oshc activities
World Food Day / Where Did It First Grow?

Where Did It First Grow?

Children place everyday foods on a world map where they first grew, discovering that many foods in an Australian kitchen began on other continents.

How to run it

  1. Hang a large world map and lay out pictures or real samples of foods such as rice, potato, tomato, wheat, banana, oranges, corn and macadamias.
  2. Ask children to guess where each food first grew and pin it to the map.
  3. Reveal the answers: for example potatoes, tomatoes and corn come from the Americas and rice from Asia.
  4. Talk about how foods travelled with people and became part of dishes in many cultures.
  5. Invite children to add a food their family cooks and where it comes from.

You will need

  • large world map
  • food pictures or samples
  • sticky tack or pins
  • answer cards
Make it easier or harderYounger children can match foods to continents with colour clues; older children can trace a food's journey with string.
SafetyIf using real samples, check allergy records and keep nuts such as macadamias as pictures only.
My Time Our Place · Outcome 2, Outcome 4Children learn how food connects people and places across the world and share their own family foods.

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