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Food and Water

Why they matter for growing and thinking

Play this lessonNarrated out loud. No account, works offline.

Also available in Spanish. The app stops after two lessons a day and suggests something to do away from the screen.

What it teaches

These are the lines the lesson comes back to, and the ones a child actually remembers afterwards.

You cannot build something out of nothing.

Hungry feels like grumpy. Thirsty feels like tired.

How it starts

Story time, and this one is a bit strange when you first hear it. Right now, today, you are building a body out of the things you eat and drink. Not a picture of a body. The actual one you are standing in.

How the lesson goes

Things your body is making today

  1. New bone, which needs building material
  2. New blood, all the time
  3. New skin — you're replacing it constantly

What the food is for

  1. Bread, rice, pasta — the fuel you run on
  2. Meat, beans, eggs, fish — the building material
  3. Fruit and vegetables — the tools that make it work

A hungry brain, in real life

  1. Words come out slower
  2. Small things make you furious
  3. You read the same line four times

Water, which is most of you

  1. More than half of you is water
  2. Your brain notices before your mouth does
  3. Thirsty already means you waited too long

Three things that are actually worth doing

  1. Eat breakfast, even a small one
  2. Drink water with every meal
  3. Try one bite of the thing you're unsure about

The question at the end

You feel tired in the afternoon for no reason. What's worth trying first?

For the grown-up

Every lesson ends by handing the child something to do off the screen, and telling you what was taught so you can use the same words.

Try this today: Drink a full glass of water right now, then tell a grown-up one thing you'd like to try eating this week.

Then: Check tomorrow whether breakfast changes how your morning feels.

More in Story Time

The whole library is free

Twenty-four narrated lessons for ages 4 to 9, in English and Spanish. No account, no sign-up, no ads, and nothing your child does in the app ever leaves the device — you can check that yourself with the network tab open. Open the lessons.