Resources for schools…
Looking to bring Growing to Love to life in your schools? We’ve got lesson plans, craft projects and videos to help you with every step of your tomato-growing journey.
Plus of course, our comprehensive teacher’s guide and all the information that you need to send home to get your parents on board with this wonderful growing experience over the summer holidays.
Guides…
Download our guide to running the programme for teachers and a mini-mobile friendly guide you can send to parents and carers.
Digital teacher’s guide
Everything you need to know about growing your own tomatoes is included in your 28 page teachers guide. Scan the QR codes to watch instructional videos and use the planning pages to take notes as you go. Printed version sent with each kit.
Digital flyer for parents and carers
Send our mobile-friendly digital flyer home to parents and carers at the start of term, so they know the children will be growing their own tomatoes and will be bringing them home over the summer holidays
Craft Projects
We know that art and crafts projects are a great way of enthusing and motivating your pupils so we’ve got it covered for you. Reward charts, face masks, crowns to colour and wear and plant pot sleeves to decorate your classroom windowsills, and of course our amazing Vinecraft project.
Face masks
This year each kits contains 32 tomato facemasks – a fun colouring activity! Requires scissors, string and colouring pens, pencils or crayons (not supplied). You can download more here.
Crowns
Our ever-popular Shaun themed vegetable crown really engage the kids – requires scissors, paper glue or sticky tape and colouring pens, pencils or crayons (not supplied).
Plant pot sleeves
Download and decorate our tomato themed plant pot sleeves. Requires printing, scissors, paper glue or sticky tape and colouring pens, pencils or crayons (not supplied).
Get ready for a fun, collaborative craft project!
The whole class can build a vibrant tomato vine to brighten up your classroom or school.
You can choose to cut them out or stick them up whole to build your vine! You can make many different vine shapes to suit your space, experiment with different shapes and layouts…
Download and print extra vine tiles!
Looking for layout ideas? Try these.
Vinecraft instructions
Videos
Don’t have green fingers and not sure how or what to do with our Growing to Love Tomatoes? No worries – we’ve got it all sorted for you with our ten videos to take you through the whole process.
Get started: Introduction to growing
TV presenter Sam Nixon and TV gardener Chris Collins have created a series of videos you can use in class to prepare for each stage of the project and explore additional themes around tomatoes.
This first one is a great place to start when you introduce the children to this project.
Sowing
Watch Chris and Sam’s video to help you sow your tomato seeds
Caring
Watch Chris and Sam’s video to help you care for your plants
Repotting
Watch Chris and Sam’s video to help you repot your tomato plants
Flower to fruit
Watch Chris and Sam’s video for tips on how to get plants home safely for the summer
Tomato colours
Learn about different coloured tomatoes with Sam Nixon.
Tomato types
Learn about different types of tomatoes with Sam Nixon.
Healthy tomatoes
Learn about the health benefits of tomatoes with Sam Nixon.
Inside tomatoes
Take a look inside a tomato with Sam Nixon.
Growing Chart
See how to use the growing chart with Sam Nixon.
Lesson Plans
To support the campaign in class we have created a series of curriculum-compliant and teacher-friendly lesson plans, for each class. All of the lessons are linked to the current English National Curriculum and can be used to cover elements of Science (Plants), Design and Technology (Cooking and Nutrition) and RSHE (Healthy Eating) . They also link to the Food teaching in primary schools: knowledge and skills framework – GOV.UK .
New for this year – The Journey of our Tomatoes
the inside story with lesson plans and activities for Key Stage 2 and a supporting video from a tomato grower in Lincolnshire.
Years 3 -5 ( Lower Key Stage 2)
TITLE: The journey of our tomatoes – from the plants to the shops?
Pupils to explore how tomatoes are grown on a large scale.
Linked to the Science Plants, D&T Cooking and Nutrition and RSHE curriculum : Healthy Eating.
Year 6
TITLE: Tomato Growing: Sustainability and climate responsibility
Pupils to explore growing tomatoes on a large scale looking at one company’s practices towards sustainability and climate responsibility.
Linked to the Geography – Sustainability and Climate Change , Science Plants, D&T Cooking and Nutrition and RSHE curriculum : Healthy Eating.
EYFS
Understanding the World ELG The Natural World
A carousel of tomato-based activities for your Early Years provision.
Year 1
Pupils are introduced to tomatoes and make a simple tomato salad.
Linked to the D&T Cooking and Nutrition.
Year 2
Pupils to explore the different varieties of tomatoes and where they come from around the world
Linked to the D&T Cooking and Nutrition.
Year 3
Pupils to explore the key features of plants and what they need to grow.
Everything you need to cover the whole Year 3 Science unit Plants including worksheets, images and experiment plan proforma.
Linked to the Science Y3 programme of study – Plants
(6 lessons and printable worksheets)
Year 3
Pupils to explore how healthy food choices impact on a healthy lifestyle.
Linked to the D&T Cooking and Nutrition and RSHE curriculum Healthy Eating.
Year 4
Pupils to explore how versatile a tomato is and the many different meals that you can make with a tomato.
Linked to the D&T Cooking and Nutrition and RSHE curriculum Healthy Eating.
Year 5
Pupils to explore and design, create and cook their own pizza. A journey from pizza research to delicious results.
Everything you need cover all the requirements of the D & T programmes of study to research, design, make and evaluate your own pizza project, including pupil’s own Pizza development workbook
Linked to the D&T programmes of study (including Cooking and Nutrition) and RSHE curriculum Healthy Eating.
(7 lessons and pupil work book)
Year 5
Pupils to explore how versatile a tomato is and the many different meals that you can make with a tomato.
Linked to the D&T Cooking and Nutrition and RSHE curriculum Healthy Eating.
Year 6
Pupils to explore the concept of seasonality of food and the impact of eating locally.
Linked to the D&T Cooking and Nutrition.
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