Make Lunchboxes
Lunchboxes are about tomorrow, a time that is hard to picture. Remembering everything that should go in calls for planning ahead. The pictures below make the invisible list visible, so the sandwich, fruit and drink land in the box.
♀Make lunchbox
A girl packs a lunchbox with a sandwich, apple, grapes and juice.
About this visual support
Packing a lunchbox means thinking about a day that does not exist yet. The child has to imagine tomorrow's lunch, remember what usually goes in and gather it all already tonight. That is abstract work, and that is exactly why it is easy to forget the fruit or the drink, or to stall and never get started.
Visual support moves the planning from the head to the table. When each part sits on a picture, sandwich, fruit, something to drink and a little extra, the list becomes something the child can follow with the eyes rather than hold in memory. It also becomes clear when the box is complete.
One concrete tip is to arrange the pictures in the same order the items sit in the fridge and the cupboard, so the child can walk around and gather one thing at a time. Packing then turns into a round rather than a guessing game. In the Routined app you can save the lunchbox routine and bring it up every evening, so it becomes a habit that sticks.