him," Winston-Kascak told Insider.

Winston-Kascak grew up in Okinawa, Japan, and her mother is Okinawan, which is where her inspiration for the lunches came from.

Winston-Kascak uses characters to make the lunches fun. Sera Winston-Kascak

"In Japan, we do have school lunches, but usually once a week or once a month is 'bento no hi,'" Winston-Kascak said, which translates to bento day. Parents make their children elaborate lunches to celebrate.

"I am always so busy with school and work, so it's my way of showing him that I love him," Winston-Kascak said of why she makes her son kyaraben. And it seems Kascak feels that love, based on his reaction to the lunches.

"His teachers tell me that he always opens his lunch and gasps and yells out the character that's in his box, and usually his friends gather around to see, or he lifts it and shows it to them," she told Insider.

Winston-Kascak's son loves the lunches, according to his teachers. Sera Winston-Kascak

"It makes me happy to know he gets so excited."

Winston-Kascak told Insider it usually takes her around two hours to make four boxes

The lunches are a bit time-consuming to make, especially if Winston-Kascak is using characters in the meal, as she did for the "Monsters, Inc." boxes. 

"I like to get my ideas from Pinterest to save time and just add my own little twist to it," she said. Winston-Kascak explained that coming up with the concepts is the most time-consuming part of creating the bento boxes. 

"You do not have to be a stay-at-home mom to do it either," she added. "I work and have school Monday through Friday, so I meal prep most of the lunches on Sunday."

The meals also help ensure Kascak eats vegetables, which aren't normally his favorite food. "He is not a huge fan of greens, but if I make it into a shape or character, it always comes back home half-eaten or sometimes even completely gone," his mom said.

Winston-Kascak recently shared a photo of some of her bento boxes on Twitter, and the images quickly went viral

Her tweet had over 67,000 likes at the time of writing.

—SERA (@sera_nozomi) February 3, 2020

"I thought it was just going to get a couple of likes from friends, but nothing at this level," she said of the tweet.

"I had no idea kyarabens were only popular in Japan, and I am so grateful for all the love I've been shown on my post," she said.

"I am so happy that I am able to share Japanese bento culture with people because they really are some of the best memories Japanese kids have growing up," Winston-Kascak added.

You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Watch: This mom is winning Halloween with her movie-inspired crocheted costumes

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