This was a very interesting and rewarding topic to cover. Each week a different food type was explored and what a lot of making, tasting and eating we did! Fruit and vegetable weeks were quite straight forward but the fun really began with the pasta and bread making week and finished with food for festivals. We celebrated birthdays, Pancake Day and Chinese New Year. This topic covered all areas of the Foundation Stage Curriculum.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Personal tastes were discussed, as well as the cultural differences in the food we eat. At snack time, the children were encouraged to share various foods and some of the children tried foods that they would not normally try at home.

Communication, Language, and Literacy.
Some lively discussions took place as we learnt new vocabulary to describe the texture and taste of the foods. The children helped to build up and enjoyed a collection of books/stories and rhymes that featured food. Oliver’s Milkshake, Oliver’s Fruit Salad, Oliver’s Vegetables as well as Six Dinner Sid were among the favourites.

Maths
Measuring, sorting, matching, patterns and weighing were the maths concepts covered using both real food and plastic. The café in the role play area gave the children a chance to use real money to buy their snacks or fish and chips.

Physical
Staying healthy was an ongoing feature of the topic. We discussed how, as well as good food we need, varied exercise and how this affects our bodies. The children’s fine motor control was improved by kneading, chopping, peeling, rubbing in, tossing pancakes and using chopsticks.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Where do potatoes grow? On trees? Or is that where pasta grows? These and many more questions were answered through discussions, looking at books and using the internet. During bread making week the children made sunflower seed bread, cheese and onion bread, soda bread and ciabatta rolls. They also had croissants and rye bread for snack. Using the story of the 'Giant Jam Sandwich' the children made butter from creamy milk and churned it by vigorous shaking in a clear plastic jar. Having made the butter they spread it on their bread,added jam and made a sandwich for snack. Luckily no wasp appeared!!

Creative Development
Printing with cut fruit and vegetables gave the children a chance to explore pattern and shape. They also made some detailed drawings of a pineapple. The role play area became a café and each week changed its style of food but with emphasis on healthy eating.