**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with Sugar Awareness Week. Sugar Awareness Week is an annual campaign in the UK, organised by Action on Sugar, typically held in November. It aims to raise awareness of the hidden sugars in everyday foods and drinks and to highlight the impact of excessive sugar consumption on health. For official information and to learn more about the campaign and its themes, please visit the Action on Sugar website (www.actiononsugar.org).
Understanding Sugar Awareness Week in EYFS & KS1
Sweet treats and healthy eats! š¬š„ Sugar Awareness Week is an annual campaign in the UK, organised by Action on Sugar, typically held in November. Its primary goal is to raise awareness of the often hidden sugars lurking in everyday foods and drinks and to educate the public about the impact of excessive sugar consumption on our health. It's about empowering people to make informed choices for a healthier diet.
For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this week provides a crucial and practical theme for exploring healthy eating, nutrition, food choices, and dental health. It's about introducing children to the concept of balanced diets, understanding which foods are good for them, and recognising the importance of limiting sugary items for strong bodies and teeth. This week offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about well-being and food science both informative and impactful.
Why Is Teaching About Sugar Awareness & Healthy Eating Important for Young Children?
Integrating lessons about sugar awareness and healthy eating into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) helps build healthy habits, preventing health issues, and empowering them to make positive food choices. Early education about nutrition sets the foundation for well-being.
Foundation for Health: Teaches children about balanced diets from a young age, contributing to their long-term health and preventing obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related conditions.
Dental Health: Highlights the direct link between sugar consumption and tooth decay, encouraging good oral hygiene. (Please visit our āTeeth & Oral Healthā page for resources on this topic.)
Informed Choices: Empowers children to understand what they are eating and drinking, enabling them to make healthier choices as they grow.
Energy Levels & Mood: Helps children understand how different foods impact their energy levels, concentration, and overall mood.
Understanding Food Groups: Reinforces knowledge of food groups, particularly the importance of fruits and vegetables.
Engaging Sugar Awareness & Healthy Eating Activities for Sugar Awareness Week (0-7 Year Olds)
Make Sugar Awareness Week a truly insightful and health-focused experience with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on making smart food choices, recognising healthy ingredients, and understanding the impact of sugar! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by the extensive range of printable resources we have available on our 'Food' and 'Teeth and Oral Health' pages.
Here's some inspiration for promoting healthy habits in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken.)
"Too Much Sugar!" Discussion: Talk about why too much sugar isn't good for our bodies and teeth. Use our 'Don't Eat Too Much Sugar!' Poster' and 'Don't Eat Too Much Sugar!' Colouring' sheets to reinforce the message.
Healthy vs. Unhealthy Snack Sort: Provide pictures or actual examples of snacks and have children sort them into "healthy" and "unhealthy" categories. Our 'Healthy & Unhealthy Snack Sorting Activity' can compliment this.
Design a Healthy Meal: Encourage children to 'Draw A Healthy Meal', thinking about a balanced plate. Use our 'Healthy Eating - Display Banner' and 'Healthy Plate - Balanced Diet Posters' as visual aids.
"5 A Day" Challenge: Focus on the importance of eating five portions of fruits and vegetables a day. Display our '5 A Day - Poster/Chart'.
Fruit & Vegetable Exploration: Get hands-on with fruits and vegetables. Use our 'Fruit & Vegetables - Posters', 'Fruit & Vegetable 2-Piece Puzzles', 'Fruit And Vegetable Size Ordering Cards' and more!
Taste Test (Low Sugar Options): Offer various low-sugar fruit and vegetable snacks for children to taste and describe.
Food Diary: Have children keep a simple 'Fruit & Vegetable Diary' or 'My Healthy Eating Diary Booklet' to track their healthy food intake.
Dental Health Connection: Discuss how sugary foods can affect teeth. Use 'Colour The Foods That Are Better For Your Teeth' and 'Cut And Stick Good Vs Bad For Teeth' to illustrate this.
Numeracy with Fruit & Veg: Integrate counting and number recognition using fruit and vegetable images. Our 'Fruit & Vegetable Number Slice Puzzles (1-5 & 1-10)', 'Fruit And Vegetables Number/Counting Multimatsā and 'Tomato or Carrot Create & Count Playdough Mats' are excellent for this.
Farm Shop Role-Play: Set up a 'Farm Shop Role-Play Pack' to encourage children to handle and name different fruits and vegetables.
Sugar Investigation: For older KS1 children, you could show (not for consumption) how much sugar is in common drinks (e.g., measuring out sugar cubes to represent the amount in a small fizzy drink).
Explore More: For an extensive catalogue of resources on these themes, please visit our 'Food', and 'Teeth and Oral Health' pages.
These activities offer great inspiration for making Sugar Awareness Week a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering healthy habits, nutritional understanding, and crucial self-care skills.
To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.
Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: āSugar Awareness Weekā
Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes
More Early Years Event Pages for November
Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children
Browse our āSpecial Dates Calendarā page using the link below. Youāll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!
SEARCH āLITTLE OWLS Resourcesā USING THE FOLLOWING MENU BUTTONSā¦
Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'Sugar Awareness Week'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by Action on Sugar, which organises this campaign. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information and to learn more about the campaign and its themes, please visit their website at www.actiononsugar.org.
Hello there! šš World Hello Day is an international observance held annually on November 21st. It was founded in 1973 by Brian and Michael McCormack as a direct response to the Yomā¦