My kids aren’t old enough to be in school just yet, but I know plenty of moms that are right in the middle of back to school prep! One of the dreaded school responsibilities is figuring out what to pack for lunch! Packing lunches can be cheaper and healthier than eating school lunch, but it definitely requires more planning and brain power! It you’re in the packing-a-school-lunch clan, then here are some tips to make your school year easier!

*Make ahead and freeze! If you’ve been reading my articles for any length of time, than you know that I am all about freezing things:). And there are so many things you can freeze for school lunches! Have everyone set aside an ½ hour on Saturday or Sunday evening and get lunches ready for the whole week! Than all you have to do is pull it out that morning and it will be defrosted by lunch time (while staying cold- win-win!). Some things you can freeze: PB&J sandwiches, grapes, cheese sticks, cookies, etc.

*Have your kids pack their own lunches! If you’re worried that they might pack dessert and forget about everything else, have bins marked according to how many they can grab! (E.g. a bin labeled “Take 1” might have cookies and fruit snacks, while a bin marked “Take 2” might have apples and baggies of almonds).

*And speaking of baggies, don’t buy individually wrapped snacks! They are way more expensive- instead make a trip to Costco or Sam’s Club and buy things in bulk. Then you can portion them out into individual baggies and make your money go a lot further!

*Instead of ice packs, freeze juice boxes or water bottles and use those! Not only will it keep lunch cold, but your kids will have an ice cold beverage to go with their lunch!

*Print out some cute notes for the whole month, so your kids will have a sweet message from Mom without you having to write out a note every morning! You can also use a toothpick to write a secret message into a banana- it will age just enough so that by lunch, the message appears on their banana (What a fun way to eat lunch for kids, right? ;) )

*If your littlest ones have a hard time eating apples whole and need them sliced, don’t be afraid of browning apples! Simply slice the apple, put it back together (this works best if you core it), and wrap it in Saran wrap to keep it fresh for lunch time!

*Sometimes the hardest part about packing lunches is coming up with ideas! The internet is full of ideas, and sometimes all you need is a little brainstorming time to come up with ideas! Set aside some time and come up with a list of lunches you can use, and just rotate through them as the year goes by. Don’t forget to ask your kids’ opinions! They may have some ideas you might not have thought of before!

What ideas do you have that help make packing lunches less of a hassle? Share in the comments below!