Aimed at inspiring the next generation to love their fruit and vegetables, Woolworths has launched free Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours within its stores for early learning centre and primary school students.
Designed with the school curriculum in mind and catering to children from Early Learning to Year 6, over 170,000 children have already participated in the Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours – with this number growing day by day.
On the tours, students have the opportunity to discover and try new fruit and vegetables, learn how and where they grow, understand the benefits of eating a good variety of fresh fruit and vegetables and play vegetable-inspired games through a full sensory experience.
This initiative officially launched in July 2018, following a successful pilot program which ran in a select number of Woolworths supermarkets. As part of Woolworths’ commitment to Fresh Food Kids, more than 18 million pieces of fruit are also being given away each year in store as part of the Free Fruit for Kids initiative.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017-18 National Health Survey, almost 95 per cent of Australian children are struggling to meet their recommended intake of fruit and vegetables.
“We know that getting children to eat fruit and vegetables every day can be tricky and parents can find it challenging to get their kids to eat their required daily intake. The Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours are designed to inspire our next generation of Aussie kids make smart and fresh food choices in an environment that they will be familiar with,” says Claire Peters, Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director.
“We worked with educators, nutritionists, as well as a fruit and veg scientist to put together the program for our Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours to ensure real learning outcomes are achieved for each age group. Play is a key part of learning and we have quiz cards and sticker books to help extend the discussions back to the classroom and the home.”
With growing interest and participation from primary schools, Woolworths hopes its Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours will soon reach up to half a million Australian kids.
The key learning outcomes of the Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours for each age group are:
• Stage 1: ELC, Kindergarten, Prep, Reception and Transition children will learn about the importance of eating a rainbow of fruit and vegetable colours.
• Stage 2: Year 1-2 students will learn how different fruit and vegetables are good for different parts of their body.
• Stage 3: Year 3-4 students will discover fruit and vegetables don’t grow the same and they have different seasons.
• Stage 4: Year 5-6 students will learn about Woolworths’ sustainability efforts around food waste management and its big push to reduce, recycle and re-use wherever possible.
For 2019, Woolworths has also launched a new Bus Grant Program to assist with transportation to and from its stores for classes participating in the Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours. Each month, Woolworths is providing eight schools or early learning centres with $500 to put towards transportation costs.
Teachers and educators can book a free Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour for their class at their local Woolworths store or by visiting the link below.
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