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Week 04 · Kitchen Helper

Thursday

Pack a lunch box
// Clean hands, careful measuring, a packed lunch and a wiped counter
⏱ about 15 min

Thursday: Pack a lunch box

An open lunch box sits on the counter. Beside it: a washed apple, carrots in a tub, crackers, and a water bottle.

Lucy hops from one to the next. "Which goes in first? If the apple sits on the crackers, crumbs!"

Bennie nods. "Heavy and hard things on the bottom. Light things on top. Lids tight. Ice packs go under and over the cold food." He slides the bottle into its pocket.

A grown-up picks, you pack

Your grown-up chooses the food for the lunch box. You can help pack it.

Packing well means nothing gets squashed, nothing leaks, and cold things stay cold.

Packing order

  1. Wash your hands. Check that the lunch box is clean and dry.
  2. Put the ice pack in first, flat on the bottom.
  3. Add heavy, hard things next: a water bottle, a tub of carrots. Lay a second ice pack on the carrot tub.
  4. Add soft things last: crackers, bread, fruit that bruises.
  5. Snap every lid. Turn each tub upside down over the sink to test it.
  6. Add a napkin and a spoon if needed. Close the box.
  • Fruit goes in washed and dried. Wet fruit makes soggy crackers.
  • The water bottle stands up in its pocket, lid tight.
  • A tub that leaks in the sink would leak in the bag.
Safety first
A grown-up chooses the food and does any cutting.
Nothing is tasted while packing. The lunch is for lunchtime.
Wash hands before you start and after you finish.
PACK THE BOX IN THE RIGHT ORDER
  • Tap a card.
  • Then tap its spot.
1Bottom
2Next
3Then
4Top
LUNCH BOX THINKING
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Where does the heavy tub of carrots go?
How do you test a lid before packing?
Who chooses what food goes in the lunch box?

When the box comes home

A lunch box has an evening job too. Empty it as soon as you get home.

Shake out the crumbs. A grown-up washes the box with hot, soapy water. Leave it open to dry. Put the ice packs back in the freezer.

Rinse out crumbs. Then a grown-up washes the tubs and bottle in hot, soapy water. Set them to dry for tomorrow.

PUT THE AFTER-SCHOOL LUNCH BOX STEPS IN ORDER.
  • ?A grown-up washes it in hot, soapy water
  • ?Empty the box
  • ?Put the ice packs in the freezer
  • ?Leave it open to dry
WHY THIS EXERCISEAn empty, washed, dry box is ready to pack again tomorrow.
What goes on the very bottom of the lunch box?
WHY THIS EXERCISEOne ice pack goes under the cold food and one on top. That keeps the food cold.
StatementTrue or false?
Soft foods go on top.?
Wet fruit keeps crackers crisp.?
The lunch box should be emptied when you get home.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEGood packing in the morning and a quick wipe at night keep lunch fresh.
Try it
Pack a pretend lunch box with empty tubs and a water bottle.
Test each lid over the sink. Then pack bottom to top.

Packed and ready! Tomorrow Freddy reviews the week, and Bennie wipes down the counter.

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