By Trisha Novotny

Getting our children up and out the door for school each morning is no small task, not to mention the time it takes preparing their lunches. To help simplify my morning routine, I created a station to pack lunches in our home.

You can create your own station in about 15 minutes with these simple steps.

1. Assign a space in your pantry or kitchen drawers that you can specifically use for this purpose 

1. Next time you’re at the store, stock up on popular lunch items for your new lunch packing station. Keep an eye out for sales or store specials so you can buy extra when prices are the lowest  

1. Organize your space so that you and your children can easily view and select lunch items each day. Use drawer bins, baskets or Ziploc® Brand Containers to separate and organize  Amazon has a great selection .

Here are a few items that I keep in my lunch packing station:

• Lunch box and Ziploc® Brand Sandwich Bags
• Napkins and utensils
• Pens or pencils
• Change for milk or ice cream 
• Notepad for quick notes to the teacher

What items will you place in your lunch packing station?