A while ago I chanced upon a thread on Mumsnet in which a member invited suggestions for jokes to slip inside her children's lunchboxes. Now, I imagine many of you are familiar with this practise, but to me it was a novel concept. Sometimes I might have slipped a reminder note into my children's schoolbags or a Post-It to wish them good luck on a test, though nothing on a regular basis.

I began to wonder whether other parents did this and asked Princess whether her friends found jokes in their packed lunches. "No," she replied, followed inevitably by: "but I'd love it if you'd do that for me!"

Luckily, Google and Pimterest furnished me with a plethora of free printables for our oddly enjoyable new habit. There are notes, jokes and styles for all occasions, from slushy Valentines to math questions; clever food puns, literary quotes, healthy encouragements and even optical illusions!

For the friends and mums who have asked where I found these varied and amusing printables, here is a gallery of my favourite 50 lunchbox note printables.

From Mama Bub Blog

Lunchbox Love Notes - Part One by I Should be Mopping the Floor (the second in this series is below). Scroll right down to the bottom of the page for the download link, though you might also want to check out the awesome lunch box ideas which precede it!

Lunchbox Love Notes - Part Two by I Should be Mopping the Floor

Cute illustrated printables for younger children by Fresh Picked Whimsey

These beautifully illustrated lunchbox jokes were designed by Heather Moyer for Imagination Sprinkles. I had a little trouble finding the download page on the Imagination Sprinkles website, though you can find a high-res version on Heather's Flickr gallery.

Ideal for young boys, these monster-themed jokes from Sweet Nothings are well worth keeping in your stash!

School-themed joke notes from Peonies and Poppies

Create your own Lunch Box Trivia cards with this tutorial and free printable from Calamity Jennie

All for the Boys has published a "Shark Facts" printable for lunchboxes

Disney "Fun Facts" printables, by TeachMama.com, via Scribd (There are four different printables on the page, which look much better when they are downloaded than they do in this preview!)

These lunchbox notes from Suzy Q Scraps are gorgeous! Find three more sets by this talented designer below.

Suzy Q Scraps Lunchbox Love Notes (Set 1)

Suzy Q Lunchbox Love Notes (Set 2)

Suzy Q Lunchbox Love Notes (Set 3)

Dr. Seuss Lunch Notes from Inspired by Family Magazine

Wordless Riddles by Teach Mama - 18 cards are included, plus a blank template for you create your own!

Lunchtime Puzzles by Love Them Madly - simple enough to solve by tracing a finger, though you could include a crayon if you prefer!

These lunch box notes from A Little CLAIREification are perfect for younger children who are just heading off to school!

Cute lunchbox jokes, available at Mod Podge Rocks, and designed by TheFairyBlogmother.com

Another free printable from Teach Mama, this download features hidden objects for your children to find and colour.

These bright lunch notes from Studio 5 are great to pair with food items and encourage your children to eat healthily.

These sweet printables from Simply Bloom are sure to brighten your youngster's lunch box

Buttoned Up has designed two fantastic sets of lunchbox printables. This first set is aimed at children aged 7 and under...

...while this second set is for older students aged 8 and over.

These optical illusion lunchbox notes are probably my favourites! Two sets are available for download, the first is monochrome while the second is full colour (ideally printed on good quality paper or card stock using your printer's best settings).

These gorgeous lunchbox notes were created by Rook No. 17 from a set of vintage flashcards. There are three sets available to download in total, each featuring different images and phrases for your child to fill in the blanks.

While aimed at teens, these lunchbox notes would work for younger children too. They were designed by Kiki and Company for Whipper Berry.

With Easter just around the corner, you might enjoy slipping these themed jokes designed by Kiki and Company into your children's lunch bags

Here's a set of beautifully designed health encouragement cards by Simply Bloom

A set of cute lunchbox jokes from Today's Parent

Ideal for older kids, these encouragement lunchbox cards are available for free download from Carta Bella.

These Star Wars themed notes are simply amazing! Any young Jedi would be thrilled to find them with their lunch. Download for free from Mom Endeavors.

Another great printable for the boys, these pirate-themed notes are sure to make your little-ones smile. You can download these from It's Written on the Wall along with several other sets, including...

...this Ballerina-themed set

...and these encouraging printable cards

These Literary Lunchbox Notes from Spool and Spoon are another of my favourite printable sets.

This colourful set of notes are beautifully designed by Nancy Archer with Maddalee. They are free for anyone to download, though I would encourage you to subscribe to the site as there are many more free printables available for members!

These free printabled from Chickabug leave room for you to fill in your own messages.

Here's another bright and colourful printable set from Kiki and Company

This set by Papercrave (via Living Locurto) was one of the first I printed for Princess' lunchbox. Simple and colourful, these sentiments brought her smiles at school lunchtimes and remain among her favourite cards to date.

If your kids are Disney fans, head over to this page on the Disney Family website to download a set of themed lunchbox notes (or two). Two different styles are available: one for girls, which includes Ariel and Tinkerbell, the other for boys, featuring Mickey and characters from Disney Cars.

These Kindness Cards from Kind Over Matter are intended to be handed out as random acts of kindness, but work great as affirmations in kids lunchboxes!

Here's a cute illustrated set of lunchbox notes from Melissa Bennet Designs

Somewhat Muddled Musings of a Homeschool Mum has designed this creative set for readers to download for free.

Buttoned Up designed these two sets of colourful lunchbox notes!

I love the colours used in these lunchbox jokes which are perfect for boys! Download the set from Design by Dani (along with a tutorial of how they were made).

I think these designs by Persnickety Prints are amazing (and so versitile!). Premium-style notes indeed, but without the hefty price-tag!

Though originally designed to be printed on paper sacks, I think these monochrome lunch notes are perfect to cut up and slip inside Princess' lunch box. Download the printable free from KensieKate

These pastel-hued notes are super-sweet! Find them over at Paper and Pomegranates

I really like these simple but unusual notes from Silver Box Creative, and will certainly be putting these in Princess' lunch box one day soon!

Which are your favourite Lunchbox Notes?