14 Lunch Hacks to Make a Mama's Life Easier

Kids are very visual and much more likely to come home with an empty lunchbox and full belly if their food looks appealing. Try bright containers, or let them pick out some with their favorite characters on them.

Create your own ice pack with a frozen juice box! By the time they eat lunch, the juice will be thawed, their food will be fresh, and there won't be a drippy ice pack for you to deal with when they get home.

Rather than a slip of paper with a love note on it, carve one into the peel of a banana — it makes the banana much more cool and appealing and saves paper.

Make a snack station — one in the pantry and one in the fridge — so that kids can pick out their own snacks in the morning. Not only does it help them to learn autonomy, it aids them in learning how to pack a balanced lunch, holds them responsible, and puts less on you while you're trying to get a million other things done.

Anything your kid likes will look more appetizing on a stick! Kids can help you make skewers for their lunchbox the night before with their favorite fruits, cheeses, and even turkey or chicken cubes!

Using cookie cutters on a sandwich makes it more fun to eat and look at (remember, visuals are key), and it also eliminates the crust for picky eaters.

Some kids don't like sandwiches, and that's OK! Have them help you the night before with cutting up some cold cuts and cheese — fruit too! — with cookie cutters, and once they're finished, create designs on crackers or veggies. Anything they help make is going to immediately be more of a winner in their eyes.

Tired of waking up every morning and slathering bread with peanut butter and jelly? Make your life easier by making a bunch at a time and storing them in the freezer. They'll stay fresh for up to six weeks and are another way to keep an "ice pack" in your kiddo's lunch bag. The sandwich will thaw by lunchtime, and they'll never know the difference.

Crustless sandwiches are really appealing to most littles, but ripping the crust makes you lose half the sandwich. Create clean edges without dragging a knife across soft bread by using a pizza cutter instead.

Wrap sandwiches in wax paper — it becomes a built-in place mat, and kids can decorate their wraps with crayons and markers the night before (or you can write them their love note directly on their wrapped sandwich).

No more soggy chicken nuggets and cold pasta. For your little with a sophisticated palate, make more than a sandwich for them and keep it hot in a thermos so that it's warm when they get to lunch and nothing is mushy.

Put condiments like mayo or mustard — and mushy toppings like tomatoes — in between cold cuts and lettuce so that the bread of the sandwich doesn't get soggy on the inside.