How to Make School Lunch Packing at Home Easier
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SnackToSchool #CollectiveBias
In exactly 27 days my kids will be back to school, but who’s counting!?
I am almost ready to have my quiet house back, and schedule I had gotten so accustomed to.
Things have been a little too free for all around here with lunches, schedules, and probably a little too much screen time.
While my kids are not really excited for back to school, they are happy to see their friends and get back in the groove.
In our home, we brown bag all our lunches. My kids have lunch boxes, but they also take a paper bag for any extra snacks they may need like Dannon® Danimals® Squeezables Cotton Candy Lowfat Yogurt or Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies Strawberry Explosion/Banana Split Drinks.
My kids despise school lunch so my husband and I have to make 3 lunches each day.
Lunch packing as home used to be a little time consuming because we had things so scattered. Ice packs were all over, napkins were in another room, containers were MIA, and plastic ware and straws were in one of the draws. Our lunch baggies kind of traveled from cabinet to cabinet and were never where we needed them.
My husband would get so upset!! But, this year I am making a change and making school lunch packing at home easier!
I have decided that I am going to keep all our lunch packing supplies in one easy to find place that I can easily replenish each week or as needed.
That is where this idea for a DIY Lunch Station that would hold everything one would need to pack a lunch sans the food.
I made this station match the back to school theme for this month, but I will probably change out the themes for each holiday.
Items needed for a DIY Lunch Packing Station:
- White Tray for countertop
- 2 Mason Jars (ours are back to school themed)
- Napkins * we have a DIY for material ones coming soon!
- Small plastic food storage containers
- Sandwich bags
- Straws
- Plastic forks, spoons, etc.
Directions:
I wanted something that could fit on our countertop that would fit into our decor so I chose this farmhouse style tray. I simply added the jars to it, and filled them with plasticware, and straws.
Then, I added a cute stack of napkins, and a small pile of lunch bags, and some room temp ice packs. The night before, I simply tuck them in the freezer if needed.
This area makes grabbing what you need to pack a lunch so much easier versus trying to find a fork, napkin, or bag.
Since back to school is all about snacks, I always love to have a balanced food assortment for my 3 kids.
They get one sandwich, one side of chips or pretzels, a piece of fruit, and 2 dairy items. Their favorite dairy items are cheese sticks and yogurt! They especially love all varieties from the Dannon® Danimals® line. I recently ordered more produce and both Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies Strawberry Explosion/Banana Split Drink and Dannon® Danimals® Squeezables Cotton Candy Lowfat Yogurt.
Did you know that Walmart has Free-Pick up? Simply shop online, pay for your groceries, and choose a pick-up time at your local, participating store. I love loading up my cart with things I need an simply pulling up curbside while my groceries are loaded into my trunk. It is PERFECT for the summer since my kids do not love to shop in-store.
Additionally, you can find these products in-store in the dairy aisle near the yogurt. Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies Strawberry are so delicious that even I love them. These fun-flavored yogurt products are nutritious snacks that I feel good about feeding to my 3 kiddos. They are a great source of calcium, Vitamin D, and have no artificial colors making them an ideal way to snack back to school.
Danimals wants to help your kids start the school year off right! 
Right now when you buy 3 participating Danimals® products, you will receive a gift card for school supplies on walmart.com! I have mine in the works! Be sure to get your freebie too!
You can even freeze the Dannon® Danimals® Squeezables Cotton Candy Lowfat Yogurt to tuck into your child’s lunchbox and they will be perfectly thawed by lunch! The Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies should NOT be frozen but kept chilled in the refrigerator or by an ice pack.
Will you be making school lunch packing easier on yourself with this DIY Lunch Packing Station?
They stay frozen in the middle a little. They need to shake them good- it does change the consistency a little
I freeze most of my yogurt for my kids as they act as an ice pack, what happens if you freeze the danimal smoothies?
My daughter loves Danimals. She takes them to school with her for every lunch.
This is great! I just bought those smoothies for my daughter yesterday.
The mornings are not my most shining moments! If I can save a little time and stress, I’m all for it. Your lunch packing station is adorable too, so it’ll stay the focus of our kitchen.
My kids pack their own lunches. I do give them a checklist of what needs to go in it and keep things easily accessible.
Cotton candy sounds like a fun flavor for a smoothie. I haven’t packed lunch in years and never for more than one child but I can see where a central place to pack like this would be helpful for those that do.
My son has been obsessed with this yogurt recently since he wants to find the gold one to go to Disney! He was looking at all the packages in the store… so cute!
Lunch packing stations are essential for our family to function! This week is all about getting organized and ready for packing lunches.
I am all about a lunch packing station! My kids would never be without the essentials again. Such a great idea!
How cute is that idea!? SO clever! You must be a professional mommy :) My nieces LOVE LOVE LOVE Daminals…. and that cotton candy one, I think I could even try that one and love it!
I have always packed lunches for my kids. It can be a tireless effort to make sure that they have what they need to get through the day. These are some great ideas.
What a great idea. This makes lunch packing easy and fun. plus anything that tastes great and is healthy is always must have.
Anything delicious, prepackaged, and healthy is always a winner for school lunches. I always keep these in the house.