5-a-day the Bash Street way archive
Primary school teachers will find materials, advice and suggestions here to help them give pupils aged 7 to 11 (Key Stage 2 or P7 in Scotland) greater opportunities both to learn about and have access to fruit and vegetable choices. There are also details of how these materials fit with the school curriculum.
The aims of 5-a-day the Bash Street way are to:
- encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables each day
- help them to feel more positive about fruit and vegetables, which can genuinely promote their good health
- help establish the 5-a-day habit for a lifetime
The materials include:
- Fruity Veggy News – a fun activity book providing useful information and recipe ideas for pupils in English and Welsh/Cymraeg
- ideas for a Bash Street Kids assembly (see link below)
- practical suggestions for encouraging children to eat more fruit and vegetables while they are in school (see link below)
- posters of ten Bash Street Kids characters to put up around school
The 5-a-day the Bash Street way materials promote healthy eating through increasing awareness of a varied and balanced diet. This means a diet that contains:
- plenty of starchy foods, such as bread, cereals, potatoes, yam, rice and pasta
- plenty of fruit and vegetables – at least 5 portions a day
- moderate amounts of low-fat dairy products
- moderate amounts of lean meat, fish or meat alternatives
- small amounts of foods high in fat
- small amounts of foods and drinks high in sugar
- small amounts of foods high in salt
This advice applies to adults and children over five years of age and should provide all the nutrients that most healthy people need.
Teachers may make copies of these educational materials only as they appear on the Agency's website and only for use within the school setting or for purely educational purposes. For non-educational uses of the material, crown copyright will apply.
This page is available in Welsh language/Cymraeg in pdf format.
© DC Thomson (the copyright holder of the Bash Street Kids Cartoon Characters) waives its copyright to the Bash Street Kids Cartoon Characters as it appears in the educational materials contained on the Food Standards Agency's website.
Find out more
About the Bash Street Kids research
The Bash Street Kids cartoon characters have been used to help children make better nutritional choices in a Food Standards Agency funded school-based project. The intervention was carried out in 1999 with more than 500 pupils in two primary schools in Dundee, Scotland (464 children in two further schools acted as controls).
Bash Street Kids curriculum support
The Bash Street Kids material is aimed at 7 to 11 year olds and can be used in a number of ways to support the promotion of the 5-a-day message in primary schools throughout the UK. In particular, it can be used to raise the profile of health initiatives through whole-school approaches, including the formal curriculum.
Why do children need to eat more fruit and vegetables?
Fruit and vegetables contain fibre and lots of vitamins and minerals that help keep the body healthy, yet many of us don't eat enough of them. In fact, average consumption is currently three portions a day, which is two short of the recommended figure of (at least) five portions a day.
'Fruity Veggy News'
Fruity Veggy News is an activity book aimed at pupils aged 7 to 11. It's packed with information about a variety of fruit and vegetables, together with jokes, recipes and exciting fruit and veg craft ideas. It's designed to give pupils a fun and motivating read.
Bash Street Kids School Assembly
Here you will find posters to put up around school around the time of the Assembly, an Assembly introduction to help you set the scene, plus Pupil presentations: 5-a-day poem, favourite ways to eat fruit and veg and a Bash Street Kids pupil presentation.
Healthy eating in schools: further information
Find out more about school lunches, fruit tuckshops and the Balance of Good Health. You will also find some useful links here.
Bash Street Kids: more practical ideas
Here are some practical suggestions for encouraging your pupils to eat more fruit and veg. Includes discussion ideas for class or assembly.
See also
(pdf 279KB)