Farm Food Health

Overview

Today students explore healthy food choices by tasting and preparing a simple snack using “farm” ingredients (e.g., fruit, yoghurt, wholegrain crackers). They practise early mathematical ideas while grouping snack items and using simple language to explain choices.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• practise safe food preparation steps with support (wash, choose, spread, assemble)
• identify a few foods as “everyday/healthy” choices and explain why
• use simple equal grouping to share snack items fairly (e.g., “2 each”)
• use number words and simple counting to check “how many”

Success criteria

Students can:

• follow a “wash, choose, assemble” routine with prompts
• say one healthy choice and one reason (e.g., “fruit gives energy”, “more colour”)
• make equal groups (e.g., “2 strawberries in each cup”) when sharing
• count snack items and match them to a shared plan

Curriculum links

• Mathematics: forming equal groups to solve problems (focus on sharing in equal groups)
• Mathematics: combining and separating quantities through partitioning (how many in each group)
• English: creating and communicating simple ideas for a purpose (describe the snack we made)
• English: interpersonal communication (listening, turn-taking, extending ideas during the snack talk)

Lesson structure (90 minutes)

1. 0–10 min · Welcome & farm snack story

• Teacher reads a short, teacher-made “farm to snack” story and shows pictured food items (fruit, yoghurt, crackers).
• Students do a quick “healthy choice” sorting on the floor using two signs: “Healthy every day” and “Sometimes treat” (only with teacher guidance).

2. 10–25 min · Healthy choices mini-talk

• Teacher prompts: “What do we notice about this food?” (e.g., colour, texture) and models one sentence: “I chose ___ because ___.”
• Students point to a pictured food and complete a sentence frame with help: “I chose ___ because ___.”

3. 25–40 min · Plan the snack using equal groups

• Teacher places snack components on the bench (e.g., chopped fruit in bowls; yoghurt; wholegrain crackers) and introduces an equal share plan with real items.
• Students help count and then share into equal cups/plates (e.g., “2 strawberries for each plate”): teacher asks, “Are they the same? What shows us?”
• Teacher highlights the equal-group structure: “Each group has the same number.”

4. 40–55 min · Prepare the snack (teacher models, students assist)

• Teacher demonstrates safe handwashing and assembly steps at an age-appropriate pace (wash hands; choose fruit; spoon yoghurt; assemble).
• Students take turns with short jobs: picking one item, placing into a cup, spreading yoghurt with a butter knife (supervised), and placing crackers.

5. 55–65 min · Check “same amount” with counting

• Teacher uses a simple check: “Let’s count each cup. Are they equal?” and models re-counting if needed.
• Students count together (teacher-slowed) and match counts to the shared plan using simple language: “We have ___ in each one.”

6. 65–75 min · Snack time tasting & polite talk

• Teacher models tasting language: “I like ___.” “It tastes ___ (sweet/smooth/crunchy).”
• Students taste their snack and practise turn-taking while answering: “What part of the snack did we make from the farm?”

7. 75–85 min · One-minute review: “We made it healthy”

• Teacher asks two questions and records key words on a chart: “What did we make?” “Why is it healthy?”
• Students choose one picture and say one sentence using a frame: “We made ___ and it is healthy because ___.”

8. 85–90 min · Exit check (quick and simple)

• Teacher holds up two plates/cups with different groupings and asks: “Which one is equal? How do you know?”
• Students indicate the equal one and explain using one of: “same number” / “each has the same.”

Resources

• Picture cards of farm foods (fruit, yoghurt, crackers/wholegrain bread, vegetables as optional)
• Two signs: “Healthy every day” and “Sometimes treat”
• Snack components in labelled bowls (enough for 2 students)
• Small cups/plates for equal sharing
• Child-safe butter knives/spreaders and kid-friendly spoons
• Handwashing access or wipes and paper towels
• Countable snack tokens or counting cards (for the equal-group check)
• Chart paper/whiteboard and marker
• Aprons, hair ties/headbands, and bin for waste

Assessment

• During sharing: observe whether students help form equal groups and whether they can recognise “same number” with support
• During preparation: note safe participation in the routine (wash, choose, assemble) and ability to follow simple directions
• Exit check: whether students can identify the equal grouping and give a basic explanation (“same number”)

Differentiation

• Support: use sentence starters (“I chose ___ because ___”; “Each cup has ___”; “It is healthy because ___”), picture choices only, and one-step directions
• Reduce cognitive load: keep numbers small (e.g., 2 items per cup) and use physical items for counting rather than worksheets
• Extension: offer a “different farm” choice (add cucumber slices or apple pieces) and ask students to predict which option still makes an equal share
• EAL/SEN: pair with gesture cues, allow pointing instead of full sentences, and repeat key phrases consistently (healthy choice, equal share, same number)