Seasonal Food

#TheCompleteSeries6lessons

Why are certain foods in season at different times of year? Why is it good to eat seasonal food? How can we include seasonal food in a healthy, varied diet? Get your children thinking about these questions and more, then cook with your class using one of the five detailed recipes included in this series of lessons, designed especially to meet the new National Curriculum 'Cooking and Nutrition' objectives!

Never cooked with your class before? To make life easier, detailed teacher's notes with information about cooking skills, quantities, costs and timings are included with every recipe. If you don't have the time or facilities to cook in every lesson - don't worry! Each lesson includes an alternative 'non-cook' activity for you to do instead. Each lesson comes with a load of supporting resources to make sure that teachers and children alike have everything they need to safely cook healthy, seasonal food!

This scheme of work is also part of a Topic Bundle. Perfect if you are teaching 'Food' as a cross-curricular topic.

#Lesson1SeasonalProduce

Teach your class about seasonal produce in the UK, focusing on foods available all year round.

What UK seasonal foods are at their best at this time of year? What does seasonality mean? Why are so many foods available all year round? The first lesson in this series of six KS2 DT cooking and nutrition lessons discusses these questions and provides an overview of seasonal food and agriculture in Britain. The included lesson plan, slides and resources are packed with helpful information for you to teach your class about eating seasonally in the UK.

As well as giving an overview, the included slides focus on UK wheat farming (and when wheat is harvested in the UK), and why cereals are an important all-year-round food. Included with this lesson is an easy fairy cake recipe with detailed information to help teachers (an alternative activity is included that does not involve cooking.)

#Lesson2SeasonalFruit

Teach KS2 children all about seasonal fruit grown in the UK, including how they are grown and harvested. Includes a jam tart (or fruit tart) recipe for children.

With the included slides and resources, children will also discover how fruits are stored, transported and preserved to increase the amount of time they are available for.

After that, teach your class how to make jam tarts (or, if you get British seasonal fruits, fruit tarts). The detailed lesson plan and recipe make it easy for you to prepare for cooking either with a small group or your entire class – there's even advice for cooking safely to share with your learners before they get stuck in.

#Lesson3SeasonalVegetables

Seasonal vegetables (and when they are at their best in the UK) are the focus of this KS2 DT lesson. Teach your class about seasonal vegetables, and develop basic cooking skills with the included easy stuffed peppers recipe.

What's the difference between fruit and vegetables? Challenge children to consider this and discuss the importance of including lots of fresh vegetables in a healthy diet. Note that in addition to the included recipe for healthy, delicious stuffed peppers, an alternative 'non-cook' activity is also included. There's even some basic cooking skills worksheets with pictures and descriptions to help your children chop, weigh, mix and grate ingredients safely.

#Lesson4SeasonalMeatPoultryandProteins

Find out about seasonal meat and other sources of protein that are farmed, reared and caught with this KS2 lesson plan pack. Includes an easy meatball recipe and information about alternative, vegetarian protein sources.

With this lesson planning pack's included slides and printable PDF resources, take a closer look at the nutrients in meat and poultry that are important for staying healthy. You will go on to look at why, although many types of meat and poultry are available all year round, some British meats are only in season for a few months of the year. Following this, cook delicious meatballs with your class using the detailed recipe included (there is an alternative 'non-cook' activity).

#Lesson5SeasonalFishandUKSeafood

Teach your Key Stage 2 class all about seasonal fish and UK seafood. Includes information about farmed fish, too – plus an easy tuna jacket potato (or sandwich) filling recipe to make with your class.

Where does the fish we eat in Britain come from? In this lesson your class will consider this, and other challenging questions about sustainable fishing, then go on to make a range of sandwich/jacket potato fillings using fish or other protein-rich vegetarian alternatives. As with all of the lessons in this series, there is an alternative 'non-cook' activity, too!

#Lesson6DesigningSeasonalMeals

Challenge your class to design seasonal meals with a balance of seasonal British ingredients. Includes slides packed with seasonality information, detailed lesson planning and differentiated DT activities.

In this lesson, children will firstly find out about some unusual foods produced around the world which are only available or in season for a very short time every year. They'll then go on to produce seasonal food menus or play a game to show what children have learned about seasonal food throughout this, and other lessons, in this 'Seasonal Food' scheme of work.

Free Overview (Medium-Term Plan)

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Free Assessment Grid

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Curriculum Objectives covered

• KS2 - understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet
• KS2 - prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques
• KS2 - understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed