How to Make a Healthy Earth Day Lunch for Kids

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Happy Earth Day!  Or as I like to say, every day is Earth Day!  To help understand some more about the earth, I created this fun Earth’s Core Sandwich Roll-up Recipe to illustrate what our earth looks like inside.

Make a healthy earth day lunch for kids with this fun earth's core sandwich roll-up, bento box style. Great STEM learning.

 Understanding The Earth’s Core

My daughter has been asking a lot of questions about the earth lately.  So I decided to do something fun to help her understand.  We made lunch :)  The earth consists of 4 layers:

  • Crust (Bread):
    • The crust is very thin compared to the other layers of the earth at 3-5 miles thick under the oceans to 25 miles thick under the continents.
    • Composed of granite and basalt (a volcanic rock).
    • The crust is broken up into many plates which float across the mantle, the layer underneath.
  • Mantle (Peanut Butter):
    • Hot semi-solid rock that flows with the consistency of asphalt.
    • This layer is about 1,800 miles thick.
    • 1600 ÂºF at crust barrier to 4000 ÂºF at outer core barrier.  This temperature differential causes the mantle to flow due to convection currents.
  • Outer Core (Strawberry Jam):
    • Iron and nickel in liquid state
    • ~1400 miles thick.
  • Inner Core (Banana):
    • Iron and nickel in solid state.  9000 ÂºF with pressure nearly 3 million times that sea level air pressure.  Temperature and pressure are so great at the core that the metals are pressed together into solids and vibrate.
    • ~800 miles thick

Healthy Earth Day Lunch Supplies Needed:

  • For Sweet Earth’s Core Sandwich Roll-ups
    • Crust: Wheat bread or wheat tortilla
    • Mantle: Peanut or sun butter
    • Outer Core: Strawberry Jam
    • Inner Core: Banana
  • Cucumer, carrot and raisin flowers
  • Carrot slices for Earth Day Lunch decoration
  • Alphabet food cutter

Make the Roll Ups

Making the Roll Up Left Brain Craft Brain 2

  1. Cut the crusts off the bread.  Don’t worry, the irony of cutting crusts off a pretend earth’s crust is not lost on me :)
  2. Spread peanut or sun butter on bread.  Then spread jam.
  3. Add a chunk of banana as long as the bread and roll up.
  4. Slice into small sushi like pieces.

Kids don’t like peanut butter?  Try the savory ham version:

  • Crust: Wheat bread or wheat tortilla
  • Mantle: Ham
  • Outer Core: Mini Yellow Pepper
  • Inner Core: Cream Cheese

Make the Earth Day Lunch Garnishes

Making the Earth Day Lunch garnishes are super easy.  I used my favorite bento alphabet food cutter and cut shapes in some Sun Harvest carrot discs.

Carrot Cutting Left Brain Craft Brain

To make the flowers, simply cut some cucumber sticks and add carrots and raisins for the blooms.

Carrot and Raisin Flowers LBCB 2

Sending it for lunch to school?  Give them a kit to make their own flowers and trees.

Earth Day Lunch Box Left Brain Craft Brain

More Earth Day Learning Fun

Want to talk about some of the big issues facing the world with your kids?  Talk about global warming at snack time with Earth Toast.  Or talk about pollution and recycling with these Earth Day Science Activities.

Earth Toast Global Warming Lesson Left Brain Craft Brain FB

Shopping for Healthy Food

It’s important to me that I give my daughter healthy food.  But extreme pickiness makes it difficult, so once I find something she likes, I go for it.  Like buying a lot carrots.  Luckily, I can head to Smart & Final to pick up big bags of them and the other stuff I need for the week.  Their brand Sun Harvest has healthy food and eco cleaners for cleaning day.

Smart & Final shelf pic

Between 4/15 – 4/28 Smart & Final will be giving away a $25 SmartCash card a day on their Facebook page. Smart & Final will be posting a new picture daily on their Facebook page with a question and contest details. To enter, fans must comment on the post. Any relevant comment is considered an entry.  You can find them on Twitter, too.

Love Kitchen Science? You'll love STEAM Kids in the Kitchen!

Looking for some more STEAM inspiration that use can use right now? Instant gratification style? Check out STEAM Kids in the Kitchen: Hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math Hands-On Recipes and Activities for Kids ebook! It’s packed full of 70+ Bring STEAM learning fun into the kitchen with these hands-on activities and recipes. Learn what makes bread rise, colors change, and how to make an epic pudding model of the Earth.

 
 

Healthy Earth Day Lunch for Kids Left Brain Craft Brain FB2

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