Fruits and Seeds
What a variety!
by Janice Ross
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider the variety of fruits and seeds available for our enjoyment.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Fruits and Seeds) and the means to display them.
Assembly
- Ask the children about the foods that they eat. Which could be grown or produced by individuals rather than bought in shops?
Listen to a range of responses.
Suggestions may include eggs, garden fruits and vegetables. - Explain that to enjoy these kinds of foods without buying them in a shop, we would have to keep hens, have a garden or perhaps live on a farm.
In some gardens, you can find fruit trees such as apple, plum and damson trees.
Show Slide 1. - Explain that in some parts of the country, wild fruit grows, which anyone can pick.
Show Slide 2.
Here, we can see a blackberry, or bramble, bush.
Ask the children whether they have ever picked wild blackberries. Where did they find them?
Explain that blackberries can be found growing wild in hedgerows, along roadsides and in woods.
We can eat them straight from the bush, but they can also be cooked in pies and tarts, or turned into a delicious jam or jelly. - Another fruit that’s in season at this time of year is the rosehip.
Show Slide 3.
Rosehips are found on a dog rose bush. Unlike blackberries, we don’t eat them, but we can make lovely juice from them.
Explain that, during the Second World War and for some time afterwards, there was a shortage of food in the UK, especially fruit. Oranges and other fruits from abroad were no longer available, so people had to find an alternative source of Vitamin C.
This led to the UK government encouraging schoolchildren to go into the countryside and pick rosehips from the hedgerows. For every pound of rosehips they brought back to school, the children were paid 3 pence.
A company in Newcastle used the rosehips to make a sweet, pink liquid called Delrosa Rosehip Syrup. Parents were encouraged to give their babies and children a daily spoonful to fight off coughs and colds.
Optional: you may wish to suggest to the children that they ask an older member of their family if they remember Delrosa Rosehip Syrup. - Tell the children that this time of year is also when farmers begin to harvest the seeds that are growing in their fields.
Explain that seeds that come from grasses are called grains.
Show Slides 4-6.
- Slide 4 shows wheat.
- Slide 5 shows barley.
- Slide 6 shows oats. - Ask the children if they can think of any foods that contain wheat or oats.
Suggestions may include breakfast cereals, biscuits and oatcakes.
Tell the children that barley is used in drinks, such as barley water and whisky. - Explain that beans are seeds that come from legumes.
Show Slides 7-8.
- Slide 7 shows peas.
- Slide 8 shows lentils. - Tell the children that nuts are seeds that come from trees.
Show Slide 9.
In the picture, we can see a walnut growing on a tree. Ask how many types of nut the children can list. - Show Slide 10.
Many of us enjoy rice, which we import all year round from countries like India, Pakistan, Italy and Spain.
Time for reflection
In the Creation story in the Bible, we read: ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.’ (Genesis 1.29)
God has given us a rich variety of fruits and seeds to enjoy. These contain proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins, all of which we need to have healthy bodies.
Let’s pause to say thank you for the wonderful range of food we have. Let’s remember to be grateful.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the rich variety of fruits and seeds that you have created for us to enjoy.
Give us thankful hearts whenever we enjoy them.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Autumn days’ (Come and Praise, 4), available at: https://youtu.be/ajRVIh3srXw (2.42 minutes long)
‘We plough the fields and scatter’, available at: https://youtu.be/ccVEjKFkAV4 (2.58 minutes long)
