Sept Grow your food Herbs. 5-7 years

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Grant Kennedy
5 years ago
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1 Grow your food years

Teaching children about growing food is a great way to inspire them to cook and try new fresh foods. It also teaches children about which foods are in season when.

The advantages of growing herbs in school are: grow quickly from seed within a school term. The herb seeds and equipment needed are cheap to buy.

2 Teaching children about growing food is a great way to inspire them to cook and try new fresh foods. It also teaches children about which foods are in season when. are fairly easy and quick to grow and don t need much looking after. Also, they don t need a garden or allotment simple tubs on the windowsill or pots in just a small space can do the job. The advantages of growing herbs in school are: grow quickly from seed within a school term. The herb seeds and equipment needed are cheap to buy. They are versatile and suitable for schools with or without gardens. have important links with diet, health and cooking. They re tasty, nutritious and provide a great way to add flavour and reduce or replace salt in cooking. Aims of the session To find out about herbs and their uses. To use our senses and learn how to describe different herbs. To learn about growing plants from seed. Suitable for ages five to seven Curriculum links: history, literacy, numeracy, science. Estimated delivery time: 1 hour. Consider splitting the class into two groups with half completing the Herb discovery activity sheet while the other half plant the seeds. Then swap them over. If you have only 30 minutes just select one activity. Outline of activities 1. Herb discovery Children will be shown a range of herbs. They will use their senses to complete a Herb discovery activity sheet (30 mins). 2. Growing herbs Children will plant a chive or mint seed (30 mins).

3 Activity 1: Estimated delivery time: 1 hour Herb discovery What you will need Herb discovery activity sheets Five herb plants or packs of herbs chives, mint, rosemary, basil, parsley (use others if you can t get all of these in-store) Paper plates Pieces of each herb cut up and put on plates enough for one per child Plastic bowl to put herbs in when children have completed sensory activity Antibacterial spray and set of cleaning cloths Disposable tablecloths Introduction Introduce yourself and explain that today we are going to learn about herbs. Show the pots of herbs at the front of the room. Explain that we are going to use our senses to discover more about them. Ask what our senses are touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste. Hand out activity sheets and ask children to write their name on their copy. Explain what herbs have been used for historically e.g. in medicines and in cooking. How to run this session Before the children arrive Cover table with tablecloth. Arrange herbs on table. Cut up pieces of herb and put on plates. Sage In-school Grow your food

Questions to ask the children Ask if anyone knows what

Hand round a plate with pieces of one type of herb.

word (adjective) for what the herb looks, smells and

Ask the children to put up their hands if they have a

4 Questions to ask the children Ask if anyone knows what herbs are. Does anyone know the names of any herbs? Does anyone grow herbs? Activity Work through the Herb discovery sheet together. Hand round a plate with pieces of one type of herb. Ask children to take a piece and think of a describing word (adjective) for what the herb looks, smells and feels like. Ask the children to put up their hands if they have a suggestion. Write some of the suitable words on the board. Ask the children to write one of the words in the appropriate box. Repeat for each type of herb. Thyme

5 Activity 2: Estimated delivery time: 1 hour Planting herbs What you will need Disposable cups (1 per child plus a few spares). Or get teacher to ask the children to bring in a small yoghurt pot Stickers or labels (on which the children write the name, date and type of plant) 1 small bag multi-purpose compost (enough to fill 30 cups) 1 pack each of chive and mint seeds Disposable plastic dessert spoons for putting compost in pots 1 litre water bottle (for watering the seeds) Hand wipes Disposable plastic aprons Fresh chives and mint samples, either a pack or a pot Antibacterial spray and set of cleaning cloths Disposable tablecloths Introduction Tell the children that they are going to plant either a chive or a mint seed. Show them the chive and mint plants. Split the group into two, one group chive and one group mint. Ask all of the chive children to sit together and all of the mint children to sit together. How to run this session Before the children arrive Set out equipment and resources it may be easier to put a smaller amount of compost into a plastic bowl for the children to scoop out. Put a number of plastic disposable aprons around the classroom ready for the children to put on before they start this session. In-school Grow your food

Questions to ask the children Ask the children if they know what the seeds will need for them to start growing (water and warmth). What will the plants need to keep growing?

On a windowsill? Explain that we are going to start growing our seeds indoors, but we could plant them outside later.

6 Questions to ask the children Ask the children if they know what the seeds will need for them to start growing (water and warmth). What will the plants need to keep growing? (Water, food from soil and light). Where is the best place to put our newly planted seeds? In a pot of compost? (Should it be wet or dry?) Where should we put the pot? Is it too cold outside? On a windowsill? Explain that we are going to start growing our seeds indoors, but we could plant them outside later. Extension activity Ask the teacher to do this extra activity to follow up your visit. Literacy The children could write a set of instructions for how to plant a seed. This could be differentiated for less able children by printing out the stages and asking them to put them in the correct order, or the children could draw a picture for each stage in the process. Activity 1. In groups of four or five, children start putting compost into pots using disposable dessert spoons (one member of staff per group). Tell the children not to fill the pot right up to the top (2cm gap between compost and top of pot). 2. Make a hole in the compost with their finger or a pencil. 3. Plant the seed 1cm below the surface of the compost and gently cover over with compost. 4. Put their plant label with their name, date and type of plant in the pot. 5. When everyone in the group has finished, the seeds need watering lightly. Group members take turns doing this each day if necessary. But be careful not to over water; the compost should be kept damp, not wet. NB. Ask each adult to plant two extra pots of seeds as spares.

7 Herb discovery activity sheet: Using your senses to describe herbs Name of herb What does it look like? What does it smell like? What does it feel like? What else did you discover? In-school Grow your food Xerox Code: CLSK007

Gaining knowledge of appropriate behaviour in the kitchen learning space. Gaining knowledge of appropriate behaviour in the garden learning space

Gaining knowledge of appropriate behaviour in the kitchen learning space. Gaining knowledge of appropriate behaviour in the garden learning space PL E SA M Kitchen Garden Syllabus for Primary (YEARS F 2) at a Glance Session Theme Garden Activities Indoor Garden Activities Kitchen Activities/Recipes Know ledge and Skills 1 2 An Introduction to Garden