Keeping Me Healthy

Overview

This 60-minute lesson aims to develop Year 2 students’ understanding of personal health through interactive, collaborative, and student-centred activities. The focus is on balanced diet, exercise, and hygiene, integrated with movement and teamwork. Students will engage in research-based tasks that build metacognition and 21st-century skills such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, aligned with the UK National Curriculum for Science and PSHE.

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Curriculum Links

Science (Key Stage 1: Year 2)

• Identify that humans need the right types and amount of nutrition and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat.
• Notice that humans and animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement.
• Describe the importance of exercise for good health.

PSHE Education (Personal Health and Well-being focus) KS1

• Understand how to maintain personal hygiene and the importance of cleanliness to keep healthy.
• Recognise the benefits of physical activity and balanced diet for healthy living.

Skills Developed

• Collaboration & teamwork
• Research & enquiry
• Metacognition - self-reflection on learning
• Communication skills – sharing ideas
• Critical thinking about healthy choices

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Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Describe three key aspects of keeping healthy: balanced diet, exercise, and hygiene.
2. Work effectively in teams to research and present their assigned health topic.
3. Reflect on how they can keep themselves healthy in daily life.
4. Participate actively in movement activities linked to health.
5. Demonstrate teamwork, communication, and creativity through a group project.

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Resources Needed

• Large paper/poster boards per group
• Markers, crayons, and sticky notes
• Prepared fact cards (age-appropriate, evidence-based) about balanced diet, exercise, hygiene
• A simple movement activity space or playground area
• Research prompts/question cards to guide enquiry
• Assessment checklist for project presentation

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Lesson Structure

1. Introduction & Hook (10 minutes)

• Warm-up Movement Game: “Healthy Habits Relay” - quick, active game where students do a short physical task representing healthy actions (e.g. washing hands, eating fruit, running on the spot).
• Teacher introduces the lesson question: “What does keeping me healthy mean?”
• Prompt class discussion with visual prompts and quick brainstorm on whiteboard or sticky notes.

2. Group Formation and Topic Assignment (5 minutes)

• Divide the 19 students into 3 groups (~6-7 per group).
• Assign each group one key healthy topic:
  1. Balanced diet
  2. Exercise
  3. Hygiene
• Give each group fact cards and question prompts to explore.

3. Group Research & Creation (20 minutes)

• Groups read and discuss their fact cards and investigate their health topic using teacher guidance.
• Encourage students to highlight key points and write/draw them on poster paper as a team.
• Teacher facilitates by asking metacognitive questions:
  • “What do you already know about this topic?”
  • “What is new or surprising?”
  • “How can you show this to others clearly?”
• Each group plans a short presentation of their poster.

4. Movement Activity Integration (10 minutes)

• Groups create a short 2-minute movement activity or demonstration related to their topic.
  • For example, the Exercise group might lead a quick warm-up, the Hygiene group demonstrate handwashing steps, the Balanced Diet group could act out choosing healthy foods.
• Perform in front of other groups to reinforce learning with physical involvement.

5. Group Presentations & Peer Feedback (10 minutes)

• Each group shares their poster and movement activity with the class.
• Peers use an assessment checklist (smiley faces or simple criteria) to provide positive feedback.
• Teacher encourages reflection on teamwork and learning outcomes.

6. Reflection and Personal Action (5 minutes)

• Whole class discussion on:
  • “Which healthy habit will you try this week?”
  • “How does working in a team help our learning?”
• Individual quick-draw or sentence to complete: “I will keep myself healthy by...”
• Teacher collects these for ongoing assessment and to encourage metacognitive awareness.

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Assessment

Formative: Observation of group discussions, student engagement, and movement activity participation.
Summative Project: Poster presentation and demonstration as a team task showing understanding of their health topic, assessed against simple success criteria (clear message, teamwork evident, creativity).

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Differentiation & Inclusion

• Provide fact cards with different complexity levels to cater for varying reading abilities common in Year 2.
• Use visual aids and prompts to support understanding.
• Encourage all students to participate in both research and movement activities.
• Teacher to assign roles within groups to ensure participation (researcher, artist, speaker, movement leader).

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Extension & Home Learning

• Suggest students create a “Healthy Habit Diary” for the week, tracking exercise, meals, and hygiene routines.
• Encourage family discussions on healthy living to link home and school learning.

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Teacher’s Reflective Notes

• Monitor which formats (visual, verbal, kinesthetic) students respond to best.
• Note any groups that struggle with teamwork or metacognitive reflection to adapt future lessons.
• Encourage student voice by allowing them to suggest new healthy habits or topics for further exploration.

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Engage students by transforming knowledge about keeping healthy into an active, collaborative, and meaningful experience that promotes lifelong habits and 21st-century skills.