Self Serve After School Snacking

I love to have the kids home for Summer break, but I also love when it’s time to head back to school. By that time, I am ready for a more structured schedule in my life.

After school is a great time to ask my kids about their day, but in the past, their first question they would ask as the walk in the door was “what can I have to eat?” Sometimes it would even turn into a debate when what they wanted to eat wasn’t something I felt they should be eating.

Self Serve Snacking Station

I must admit I did get frustrated with the daily question and the debate that would sometimes ensue. That is when I instituted the self serve snacking station. I now have a basket on my counter for Self Serve After School Snacking. Each day the kids can go to the snacking station when they get home to get a snack that they like and is mom approved. We created a list of things that I can keep on hand that we can both feel good about and I know that I can fill the basket up with any assortment of the approved list.

In this basket, I usually keep things like crackers, granola bars, nuts, fruit or fruit pouches. I personally happen to love the Horizon peanut butter sandwich crackers. My kids also like the Horizon cheddar snack crackers and honey snack grahams. With this, I love to place the crackers in snack sized zipper bags. I can divide them up so each bag contains one serving. You can even have the kids help do this. It is great for kids who are working on counting or addition.

Horizon Offers Convenient Snack Options

Horizon offers convenient snack options that I can feel good about giving my kids and that my kids love. Imagine what is possible when a kid is fueled by wholesome food. I encourage my family to live a healthy lifestyle.

You can also assign a drawer or use a bin in the refrigerator for those snacks that need to be kept cold.  It’s another spot that the kids can go to get a snack on their own. With this spot I love to include drink boxes, yogurt tubes or cups, cheese, fruit, veggies, and dips. Buy small plastic containers to put things in like hummus or salsa. This way they can just grab and go.

These snacking stations can also be utilized for quickly making school lunches in the morning too. Since they have been kid and mom approved, everyone will be happy with the choices.

Once you have the snack/lunch stations in place, it’s easy to include as part of your regular daily routine! It just helps make our lives run smoother. I’m so glad I started it at our house.

So what items would you include in your self serve snack/lunch Station?

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This conversation is sponsored by Horizon. The opinions and text are all mine.