What would you grow?

Learning objectives

  • Express opinion on fruit and vegetable preferences
  • Teamwork: listening and communicating
  • Learn times of year when to grow different crops
  • Decide collectively what to grow
  • Produce a month by month crop planner
  • Optional Extension: Discover the natural features and growing environment in Kenya
  • OptionalExtention: Explore the impact of climate change on a smallhold in Kenya

Subjects

English, Maths, Art, Craft, Design & Technology, Geography

Preparation

Ask the children to think about the fruit and vegetables they like to eat. Ask them to bring in recipes books or magazines from home that may have pictures of these vegetables. They could also print information from the internet, or you could request some Traidcraft catalogues, to discuss the fruit and vegetables contained in some fair trade products!

The Activity!

  1. Split the children into pairs or groups.
  1. Ask the children to discuss which fruit and vegetables they like to eat and to make a list.
  1. Tell pairs or small groups of children that they have been put in charge of a field on a local farm (or future school plot/allotment). Ask them what they would grow in the field to help feed children in their school/neighbourhood.
  1. Encourage the pupils to find out what their friends like to eat and relate the food products back to the original crops. This could be extended to dairy, cattle, pigs and sheep to help pupils see that some foods are best reared on a farm rather than on a small plot.
  1. Children can use the materials they’ve brought in and the internet to research suitability of their chosen vegetables for growing in the UK.
  1. Ask the children to produce some or all of the following:
  • Draw a map of the farm, explaining their crop and animal choices
  • Produce brochures of their ideas for a successful field/ farm etc
  • Create a collage with the research materials showcasing their ideas
  • Children could present their ideas for a school allotment or farm to the class later

Extension Activity 1:

If this activity is based around a school allotment or farm in the UK, design a growing calendar for each of the chosen fruit and vegetables. Plan month by month when to sow them and when they will be ready to harvest.Include information about any special care requirements, and even a watering rota which could be shared by the class!

Extension Activity 2:

Ask the children to carry out the activity while imagining that they live in rural Kenya. Explore the human features and natural features in a farm in rural Kenya. Learn about the crops and animals that will thrive on the smallhold. Pupils can work together to work out what their plot of land can grow and what it needs to survive.

Extension Activity 3:

Carry out Extension Activity 2, and then explore the impact of climate change on your rural farm (see Francis’ Story Powerpoint for a little bit of background information). Imagine that the farm is hit by drought or heavy rainfall – what could the pupils do to minimise the damage before this happens? (Possible actions might include create water stores to trap rainwater, or build trenches to minimise soil erosion by wind or water).