It’s time to start planning for after school snack time! My kids are starving the second they get home from school. They head straight to the kitchen and raid the shelves for snacks. To make it easier for them to help themselves, we keep snacks organized in one place: The Snack Station.

Snack Stations make it easy for my kids to grab mom-approved snack foods. I put a Snack Station in the pantry and another Snack Station in the fridge.

Snack Stations help me keep up with what foods my kids are eating, and what I need to buy at the grocery store. Right now is a great time to shop Box Tops For Education products. Look for specially marked packages.

The Box Tops program is an easy way for schools to earn cash. Box Tops can be found on hundreds of participating products, including the snacks I buy for our kids Snack Station.

How to Make a Snack Station

All you need to organize a Snack Station is a food storage container and, of course, lots of good snacks! TIP: Use a container that fits your shelf space and is large enough to hold a variety of snacks. The containers I use are a 1.5 gallon size that measure 16.6″ x 11.3″ x 3.5″ 

Pantry Snack Stations are for snack foods that don’t require refrigeration. And you guessed it — the Fridge Snack Station is for the snacks you want to store in the refrigerator.

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Snack Ideas For Kids

For the Pantry Snack Station:

• Pretzels
• Dried Fruits, Fruit Snacks and Fruit Roll-ups
• Cereal (Cheerios)
• Bars (Nature Valley Granola Bars, Fiber One)
• Crackers
• Trail Mix

TIP: Buy full size packages and divide them into kid-friendly portions using Ziploc snack bags.

For the Fridge Snack Station:

• Fruits (apples, grapes, berries)
• Veggies (baby carrots, celery, sugar snap peas)
• Yogurt (yogurt cups and Yoplait GoGurt)
• Cheese Sticks
• Lunch Meat
• Hummus

TIP: Slice fruits and veggies ahead of time and store in snack-sized Ziploc baggies. 

I keep our Snack Stations stocked and ready for when the kids get home from school. They know they can pick anything they want from the snack station without even having to ask Mom if it’s okay. I like to surprise them when I refill the container with different kinds of snacks. Sometimes my kids will even try a completely new food from the snack station. Snack stations make snack time easy and fun for everyone.

What will you put in your child’s Snack Station? Do you clip Box Tops for Education? Share your ideas with us in the comments below. 

Want more snack station inspiration? Check out our hanging snack station – it lets you see all your snacks at a glance!