5 A DAY

Learning

The aim of this session is for children to:

• explain that it is important to eat lots of different fruit and vegetables to stay healthy (at least 5 A DAY, every day);
• name a range of fruit and vegetables.

You will need:

• Fruit cards - cut out, laminated (optional)
• Vegetable cards - cut out, laminated (optional)
• Fruit and vegetable bingo boards - cut out, laminated (optional)
• 16 x counters
• Tasting guide
• 5  x firm fruit or vegetables
• A fabric bag

Listen and respond

Show the children a section of images from the Fruit cards and the Vegetable cards and ask them to name the fruit or vegetable shown. Explain that we all need to eat lots of different fruit and vegetables to be healthy. We should eat at least five different types every day.

Ask the children to tell the person next to them one or two of the fruit and vegetables they have eaten in the last few days. Choose a few of the children to report what fruit or vegetables the person next to them ate. 

Ask all the children to spend a few minutes thinking of their favourite fruit or favourite vegetable. Choose a few of the children in turn to describe their favourite fruit or vegetable, without naming it, and see if the rest of the children can guess what it is.

Talk about the fruit and vegetables that could be eaten during a day. List the different meal and snack occasions on the board to help. For example:

• breakfast – chopped banana on breakfast cereal;
• mid-morning snack – satsuma;
• lunch – cucumber sticks and an apple;
• evening meal - corn-on-the-cob.

Repeat this, asking the children to name the fruit and vegetables they would like to have at different times of the day. Count up the fruit and vegetables together to make sure there are at least five each time the task is repeated.

Display the Fruit cards and the Vegetable cards to help remind the children about some of the different fruit and vegetables that can be eaten. You could make daily reference to these, and ask the children if they have eaten any of the fruit and vegetables from the images at home.

Have a go

Activity 1 – four players. Play Fruit and vegetable bingo. Each child will need a Fruit and vegetable bingo board. From the Fruit cards and the Vegetable cards, select the following food to be used during the game of bingo: mango, dried apricots, kiwi fruit, blueberries, satsuma peach, blackberries. parsnip, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, celery, lettuce and  radishes. Shuffle the cards and call out each fruit or vegetables in turn. If any of the children have the fruit or vegetable called, they can cover it with a counter. As each child completes a board, they can help a friend.

Activity 2 – small group. Set up a fruit and vegetable tasting session. Choose 3-5 different fruit and vegetables to taste with the children. Show the children how to taste the samples using their senses - what can they smell, feel, taste and hear? For full details about running a tasting session, take a look at the Tasting guide.

Consolidate

Without the children seeing, place a fruit or vegetable into a bag. Pass the bag to the children and get them to feel the fruit or vegetable, and describe what it feels like. Let three or four children have a go before you reveal what it is. Repeat this with the other fruit and vegetables, putting each in the bag one at a time. Let different children have a go with each fruit or vegetable.  (Ensure that you use fruit and vegetables which will withstand being well handled.)

Reviewed November 2023