Grade 1: Healthy Food, Safe Tools and Our Garden

Curriculum links: HPE (health, hygiene and safety); D&T-P (designing, making and using tools safely); English (listening, speaking, vocabulary, following instructions and drawing labels).

Lesson 1: Hand-Washing, Kitchen Rules and Fruit Kebabs

Length: 45 minutes

Goal: Students will explain why hand-washing and kitchen rules are important, name common kitchen tools, and safely make a fruit kebab using a nylon knife.

Materials

• Soap, water, paper towels or clean hand towels
• Fruit, washed before the lesson: banana, strawberry, apple, melon or grapes
• Plates, bowls and child-sized chopping boards
• Nylon knives, one per child or pair
• Short blunt-ended kebab sticks, or drinking straws cut into short pieces
• Picture or word cards: knife, chopping board, bowl, plate, spoon, cup, sink, soap
• Teacher demonstration fruit and equipment

Lesson steps

1. Hook: What would you do? — 5 minutes

   Show a piece of fruit and ask: “Would you eat this if someone had just sneezed on it? Why not?” Ask students to name ways to keep food safe. Explain that clean hands, safe tools and tidy workspaces help prevent illness and accidents.

2. Show it: Hand-washing and kitchen rules — 8 minutes

   Demonstrate these hand-washing steps: wet hands, add soap, rub palms, backs of hands, between fingers and under nails, rinse, and dry. Say, “We wash our hands before touching food, after using the toilet, after coughing or sneezing, and when our hands are dirty.”

   Introduce these rules:

   • Walk; do not run in the kitchen or work area.
   • Keep food and tools on the table.
   • Use a nylon knife only for cutting soft food.
   • Cut away from fingers and keep fingers behind the knife.
   • Pass a tool handle first, or place it on the table for someone to pick up.
   • Tell an adult if food spills or a tool falls.
   • Do not taste food until an adult says it is ready.
3. Show it: Name the tools — 5 minutes

   Hold up each tool and say its name: knife, chopping board, bowl, plate, spoon, cup. Students repeat the words. Ask: “Which tool protects the table while we cut?” “Which tool holds the fruit?” “Which tool do we use to cut?”

4. Do it together: Practise safe cutting — 7 minutes

   Place a soft piece of fruit on the chopping board. Demonstrate holding the fruit with one hand and the nylon knife with the other. Say, “My fingers are behind the knife. I press and saw gently.” Let students practise the cutting motion with an adult closely supervising. Do not allow students to point or wave the knives.

5. Students do it: Make fruit kebabs — 15 minutes

   Students wash their hands, then follow these instructions:

   1. Put the washed fruit on the chopping board.
   2. Use the nylon knife to cut soft fruit into small pieces. An adult cuts hard fruit such as apples, if needed.
   3. Place the pieces in a bowl.
   4. Thread fruit pieces onto a blunt kebab stick or short straw, keeping the pointed end away from the face and body.
   5. Place the finished kebab on a plate and tidy the workspace.

   While students work, ask: “What is this tool called?” “Why are your fingers behind the knife?” “What should you do if fruit falls on the floor?”

6. Brief recap and eating — 5 minutes

   Students hold up or point to a tool when you name it. Invite three students to complete these sentences: “I wash my hands because ___.” “A kitchen rule is ___.” “I used a ___ to ___.” Students may eat their kebabs when the adult confirms that the work area and hands are clean.

Quick check

Show a nylon knife, chopping board and bowl. Each student names one item and tells one safe-use rule. Watch for correct hand-washing and safe handling of the knife.

Make it easier: Pair a student with an adult or confident partner, provide picture cards for each step, and offer pre-cut fruit.

Make it harder: Ask students to explain the order of the instructions using first, next, then and finally, or to label a drawing of the kitchen tools.

Lesson 2: Mapping the Garden and Sowing Seeds

Length: 45 minutes

Goal: Students will draw and label a simple map of the garden, choose a plant to observe, and safely sow radish and sunflower seeds.

Materials

• Paper, pencils, crayons or coloured pencils
• Clipboards or firm boards, if drawing outdoors
• A real garden or garden area to observe
• Small labelled packets or bowls of radish and sunflower seeds
• Small pots or prepared garden spaces
• Soil, small hand trowels or spoons, watering cans or cups
• Plant labels and thick pencils or markers
• String or sticks to mark planting spaces

Lesson steps

1. Hook: Garden detectives — 5 minutes

   Take students to the garden and ask: “If a friend wanted to find one special plant, what would we need to show them?” Explain that a map is a drawing that shows where things are. Ask students to notice paths, trees, garden beds, fences, pots and other landmarks.

2. Show it: Make a simple garden map — 8 minutes

   On a large sheet, draw a simple map of the garden. Add a title, such as Our Garden. Draw a path, one garden bed, a tree and the classroom or fence. Label each part. Explain that the map does not need to look exactly like a photograph; it needs to show where things are.

   Draw a small arrow and explain that it can show a direction, such as the way to the classroom. Model adding a key: a small square means “garden bed” and a small circle means “tree.”

3. Do it together: Observe and plan — 7 minutes

   Walk around the garden. Ask students to identify two or three landmarks. Together, decide where the radishes and sunflowers will be planted. Say: “Radish seeds are small. Sunflower seeds are larger. We must keep the seed packets separate.”

   Each student chooses one plant to observe: a radish, a sunflower or another plant already growing in the garden. Students say: “I choose the ___ plant. I will look for ___.” Possible observations include leaves, height, colour or flowers.

4. Students do it: Draw and label a garden map — 10 minutes

   Students draw their own map. Ask them to include at least three features, such as a path, tree, garden bed, pot, fence or classroom. They add labels and mark the place where the seeds will be planted. Students may use symbols and a key.

   Invite students to show a partner their map and give directions: “Start at the ___. Walk past the ___. The seed bed is beside the ___.”

5. Show it and do it together: Sow the seeds — 5 minutes

   Demonstrate how to make a small hole in the soil, place one seed in it, cover it gently and water it lightly. Explain that seeds need suitable soil, water, air and warmth to grow. Show the different seeds and say their names clearly: radish and sunflower.

6. Students do it: Plant and label — 7 minutes

   In small groups, students sow the seeds in prepared spaces. Use the following directions:

   1. Make a small hole with a finger or spoon.
   2. Place one seed in the hole.
   3. Cover the seed gently with soil.
   4. Water lightly so the soil is damp, not flooded.
   5. Place a label showing radish or sunflower.

   An adult checks that seeds are planted in the correct spaces and that tools are used safely.

7. Brief recap — 3 minutes

   Gather students and ask: “What is a map?” “Name one thing on your map.” “What did we plant?” “What will we look for when we observe our chosen plant?” Invite students to point to the seed area on their maps.

Quick check

Check each map for a title, at least three labelled garden features and a marked seed area. Ask each student to name their chosen plant and explain one thing it needs to grow.

Make it easier: Provide a partly drawn map with the path and garden bed already shown. Students add labels, symbols and one plant.

Make it harder: Ask students to add a map key and directions from the classroom to the seed bed, using beside, near, behind, in front of and between.