5 Tips To Simplify Kids Lunches

  hayden’s jacket  ||  blue lunchbox + gray lunch box + food containers

We are already heading back to school and I can’t believe it is already here! While we’ve done our best to live up every minute of summer, and I love having more structure in our days, I’m going to miss my bigger people being gone all day!! But with Back to School on the mind of everyone, I’ve been getting a lot of questions on how we do the kids lunches and if we have any kind of system. So today I am sharing my 5 tips to simplify your kids lunches and help it be more their responsibility!

hudson’s jacket/top  ||  hayden’s jacket  ||  blue lunchbox + gray lunch box + food containers

:: ORDER YOUR GROCERIES ONLINE

If there is one thing in the world I want every busy mom and really person in the world to know about, it is Walmart’s Online Grocery ordering. I’ve been using it consistently since we moved to Utah, and I don’t know how I functioned without it! They have two options and I am obsessed with both of them. The first one is the grocery pickup. You can order everything you need from the comfort of your bed, pick a time you can go pick it up and you are done. They bring it right to your car and load it up for you! It is a game changer!! I recently started doing their delivery option and am loving it even more. We even ordered the kids school supplies and lunchboxes using it! I love that I no longer have to worry about running out of bread or other lunch necessities and having to make a late night run to the store.

:: ASK THEM WHAT SOUNDS GOOD TO THEM WHEN PICKING OUT YOUR GROCERIES

Save yourself the drama in the morning by letting them help pick out what you are going to put in their lunch, especially when it comes to the snacks and sides. If they don’t get to have a say in what they are eating, chances are it is going to go to waste, because you won’t be there to stop them from throwing it away. Or worse…the dreaded full untouched lunch when they come home because it was “gross”. I love to have the kids sit down with me when I am ordering our groceries and pick out the things they want in their lunches. Walmart has some awesome options in bulk individual servings, perfect for quick packing. We avoid fighting over getting all the cookies in the store, but still get what they will enjoy eating. Any drama you can save yourself in the morning is worth it!

. . . SHOP OUR LUNCH FAVORITES . . .

:: PREP WHAT YOU CAN THE NIGHT BEFORE

I’ll be honest, we are not perfect and this tip doesn’t happen every day for us. But when it does our mornings go so much smoother. We don’t prep sandwiches in advance, but we will get all the sides that don’t need to be refrigerated, and put them in each lunch box in the pantry. Fill up their water bottles and have them nearby as well. Before bed we will set out all the tools needed to make their sandwiches, so it saves a few more minutes in our prep time. Taking the time to do what you can the night before when things are calm, frees up the much needed minutes during the morning rush.

:: GIVE EVERYONE A JOB

One thing I try to teach my kids is that jobs around the house are always a team effort. We work as a team and everything is not just my responsibility. The same goes for lunches. Everyone has a job. Someone is on sandwich duty and makes all the sandwiches so we aren’t in each others way and it gets done quicker. Another job is to pack all the sides the night before. Someone else is on water fill up. We work as a team to make it as efficient as possible!

. . . SHOP OUR FAVORITE LUNCH BOXES + ACCESSORIES . . .

:: HAVE A LUNCH DRAWER OR AREA

Last but not least is probably the biggest game changer tip to help simplify your kids lunches. Set aside a designated area in your pantry or kitchen as your kids lunches station. Make sure things are within their reach so you aren’t having to micro-manage anything. As you will see in our pantry, we have a couple of drawers that serve this purpose for us. I will order in bulk from Walmart, and instead of putting away the big boxes, we separate. The granola bars go in a drawer for easy access. Things like goldfish crackers are individually bagged in lunch size servings so they can just grab a baggie and put it in their lunchbox. Taking the time to stock this area after each grocery trip and have it ready to go save sooooo much time in the lunch making process.

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I hope these tips to simplify your kids lunches was helpful for you! Remember as much as we want to do it all for them, this is such a good learning opportunity for our kids to take on more responsibility. So I wanna know, what are you lunch prep hacks that simplify your mornings?

in partnership with Walmart

photos : aubrey taiese