Food choice (5-7 Years)

Activity 1 – We eat different food according to what we like and dislike.

Talk to the class about their favourite food and their reasons for liking the food.

Ask the children about food they do not like and ask for their reasons. Encourage the use of new vocabulary and all the senses (i.e. sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste) when they explain their reasons. Show or display the Sensory vocabulary cards to support. 

You may wish to use the I like that presentation to introduce this topic. If used on an interactive whiteboard, you can record the children’s answers.

Task the children to complete the Food and drinks I like worksheet. Children can list or draw the foods.

Explain to the children that the food they like now might change as they get older. Have the children already noticed they now like a food they didn’t in the past? Task the children to speak to an adult at home to find out if they now enjoy any food they disliked as a child.

Activity 2 - We eat different food depending on the time of day, occasion and lifestyle.

Talk to the children about what they eat and drink at different times of the day, e.g. breakfast, lunch, evening meal, snacks. Use the Mealtimes presentation to support the discussion.

Task the children to record what they eat and drink throughout the day on the Mealtimes worksheet. They can draw or write their responses.

Explain that we need to eat regularly during the day. Ask the children whether they can remember why our bodies need food. We need food so our bodies can grow, be active and stay healthy.

Activity 3 – We eat different food on special occasions.

Talk to the children about what they eat on special occasions, e.g. parties, weddings, Christmas, Eid, Hanukah.

• Who prepares the special food?
• How and where is it eaten?
• What special occasions can they name?

Show the Special occasions presentation to introduce a selection of occasions and food eaten at these times.

You may wish to bring in some samples of food eaten at special times for the children to taste. 

Invite parents/carers into school to talk about occasions for them when special food is eaten.

Further activities

• Create a display with the Sensory vocabulary cards and encourage the children to add new words to build on this.
• Hold a tasting session so the children can taste different types of food, e.g. breads, vegetables, cheeses.
• Carry out a class survey to find out what is the most popular of a certain type of food, e.g. fruit.
• Organise a cooking session to make a dish for a special occasion.

Reviewed November 2023