Snack boxes are the answer to crushed lunch snacks.

Snack boxes are the answer—small, hard-sided containers keep graze-friendly bites from turning to crumbs. Forget plastic bags; they collapse and crush things the moment the lunchbox gets tossed in a backpack.

The trick is to give every snack its own little padded cell. Bento boxes with dividers work great, but you don’t need anything fancy. A few small glass or plastic containers, or even silicone muffin cups, will do the job. Put crackers in one, cheese cubes in another, grapes in a third. Then pack them in tight so nothing slides around.

If you’re using a single open container, think about gravity. Put a paper towel on the bottom, then lay down sturdy stuff like celery or apple slices as a base. Add softer things like berries or cherry tomatoes on top, and tuck fragile items into a mini cup so they’re supported on all sides. A lettuce leaf works as a cushion too.

And don’t overstuff. The more room snacks have to move, the more they smash into each other. Fill the gaps with something solid—a hard-boiled egg, a small jar of dip, even a folded paper towel can act as a bumper. Snack packing is mostly just engineering.

You can have your grazing plate in a lunchbox, just give each piece its own little home.