Key Stage 1 design and technology · Cooking and nutrition

KS1 healthy eating and cooking: a guide for parents

In Years 1 and 2, cooking and nutrition means children actually preparing food while they learn what a healthy and varied diet looks like. They sort foods into groups, talk about why we need a mixture, and make simple dishes such as a fruit salad or a filled wrap. The aim is confidence with food, good hygiene and an early understanding that different foods do different jobs for the body.

Healthy and varied diet, explained

Cooking and nutrition is one of the strands in the design and technology programme of study. In Key Stage 1, children are taught to use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes. The curriculum also says that, as part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. In other words, this is a practical subject: the learning happens with a chopping board and a bowl, not only in a discussion.

The two key words are healthy and varied. Healthy food gives the body what it needs to grow, move and think. Varied means eating lots of different foods, because no single food provides everything. Schools usually introduce the main food groups from national healthy eating guidance: fruit and vegetables, starchy foods such as bread, potatoes, rice and pasta, protein foods such as beans, eggs, fish and meat, milk, cheese and yoghurt (and their alternatives), and only small amounts of oils and spreads. Water is the main drink. Your child may hear that we should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, and may be encouraged to “eat the rainbow” by choosing different colours.

Making dishes teaches the practical side. Children learn to wash their hands, tie back long hair and clean the table before they start. They wash fruit and vegetables, and learn skills such as spreading, grating, slicing soft foods, mixing and arranging. Many schools teach a safe cutting hold, such as the bridge or the claw, with an adult close by. Dishes are chosen by the school, but typical ones need no heat at all: fruit salad, sandwiches, wraps, vegetable sticks with a dip, or a yoghurt pot with fruit. Schools check for allergies and other dietary needs before any food is handled.

The way adults talk about food matters too. Many schools avoid calling foods “good” or “bad”, and instead talk about foods we eat every day and foods we have less often. That keeps the focus on balance and enjoyment rather than guilt. Children also describe food using the senses: how it looks, smells, feels and tastes. Tasting new foods in a relaxed setting is a big part of the learning.

At the end, children evaluate what they made. They say what they liked, what the dish contained from the different groups, and what they would change next time. That mirrors the design cycle of planning, making and evaluating that they use in every other design and technology project.

Words your child will hear

Healthy: Good for your body, helping you to grow, have energy and stay well.
Varied: Made up of many different foods, not just a few.
Diet: All the foods and drinks a person usually has. It doesn’t mean losing weight.
Food group: A set of foods that give the body similar things, such as fruit and vegetables or dairy.
Ingredient: One of the foods that are put together to make a dish.
Hygiene: Keeping hands, tools and surfaces clean so that food is safe to eat.
Portion: An amount of food for one person to eat at one time.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 1 says:

Pupils should be taught to use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes
As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: planning and making a healthy lunch wrap

A class is asked to make a lunch wrap that uses foods from different food groups, and then to explain why it is healthy and varied. Here is how a child might do it.

Get ready. Wash hands with soap, tie back long hair, wipe the table and wash the vegetables. The teacher has checked for allergies. Most hummus contains tahini, which is made from sesame, a common allergen, so a school might choose a different spread.

Choose one or more foods from each group and write the plan down.

Starchy food: soft tortilla wrap
Protein: hummus
Dairy: grated cheese
Vegetables: carrot, cucumber, lettuce

Make it. Spread the hummus on the wrap with a spoon. Grate the carrot and slice the cucumber on a board, using a bridge hold, with the adult nearby. Layer the cheese, vegetables and lettuce, then roll the wrap up tightly. An adult cuts it in half.
Taste and describe it. The carrot is crunchy and sweet, the hummus is creamy, the cheese is salty. Using describing words shows the child has paid attention with their senses.
Evaluate and explain. Say which food groups are in the wrap, what colours it has (orange and green), and one thing to change next time, such as adding tomato or using less cheese.

“My wrap is healthy and varied because it has a starchy wrap, hummus for protein, cheese from the dairy group and three different vegetables. It tasted crunchy and creamy. Next time I would add tomato to make it more colourful.”

Common mistakes and how to help

Sorting foods into “good” and “bad”

Children like clear categories, and the simplest message they hear is that some foods are allowed and others aren’t.

What helps: Talk about foods for every day and foods for sometimes, and about balance across the week. Everyday meals can include a mix, and no one food makes a diet healthy or unhealthy on its own.

Believing that only fruit and vegetables are healthy

The “five a day” message is repeated so often that the other food groups seem less important.

What helps: Draw a plate together and fill it with all the groups. Point out that bread, rice, beans, eggs and milk all do useful jobs, and that variety is what matters.

Thinking cooking always means using the oven or hob

At home, cooking is mostly something adults do with heat, so children assume that preparing food cold isn’t really cooking.

What helps: Explain that preparing food counts. Washing, peeling, slicing, mixing, spreading and assembling are all cooking skills, and they are the ones taught first.

Assuming tinned and frozen fruit and vegetables don’t count

Fresh produce looks the most obviously healthy, and children copy the idea that fresh is always best.

What helps: Look at a bag of frozen peas or a tin of sweetcorn together. Frozen, tinned and dried fruit and vegetables can all count towards the five a day, and they keep for longer.

How to help at home

Cook cold together. Choose a simple no-heat recipe such as a fruit salad, sandwiches or a vegetable and dip plate. Let your child do the washing, spreading, mixing and arranging, while you handle anything sharp or hot.
Plan a rainbow plate. Ask your child to choose foods of as many colours as they can for one meal. It turns “variety” into a game, and it often gets them to taste something new.
Make hygiene a habit. Before cooking, wash hands with soap for as long as it takes to sing a short song, tie back hair and wipe the surface. Doing it every time makes it automatic at school as well.
Taste without pressure. Offer a very small taste of an unfamiliar food and talk about how it looks, smells and feels. Children often need to meet a food several times before they like it, so leave it at that and try again another day.
Sort the shopping. When you unpack the shopping, ask your child to put the foods into groups: fruit and vegetables, starchy foods, protein, dairy. It shows them where each food fits.

Leads on to

Key Stage 2: Healthy and varied diet
Key Stage 2: Cooking savoury dishes
Key Stage 2: Seasonal food
Key Stage 2: Grown, reared, caught, processed