Activity planner – Primary
This activity planner contains a list of activity ideas and links to resources to help you plan your Healthy Eating Week.
The activity ideas have been organised under the Week’s three themes: creative cooking, food provenance, eating
and drinking well. The activity ideas also support the Week’s five health challenges:
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Have a healthy breakfast;
Have 5 A DAY;
Drink plenty;
Get active;
Try something new.
Food provenance
Primary
This activity will focus on where foods come from and to group them into plant and animal sources.
Use the Where does food come from? presentation or Where does food come from? video to talk to the children
about food sources.
Interested in visiting a farm or knowing more about farming? If so, the following sites will help:
www.visitmyfarm.org and www.face-online.org.uk
Place the Food cards in a container or bag, ask the children to take one card out and say where the food comes
from.
Talk to the children about foods such as yogurt or cheese – these are not directly from the animal but have been
made from cow’s milk. What other examples can they think of, e.g. bread is made from wheat.
Demonstrate how to use the Plant or animal? Interactive activity. Organise the children in to pairs or individuals
to work on the activity.
Ask the children to name a range of foods that come from plants. Can they think of some they have eaten today,
e.g. breakfast cereal, toast, fruit snacks?
Show the children the Plants video clip and ask them to identify the food that they see in the video.
Gather some examples (or pictures) of different plant foods and explore with the children which part of the plant
is eaten, e.g. leaf, flower, stem and root.
Use the Plant cards cover the name and ask the children to name the foods they see and say which part of the
plant they are from, e.g. carrot – root, lettuce – leaves.
Ask the children to complete the Eating plants worksheet.
Show children the Meet farmer Henry video. In this short video, farmer Henry takes us on a tour and shows us
some of the plants and animals on his farm.
Show the children some pictures of meals that include food from animals. Ask the children which foods they can
see that is of animal origin, where do they come from? e.g. fish fingers are made from cod, cottage pie is made
with beef mince.
BNF Healthy Eating Week 2015 has been developed by the British Nutrition Foundation and is supported by the Agriculture Horticulture
Development Board (DairyCo), Danone, the Garfield Weston Foundation, KP Snacks, the National Farmers Union, Seafish, ABF and Capespan.
Talk to the children about where food is farmed, reared and caught. How many children have been on a farm visit?
What did they see?
You could use the Farming food presentation or a farming video clip to get the children to think about how
farmers rear animals for food. Explore how farmers look after animals. What do they need?
Encourage the children to explore where their food comes from with these farming activity books (useful for a
homework activity):
Activity booklet for pupils aged 5-7 years
Activity booklet for pupils aged 7-12 years
Organise a Farm visit to find out more about the animals there and how they are cared for.
Alternatively use the Farm visit interactive activity.
Read or watch The Farm Visit story. There are lots of activities and resources to support. These include a My Dairy
Farm visit booklet for children to complete.
Show the children some images of different types of fish. Use the video clip Fishing. Talk to them about where fish
comes from and why there are rules to regulate fishing.
Ask the children how many of them have tried different fish dishes. How many can they name?
Set up a tasting activity. Show the children the ingredients used to make Marvellous mackerel pate. Talk about the
ingredients – what has changed?
Serve the pate in small amounts on wholemeal toast triangles or with vegetable dippers. Encourage the children to
taste and describe the pate.
Play a game of Seafish snap.
Cook different recipes using fish – get some inspiration here!
Show the children examples of food that has been changed from farm to fork, e.g. milk. Explore what changes
have taken place and why.
You could use a video clip to demonstrate for example milk to cheese.
Demonstrate the Farm to Fork interactive activity with the children. There is a Farm to fork guide to help.
The children will need to work out what happens step by step, farm to fork.
Use the Can I eat it? presentation to explore how foods need to be changed in some way before they are eaten.
Show the children the What’s changed cards and ask them to match the foods. Talk about the changes that have
taken place, e.g. potatoes > washed > peeled > cooked.
Show the children some example recipes or recipe videos. Working in pairs, ask them to identify what needs to be
done to make the food edible and safe to eat, e.g. washing, peeling, mixing, cooking.
Select one recipe and go through each ingredient and step by step method. Ask the children what ingredients are
being used, how they are changed, what process they have to go through.
Give the children the What’s Happening worksheet to complete and record how one of the dishes was made.
Set up a cooking activity to demonstrate the changes that take place when preparing and cooking a dish.
BNF Healthy Eating Week 2015 has been developed by the British Nutrition Foundation and is supported by the Agriculture Horticulture
Development Board (DairyCo), Danone, the Garfield Weston Foundation, KP Snacks, the National Farmers Union, Seafish, ABF and Capespan.
Explore the changes with the children
What ingredients were used?
What happened to each ingredient?
What processes does each ingredient have to go through before it is eaten?
Set up a breakfast activity.
Have available a range of food and drink (or images) that might be eaten at breakfast time.
Ask the children why breakfast is an important meal. What foods have the class eaten for breakfast this week?
Explore where the food and drink they have identified comes from and how they have been changed or processed
before they are eaten.
Ask the children which of the season they associate with harvest. Why is this?
Talk about the different foods that are grown harvested in the UK – use these resources to help:
Growing food 1 - presentation
Growing food 2 – presentation
Growing food – worksheet
Harvest time – presentation
Harvest time - worksheet
Demonstrate the Where do my meals come from? (5-8yrs) and/or Where do my meals come from? (8-11yrs)
Interactive activity.
Get the children to complete the activity.
Using the Food cards and labels ask the children to name the food and say where in the UK it might come from.
Get the children to plot where the foods come from on a blank UK map. Talk about foods that are produced
locally. How can they find out where food is produced?
Explore the World produce cards with the children. Where do they think they are grown? Use the labels to reveal
the origin of each food.
Ask the pupils why they think the foods are produced in a certain country, e.g. climate
Why not grown your own?
Find out more about how potatoes are grown. Show the Growing potatoes video. Set up a class growing area (or a
bucket) and plant some potatoes with the children. Talk about the conditions needed for the plants to grow.
Have any of the children seen potatoes growing at home or on an allotment?
Show The bucket garden story about a class of children growing potatoes.
A selection of worksheets which support the story themes are also available.
BNF Healthy Eating Week 2015 has been developed by the British Nutrition Foundation and is supported by the Agriculture Horticulture
Development Board (DairyCo), Danone, the Garfield Weston Foundation, KP Snacks, the National Farmers Union, Seafish, ABF and Capespan.
Creative cooking
Primary
Show the children a range of equipment or use the Equipment photograph cards, ask them to name as many
pieces of equipment as they can and to say what they are used for.
There is also an Equipment presentation you could use.
Show the children how some of the equipment works, e.g. crush garlic or squeeze the juice from a lemon.
Sort the children into groups of 2 or 3 and give them the What is it? Cards. The children need to match the
pictures of the equipment to their names and functions.
Set up the classroom for a practical food activity. Use these resources to help:
Demonstration guide
Skills guide
Hygiene and safety checklist
Cooking guide
Before you do any practical activities get parent/carer permission. Permission letter
Use the Let’s get ready to cook poster to remind the children how to get ready to cook.
Show the Hygiene presentation to help the children get ready to cook.
Plan an activity to teach the children a range of basic food preparation skills.
Demonstrate the skills or show the children video clips as a reminder.
Select a recipe and talk to the children about the equipment and skills they will need to use.
Recipes:
Coleslaw
Fruit kebabs
Fruit smoothie
Couscous salad
Wraps and sandwiches
Plan a class breakfast or brunch.
Get the children working in groups to plan the food and drinks that they will prepare and serve.
The groups will need to consider what they have learned about The eatwell plate. Use the Breakfast planner
and Breakfast menu to help.
If you have the resources and facilities put the plan into action. Task each group with planning their dish or
drink and working out the ingredients needed, plan of action and serving.
Set up an ingredient tasting session. The teacher’s guide to sensory evaluation and the Tasting checklist will
help. Alternatively use the Investigating ingredients SMARTBoard resource to help you tell children how to
taste the ingredients and use sensory vocabulary.
Introduce the children to sensory vocabulary and carry out a simple tasting activity. The Investigating
ingredients worksheet can be used to record results.
Give the children a sample recipe and talk about the structure and contents of the recipe.
Use the Recipe presentation to go through each part. Give the children the My recipe worksheet and task
BNF Healthy Eating Week 2015 has been developed by the British Nutrition Foundation and is supported by the Agriculture Horticulture
Development Board (DairyCo), Danone, the Garfield Weston Foundation, KP Snacks, the National Farmers Union, Seafish, ABF and Capespan.
them to write a simple recipe. If you have time and facilities allow the children to prepare and cook their
simple recipe.
The Unmuddle the recipe SMART Board activity sets children the challenge of sorting a sandwich recipe into its
correct order.
Plan a class playtime snack or drink. Decide on the dish (es) that will be prepared and set up the practical
activity.
Prepare and serve and eat the snack or drink as a class. Encourage the children to talk about the ingredients
they have used, where they have come from, the skills they have used and to use sensory words to describe
the dish or drink.
Recipe examples:
Smoothie, Perky punch,
Fruit kebab
Hummus and dippers
Veggie snacks
Bagel bruschetta
Ask the children what different types of food they have eaten from around the world.
Discuss how people from different countries and cultures prepare, cook and eat food in a variety of ways.
Show the children the World food presentation and talk to the children about the different ways in which
people eat food and the way food is cooked.
What examples have they seen?
Show the children a range of ingredients that are used in cooking around the world. Do they know the name of
any of the ingredients?
you could also use the Extended food cards to introduce less familiar ingredients.
Set up a tasting activity to try some of the ingredients.
the Tasting checklist and Permission letter will help.
Ask the children to think about the types of foods eaten by different people around the world that make up
their diet.
Use the World Diets presentation to stimulate discussion about different foods and cuisines that they have
tried. Link the discussion to the work they have done on The eatwell plate. Ask the children for examples of
diets from other countries and how they reflect The eatwell plate.
Show the children some examples; you may wish to invite a member of the school community to come and talk
to the children about food and diet from another country.
Set up a practical session using foods from other countries. Select suitable recipes and ingredients that may be
readily available locally.
Recipe ideas:
Samosa
Halloumi kebabs
Simple spring rolls
Pizza
Show the children an example of a recipe that can be modified to make something different and original. A
good example is scones – the basic recipe is used and the other ingredients added make it different.
BNF Healthy Eating Week 2015 has been developed by the British Nutrition Foundation and is supported by the Agriculture Horticulture
Development Board (DairyCo), Danone, the Garfield Weston Foundation, KP Snacks, the National Farmers Union, Seafish, ABF and Capespan.
Ask the children to come up with some ideas of ingredients that could be used to modify the scone recipe.
Use the Modify a recipe SMART Board to illustrate how basic recipes can be modified.
Get creative - Get the children to cook a batch of the scones they have modified. You could watch the Scone
video to remind the children of the skills they will use.
Why not take part in a BNF Healthy Eating Week Cook-a-long? Information and support (e.g. a planner, a
recipe and a PowerPoint to help you get organised) will be available to download before the event. Remember
to share how you got on with BNF!
BNF Healthy Eating Week 2015 has been developed by the British Nutrition Foundation and is supported by the Agriculture Horticulture
Development Board (DairyCo), Danone, the Garfield Weston Foundation, KP Snacks, the National Farmers Union, Seafish, ABF and Capespan.
Eating and drinking well
Primary
Ask the children why we need to eat. Use the Food – a fact of life presentation to explore this with the
children.
Question the children to get them thinking about food and what they eat or drink. Remind children that we
need food to grow, be active and maintain health.
The How does food help my body worksheet can be used to help the children to draw/write about how food
helps their own body.
Remind (or introduce) the children about The eatwell plate. Display The eatwell plate poster and use the
presentation to discuss and explain the structure of the plate and how it is used to help us choose a balanced
diet.
An eatwell plate teacher guide will give you more information.
This activity requires the children to sort foods into the correct group on The eatwell plate.
Explore with the children the size of the food groups and what messages this gives.
Look at the names for each group and discuss which foods might be included.
Give the children a set of Food cards and ask them to sort them into the food groups.
Get active! Draw a large eatwell plate outline in chalk in the playground. Name each food group.
Take half of the class to the opposite end of the playground and give them each a Food card. On your
instruction, each child should run to the eatwell plate and stand in the food group where their image belongs.
Check they are in the right place before collecting the cards and playing with the other half of the class.
The eatwell plate race.
Use the Make a balanced plate interactive activity on the whiteboard. Get the children to help sort the foods
into the correct food groups.
Talk to the children about choosing a balance of foods from The eatwell plate.
Ask the children to identify foods from the largest sections, use the Eatwell cards. In pairs get the children to
plan different meals checking they have got a balance of foods from the groups. Use My lunchbox as an
example.
You could look at the school lunch menu and see how that reflects The eatwell plate over the week. Find more
information on the School Food Plan and school food standards.
Set up a practical activity to make one of the items they have planned for their lunchbox.
Recipe ideas:
Sandwich wrap
Triple decker sandwich
Veggie snacks
Pitta pockets
Samosa
Pizza wheels
Explore the Fruit and vegetable food group with the children.
BNF Healthy Eating Week 2015 has been developed by the British Nutrition Foundation and is supported by the Agriculture Horticulture
Development Board (DairyCo), Danone, the Garfield Weston Foundation, KP Snacks, the National Farmers Union, Seafish, ABF and Capespan.
Give the children the food cards and ask them to identify which of the cards belong to this group.
Talk to the children about the 5 A day message, variety and the types of fruit and vegetable that count.
Get the children to draw a rainbow using different coloured fruits and vegetables. Can they eat a rainbow of
fruit and vegetables?
5 a day ideas and resources.
Use the Composite cards to explore these dishes in more detail.
Working in small groups, give the pupils a card and ask them to work out what the principle ingredients are for
their dish.
Ask the children to write the components of their dish into the Blank eatwell plate food groups.
Use the What is it made from? worksheets to record their work.
Give the children a food diary and ask them to record their intake over 1-2 days.
Using the Food diary worksheet, ask the children to count up the foods they ate from each group. They may
need to use the Eatwell food list Worksheet to help.
Talk to the children about the proportion of foods they have eaten and how it compares to The eatwell plate.
Ask the children – where do they get energy from and why does the body need energy? Use the Energy
presentation and Energy cards to demonstrate that different types of food provide different amounts of
energy.
Teacher guidance – Energy balance
Organise the children into pairs and give each pair a Food bingo board. Explain that you will take a Food Card
and call out the food on that card. If the children have this food on their board, they can cover it with a
counter. The first pair to cover all their foods will be the winner.
Download the Are you drinking plenty? poster and Teachers’ guide.
Use the poster to keep a class record of how much everyone drinks each day for up to a week. The teachers’
guide contains more information about hydration, an individual drink tracking worksheet and fun drinking
related maths questions.
An interactive activity to help Ronnie and Alisha make smart meal choices throughout the day. It allows
children to choose different food and drinks at meal times and see how what they choose affects their eatwell
plate.
BNF Healthy Eating Week 2015 has been developed by the British Nutrition Foundation and is supported by the Agriculture Horticulture
Development Board (DairyCo), Danone, the Garfield Weston Foundation, KP Snacks, the National Farmers Union, Seafish, ABF and Capespan.