Free printable cards · ages 3 to 10
20 jokes about lunch, on cards you can print tonight.
A lunchbox joke gets read out loud to the whole table, so these are short. Each card has a picture for the friend who can't read yet, and the answer is printed upside down so nobody sees it too soon.
We went through our 149 jokes and pulled out the ones about eating. The best 20 are here, enough for four school weeks, and they print on three sheets of paper.
A riddle to start with
I go off to school, but I don't learn a thing.I wait for the bell for the snacks that I bring.
Lunch box! It's one of our scavenger hunt clues.
One for every school day
Five for each school week, numbered as on the printed cards. A card marked “Ages 3 and up” is a picture joke. The 6 marked “Ages 6 and up” have a pun in them.
Why does a cow chew her lunch twice?
She liked it so much the first time!
The true bit: A cow has one big stomach with four parts, and she brings her grass back up to chew it again. (Mississippi State University Extension)
Why doesn't a chicken need a toothbrush?
Its tummy does all the chewing!
The true bit: Chickens have no teeth. They swallow tiny stones, called grit, that help a strong tummy muscle grind up their food. (Poultry Extension)
Why don't goats eat tin cans?
They can never find the can opener!
The true bit: Goats are curious and taste-test all sorts of things, but they only eat plants, not tin cans. Their favorites are leaves and bushes. (Zoo Atlanta; Alabama Cooperative Extension)
Why did the dog lie down in the shade?
It didn't want to be a hot dog!
The true bit: Dogs sweat only a little, through their paw pads. They cool down mostly by panting. (Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine)
Why does a bunny munch hay all day long?
So its teeth don't grow all the way down to its toes!
The true bit: A rabbit's teeth never stop growing, so it needs hay to wear them down. (RSPCA)
Why is a Velociraptor always first in the lunch line?
Nobody can catch it!
The true bit: They could run up to 65 kilometers per hour, faster than most humans. That's about 40 miles! (From our book Dinosaurs Are Back)
Why did Brachiosaurus's mom never have to say “eat your greens”?
It never stopped eating them!
The true bit: Even though Brachiosaurus had only 50 teeth or less, it could eat 100 to 400 kilograms (220 to 881 pounds) of plants every day! (From our book Dinosaurs Are Back)
How many bites does a T. rex need to eat a whole birthday cake?
One. And then it eats the table!
The true bit: Tyrannosaurus rex was so big and strong, it could eat up to 230 kilograms (507 pounds) of meat and bones in one bite! (From our book Dinosaurs Are Back)
Why did the Velociraptor go to the desert for lunch?
For a sand-wich!
The true bit: The first Velociraptor was found in the Gobi Desert, in Mongolia, in 1923. (Natural History Museum, London)
What did Dilophosaurus order at the restaurant?
Fish and chips. Hold the chips!
The true bit: Its jaws suggest it probably ate fish, but it was still a carnivore. (From our book Dinosaurs Are Back)
Why did the wild boar take its lunch to the river?
To give it a bath first!
The true bit: When they come across dirty food, they don't just eat it; they wash it carefully until it's sparkling clean! (From our book Forest Animals)
Why does a raccoon wear a mask?
So nobody knows who ate the snacks!
The true bit: A raccoon's paws are super sensitive. It can tell what something is just by touching it, almost like seeing with its hands. (National Geographic)
Why is an owl the best at sneaking a midnight snack?
Nobody hears it coming... until its tummy rumbles!
The true bit: Owls are incredible hunters that excel at catching prey in the dark. They are so quiet that you'll never see them coming, like silent ninjas of the night! (From our book Forest Animals)
What do you call a squirrel that forgets where it hid its nuts?
A tree planter!
The true bit: Squirrels forget many of the nuts they bury, and those nuts grow into new trees. (Smithsonian Science Education Center)
What do you call a bear with no teeth?
A gummy bear!
The true bit: Black bears eat mostly plants, like berries and nuts, plus some bugs. (US National Park Service)
Why was the blue whale still hungry after lunch?
It only had shrimp!
The true bit: The blue whale is the biggest animal that has ever lived, and it eats tiny shrimp-like animals called krill. (NOAA Fisheries)
What do penguins have for lunch?
ICE-burgers!
The true bit: Penguins “fly” underwater, using their wings like flippers. (SeaWorld)
What do sharks eat with peanut butter?
Jellyfish!
The true bit: Shark skin is covered in tiny tooth-like scales, so it feels like sandpaper. (NOAA Fisheries)
Why did the monkey pick up the peanut with its tail?
Its hands were busy waving hello!
The true bit: Some South American monkeys have grabbing tails that can pick up something as small as a peanut. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)
Why did the butterfly stand on the birthday cake?
To taste it!
The true bit: Butterflies have taste sensors on their feet. (Florida Museum of Natural History)
Free, no sign-up
Three pages hold the 20 jokes and 4 blank cards for notes of your own. Print at 100%, cut along the dashed lines, and keep the stack in a kitchen drawer. The black and white version uses line drawings, so a card can be colored in before it comes home.
Lunchbox jokes about lunch
20 joke cards + 4 blank cards · 3 pages
Free for home, classroom and library use. To pass them on, please share the link to this page and not the file.
A lunchbox note still works at 4 if you use a picture joke. Tell it at breakfast first. At lunch the card shows the animal, your child remembers the joke, and whoever is sitting nearby reads out the answer.
All 84 animal jokes
84 cards · 11 pages
All 65 dinosaur jokes
65 cards · 9 pages
Farm animal jokes
21 cards · 3 pages
Animal picture jokes
47 cards · 6 pages
Dinosaur picture jokes
28 cards · 4 pages
Lunch box notes
Some days want a different kind of note. These print the same way, and they're free too.
A riddle card
Fold-over cards with a rhyming riddle on the outside and the animal inside, six to a page. The farm deck is the easiest: US Letter or A4. The other six decks are on the animal riddles page.
A joke your child wrote
Four big cards with the blanks ready, and a box to draw in. This one goes in a GROWN-UP'S bag: US Letter or A4.
A plain note in your own words
The last 4 cards of the lunchbox deck are empty, with a line for who it's for and who it's from.
Six things to write on a blank card
Questions
Our own book
A picture book for ages 6 to 10 · Made Of You
Four of the five dinosaur cards borrow their true bit from the facts page at the end of this book. The story follows Spike, a young Triceratops, on the search for his stolen egg brother, and the ten dinosaurs he meets can each stand in your room through a phone or tablet.
