Fruit Juicy fruit salad
5-7
years
Mini Chefs lesson plan
Aims of the session
• To make a fruit salad, safely and
hygienically.
• To introduce children to fruit, where they
come from and the 5 A Day message.
Introduction
The focus of this lesson is teaching children to
make fruit salad and encourage them to eat
more fruit every day, as part of their 5 A Day.
• To enable children to name and use a
range of basic cooking equipment (e.g.
knife, chopping board, scissors and grater)
to make a fruit salad.
• To showcase a range of transferable food
skills.
• To develop tasting and evaluating skills,
extending their vocabulary.
We are all encouraged to eat 5 A Day, do the
children?
Fruit and vegetables should make up around a
third of our diet and we should all eat a variety
– eat a rainbow.
Fruit and vegetables provide a range of
vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre.
Show children the eatwell plate and explain
that the Fruit and vegetables food group is
one of the largest groups.
The fruit salad recipe chosen for this activity
demonstrates the variety of types and forms
of fruit that we eat, e.g. fresh, dried and juiced.
Children will
• recall and carry out the personal hygiene drill,
with support
• make fruit salad and demonstrate the necessary
food preparation skills safely and hygienically
(e.g. peel, juice, cut, scoop)
Talk about fruit which might be grown locally
or at school.
• evaluate the appearance and taste of the fruit
salad, suggesting different fruit that could be
used in the future
Discuss how different fruit grows, some on
trees (apples and pears), some on bushes
(blackberries and raspberries) and some
`on vines (grapes and melons).
• be encouraged to build their skills and
confidence by making the dish again at home
as part of a family meal
Children have the opportunity to develop
a range of food preparation skills, such
as cutting, grating, slicing, scooping and
segmenting. Soft fruits have been chosen
so that children can handle them easily and
safely. The fruit salad can be given a theme –
such as winter or summer fruit.
Skills
Measuring, grating, snipping with scissors, peeling,
segmenting, scooping, cutting, de-stalking and
mixing.
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Outline of activity
1. Introduce the activity to the children.
2.Show a display of different fresh fruit or images of fruit (include
fresh, dried and juiced). See how many children can name each
fruit, who has tried them before and which are the most popular.
3.Show children how to make the fruit salad, demonstrating the
key preparation skills.
4.Make the recipe in groups of four children.
5.Eat the fruit salad with the children and ask for their opinion.
What you will need
For 1 group
For 2 groups
For 3 groups
For 4 groups
Orange juice
100ml
200ml
300ml
400ml
Eating apple
1
2
3
4
Dried apricots
4
8
12
16
Clementines or
satsumas
2
4
6
8
Banana
1
2
3
4
Kiwi fruit
1
2
3
4
100g
200g
300g
400g
For 1 group
For 2 groups
For 3 groups
For 4 groups
Box grater
1
2
3
4
Chopping board
1
2
3
4
Small kitchen scissors
1
2
3
4
Metal spoon
1
2
3
4
Serving bowl
1
2
3
4
Small vegetable knife
1
2
3
4
Teaspoon
1
2
3
4
Measuring jug
1
2
3
4
Ingredients
Grapes (seedless)
Equipment
(4 children)
(4 children)
(8 children)
(8 children)
(12 children)
(12 children)
(16 children)
(16 children)
Cling film
If tasting, you’ll also need a chopping board, knife, plate and cocktail sticks.
A serving spoon, teaspoons and small dishes for each group involved in tasting.
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How to run the session
Before the children arrive
• If you want, you can be flexible with the
ingredients and use fruits that are in season
and that give the children an opportunity to
practice a different range of preparation skills.
Ripe fruits are softer (and tastier), so easier for
younger children to prepare and develop their
early knife skills.
• Check for any allergies/intolerance.
• Think about where the children will collect and
dispose of the waste, e.g. peelings (you can
provide a container for this to go in ready for
composting).
• Prepare the room and tables, as well as
having aprons ready. Display the recipe on the
whiteboard and/or provide copies of the recipe
on the table for children to follow.
• Set out the equipment needed for each group.
• Set out the ingredients needed for each group.
Some preparation is required beforehand:
- wash the grapes and apples, snip off a bunch
of grapes - around 100g
- open the orange juice (if it’s in a large carton
it may be too big to handle so you may want to
transfer the juice into a smaller jug)
Activity
You’ll need:
Introduction
Recipe on the whiteboard/
copies of recipes for the
children to read through
Explain to the children that they will be making
a fruit salad.
Get ready to cook
Ensure that all the children are ready to cook.
Children should follow the personal hygiene drill:
You’ll need:
Aprons, sink, soap and hand towels
• tie up long hair
• remove jewellery
• roll up long sleeves
• wear an apron
• wash their hands
Curriculum links
England - D&T: Cooking and nutrition,
Science, PSHE
Scotland - Health and wellbeing,
Technologies
Northern Ireland - The world around us Wales - D&T: Food, Science, PSE
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Activity
Inspire the children
Have a display of fruit to talk about. You could plan to undertake a tasting
session of the fruit. Ask the children to group the fruit in different ways,
such as fruit that:
• grows on bushes or on trees
• we peel or those that we eat with peel on
• have a large seed compared to those that have a small seed
• are grown nearby (this country) or far away
Remind children that they should be eating more fruit
and vegetables (at least 5 A Day). Do they?
A portion is about the size of the palm of their hand. We all need to eat
a variety - a rainbow of different fruit and vegetables.
Can they recall the colours in a rainbow? Can they name a fruit to match
the colour?
You’ll need:
Images
Demonstration ingredients
and equipment
Explain that fruit provides vitamins, minerals and fibre that help us to stay
healthy.
Talk about when they might eat fruit (e.g. meal occasions, time of day)
and what it can be added to or made into.
Demonstration
Demonstrate the recipe, focusing on:
• how to grate an apple, discarding the core and stalk, repositioning
the fingers so that they are not grated
• peeling and segmenting satsumas
• the use of kitchen scissors to snip the apricots
• why the orange juice is poured into the bowl first and all fruit is added to stop the fruit turning brown (you may want to leave a piece of apple
out to show them the difference)
• using the knife safely when cutting the banana and kiwi fruit - use
the bridge hold to keep fingers safe (children must concentrate when
handling the knife and not be distracted – you may wish to cut the kiwi
fruit in half)
• making ‘bite size’ pieces that look good, mix evenly and fit on a spoon
when you eat
You may wish to ask for volunteers as you demonstrate, further engaging
children in the cooking activity.
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Activity
Get cooking!
• Divide the children into groups of four.
• Divide out the tasks in the groups, so that all children are involved
in the cutting and mixing of the finished fruit salad.
• Observe the children working - intervene if you see them struggling
or not using equipment safely.
• Remind them of safe cutting and handling of equipment.
• Remind them to handle the fruit gently, then cut evenly and
carefully in to bite size pieces.
• Remind them to use the orange juice to prevent the apple
browning.
How to finish this activity
You’ll need:
Bowls & spoons
• Bring all the children together. Ask:
- Did they enjoy the cooking activity?
- What did they learn? (For example, naming new fruit, using
equipment, practising food skills, tasting fruit.)
• Eat a bowl of the fruit salad with the children.
• Challenge them to describe the colour, smell, taste and texture.
• Ask children if they would make it again at home for their family?
- If so, what fruit would they add?
-W
hy? When would they eat fruit salad? Suggest that they try it with
something healthy like natural yoghurt.
- Could they be creative and make a themed fruit salad, such as
summer fruit or red fruit?
• Show them the apple piece that was left out of the juice, and show
them how the flesh goes from white to brown when it is left in the air.
Explain that this does not look very nice and might put people off
eating the dish.
You’ll need:
Copies of the recipe for the
children to take home
• Fruit salad is best served chilled and stored in the fridge until eaten,
covered with cling film. Fruit salad can also be made with canned or
frozen fruit, which is cheaper.
• Provide the children with a copy of the recipe to take home –
encourage them to make this with their parents/carers.
Useful links
For basic food skills in primary schools, including videos demonstrating cutting, peeling and
grating and support around where food comes from, visit
www.foodafactoflife.org.uk
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