Seasons

Learning

The aim of this session is for children to:

• explain that different fruit and vegetables are ready to eat at different times of the year (in different seasons);
• assemble their own seasonal salad by selecting and combining ingredients.

You will need

• Sensational seasonal salad recipe – choose ingredients from the season in which this session is run
• Season cards
• Get ready to cook cards
• Setting up a cooking session guide

Before session preparation
Prepare the ingredients and equipment in advance. What you will need is listed on the Sensational seasonal salad recipe. Refer to the Setting up a cooking session guide to help you organise your session.

Listen and respond
Use the questions below to see if the children know the name of the current season and what the other seasons are called:

• What time of year is it now?
• What time of year is it when leaves turn orange and start to fall off the trees? (Autumn.)
• What time of year is it when all the leaves have fallen off the trees, and it’s colder? (Winter.)
• What time of year is it when it is warmer and some people start to wear t-shirts? (Summer.)
• What time of year is it when it can be quite cool, but new flowers like snowdrops are starting to appear? (Spring.)

Explain that there are four different times in a year and these different times are called the seasons – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.  Show the Season cards one at a time and read the name of the season.  Talk about the months that are included in this season and who amongst the children has a birthday in those months.  Ask the children what foods they can see and explain that this is the seasons when these fruits and vegetables have finished growing and are ready to eat (in the UK). Go through each season again in turn, and ask the children which is their favourite Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter food on the card. 

Have a go

Organise the children into groups of four. Each group can take turns to work with an adult to make a seasonal salad. Make sure the children are ready to cook by using the Get ready to cook cards to talk through steps they need to take. Refer to the Setting up a cooking session guide for more information about why each step is important.

Explain to the children that they will be making a Sensational seasonal salad (see Sensational seasonal salad recipe).  Explain that you have fruit and vegetables from the current season (name the season) and that they will be choosing from them to make their salad. Talk through the foods and show the children how to assemble their salad. Let the children make their own salads, selecting the ingredients they wish to add. When the salads are finished, let the children eat them.  Encourage the children to describe how the salads taste.

Consolidate

Arrange a visit to a farm or allotment or a walk where children will be able to see fruit or vegetables growing, e.g. blackberries on bushes, apples on trees, carrot or potato plants.

Listen to songs or read stories about the seasons.

Reviewed 24.10.23