Safe or Unsafe?

Curriculum Information

Curriculum Area: Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE)
Key Stage: Key Stage 1 (Year 2)
PSHE Association Programme of Study (KS1 Core Theme 1: Health and Wellbeing):

• H12: How to keep safe in familiar and unfamiliar environments (e.g. kitchen, bathroom, playground).
• H14: That household products, including medicines, can be harmful if not used correctly.

Cross-Curricular Link: Design and Technology – Cooking and Nutrition
Supportive Learning Objective: Understanding basic kitchen safety before engaging in practical food preparation tasks.

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Duration

Total Lesson Time: 10–15 minutes
(Aimed to be a brisk 1-minute task embedded into a larger kitchen safety session, ideal for transitions.)

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Learning Objective

By the end of this task, pupils will be able to:

Identify and sort a range of age-appropriate kitchen behaviours into “Safe” and “Unsafe” categories, demonstrating an emerging awareness of the importance of safety in practical environments.

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Resources Needed

• Pre-prepared cut-and-stick worksheet (one per pupil)
• Safety scissors
• Glue sticks
• Interacting whiteboard and visual timer (optional)
• A3 Class Display Poster: “Our Safe Kitchen” (used in plenary)

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Vocabulary to Introduce

• Safe
• Unsafe
• Behaviour
• Kitchen
• Responsible
• Danger

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Prior Learning

Pupils should have previously discussed personal safety in the classroom and playground. This is an extension into recognising home-based safety, specifically the kitchen space.

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Teacher Preparation (Before the Lesson)

1. Print and prepare worksheets with a page containing:

   • A two-column layout labelled “Safe Actions” and “Unsafe Actions”
   • At least 6–8 visual depictions and/or simple statements to cut out, such as:
     • "Washing hands before cooking"
     • "Touching the oven without help"
     • "Tying long hair back"
     • "Leaving toys on the kitchen floor"
     • "Using a knife without an adult"
     • "Helping to stir with an adult nearby"
     • "Turning pot handles towards the edge"
     • "Wearing shoes without laces in the kitchen"

2. Prepare one A3 version of the same sorting activity to model.

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Lesson Breakdown

⏱ Minute 1: Quick-Fire Sorting Task

1. Introduction (30 seconds)

• Gather children in front of the whiteboard.
• Brief, engaging prompt: "Today we're going to help a chef make the kitchen a safe place!"
• Use three large visuals (e.g., a chef, oven, and bandages) to generate curiosity.

2. Task Instruction (30 seconds)

• Show the worksheet to the class and explain the two columns: “Safe Actions” and “Unsafe Actions”.
• Read aloud each cut-out for clarity and comprehension. Use the interactive board to model a couple being sorted correctly.
• Emphasise: “Only glue when you've decided—think like a Kitchen Safety Star!”

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Differentiation

• EAL/Lower Ability: Use picture-led cut-outs with red and green visual coding — red for unsafe, green for safe.
• Greater Depth: Challenge to explain “why” they placed an item in each column in pairs or mini plenary.
• SEND Support: Offer pre-cut items or allow stick-and-match with Velcro cards to remove scissor element.

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Assessment Opportunity

Formative Assessment: Observe individual choices and ask probing questions while circulating:

• “Why do you think that’s unsafe?”
• “What could happen if we did that?”

Plenary (Extension Option):

• Ask a few children to share one item from each category for rapid class recap. Stick them on the A3 “Our Safe Kitchen” Poster to build a running classroom resource.

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Extension / Home Link

Send children home with a blank version of the sheet and ask them to find one example of a safe kitchen rule they use at home. Invite family comments—it becomes an excellent bridge between school and home safety values.

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Teacher Reflection Prompt

“Did all children show an awareness of what makes kitchen behaviour safe or unsafe? How might I adapt this for other home safety areas?”

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Final Notes

This fast-paced, visual, and tactile safety activity builds early risk awareness through sorting and collaboration. It is purposefully short and suited for insertion into a longer session, assembly, or as a safety mini-lesson before any DT or food work. Sensory learners particularly benefit from the cut-and-stick nature of the task, and it supports Ofsted's emphasis on pupil character education, responsibility, and wellbeing.

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Let’s help Year 2 become kitchen-safety experts — one glue-stick at a time!