I have been wondering how it is that my kids make it through a whole school day with just one snack time. Because during “homeschool” they seem to be desperately starving every 3-4 minutes. Now that we are home 24/7, we have set some rules around snack times (I think we always had them and are now just actually enforcing them). The rule is one snack between breakfast and lunch and another between lunch and dinner. It had to be done.

I have seen all kinds of snack storage for kids in clients’ homes, from hidden snacks on high shelves to a bacchanalia of candies at kids’ reach. Whatever your system, my recommendation is that you have just that: a system.

Storing snacks

I grew up in a home where we had a candy drawer. It was actually called “the candy drawer.” Reeses, Twix and Snickers were a grab away at any time. We were a popular house for play dates (back before they were called play dates).

My roots obviously influenced my current snack-grab design. We have a kid-level drawer full of health(ier) snacks that the kids can select on their own at the aforementioned snack time. * (see below note on fruit & veggies). This allows for some independence within limits (I’m the one who curated the snacks!). Keeping this drawer in order helps the boys to find what they need. And also helps the curator to know what the hot items are for future shopping trips.

Here are some tips for keeping your snack shelf in order…

KEEP LIKE WITH LIKE

This may seem a little hard core, but it’s easy to setup and maintain (and also makes snack-selection easy). This means keeping all chips, all bars, and all crackers in their own sections.

USE CONTAINERS

Sparking joy? Ha! I say the key to being organized is containers. The first tip you will almost always hear from me is to contain items. What does that mean? It means putting your stuff in a bin, a box, or some other kind of container. It’s that simple. And yes, even snacks.

You can check out containers like these on amazon:

Or you can go simple DIY, like this below:

UNPACK IMMEDIATELY

When you get home from the grocery store, unpack your snacks right away into these bins (and in these times - wipe them down first!). Then you don’t have to worry about storage elsewhere. And the snack-fest can begin asap.

All of the other delicious snacks

Keep all of your snacks in one general area. The photos above just show mini snack-packs. They should be kept in the same general area as bags of nuts, chips and other snacky foods. So when that allotted snack time hits, everyone knows where to go for a one stop shop.

REAL HEALTHY SNACKS

Obviously the best snacks for your kids (and for you) are ones that grew from the ground. Organizing your fruit and veggies is a post for another time.

In my house, our fridge is adjacent to that yummy snack drawer. So believe it or not, they are used interchangeably.

You can add to those snack rules by demanding that one of the two snack times be a fruit or vegetable. You might be pleasantly surprised to find how much they like both.

Snack time