Workshops For Schools

BRINGING CHOCOLATE INTO YOUR CLASSROOM

Go on a journey without leaving the school

Our workshops for schools are an exciting way to launch a new topic or embed learning for your class.

Guided by an international chocolate judge who has tasted hundreds and hundreds of different bars of chocolate from growers and makers around the globe, children will be introduced to real people and places in the world of craft chocolate that reflect your curriculum focus.

They will discover the sensory secrets of cocoa then use all their senses to appreciate these magnificent little beans and see how chocolate can taste different and can be good for us, for the planet and the people involved in growing and making it.

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learning about the journey from bean-to-bar for chocolate in schools

PART ONE

Choose your curriculum focus

The first part of the workshop provides an audio and visual journey presentation exploring the children’s current knowledge and bringing in new learning.

Breaking up and smelling cocoa beans is part of the section and if there is no specific curriculum focus we have the following learning objectives:

Where cocoa grows
Why cocoa can only grow in tropical rainforests and not in the UK
The origins of chocolate
The process of making chocolate from the tree to the bar.

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CURRICULUM FOCUS

Meet the Maya, ancient and modern

Meet the Maya, their society, art and trade and how they valued chocolate and consumed it then meet the descendants of this ancient civilization and see how they are still growing cacao today.

Everyone will have the opportunity to taste cocoa beans similar to the ones the Maya prized.

After the children have shelled and ground them into a paste and see it being made into a drink, they have the option to taste the cold Mayan version of chocolate.

CURRICULUM FOCUS

Materials and packaging for design technology

The children get to help me with a real-life chocolate packaging project. How to package chocolate to send through the post for chocolate tastings at home.

Chocolate is a tricky thing to package, it can get broken and it can get contaminated by smells so the materials and design are very important.

Packaging is also crucial for branding and there are environmental considerations too. There are lots of decisions to be made.

CURRICULUM FOCUS

Rainforest, conservation and sustainable living (environmental geography)

Who better than the chocolate midge to show us where and how cacao is grown, the rainforest environment needed to grow this type of tree, the threats of deforestation, fair trade, the lives of the cocoa farmers and how our chocolate choices can help.

Children will be taken into the rainforests of the Amazon and Ghana. In Ghana I have worked with Benjamin, a cacao farmer’s son, to introduce some of the cacao farmers near his home and the children can see where they live and what it is like to go to work in the rainforests of Ghana.

CURRICULUM FOCUS

Habitats, ecology and environment, plants and food chains

With the help of Midge children will discover the habitat needed for the chocolate midges to thrive and to pollinate cacao. We then focus on the tree itself, with its fruit growing from its stem, its habitat and how it grows better in a biodiverse ecosystem.

Cacao is also an important part of the food chain for many animal species and deforestation to grow cacao is a big problem.

By meeting some of the people whose lives are impacted, the children will learn how the chocolate bars we buy can help important conservation projects.

Workshops for schools are one of the best ways to really hook and embed learning for children, so get in touch or book now.

PART TWO

Learn how to taste chocolate

This is a practical session with group tasting exercises to learn the difference between aromas and tongue tastes and then identify some common aromas found in fine chocolate.

We then put on our chocolate judge's hat and taste four single origins chocolates and match them to the aromas identified in the previous exercise to see what flavour notes we can identify in the chocolate.

There are two dark chocolates and two milk chocolates. Duffy’s single-origin craft chocolate is used for the chocolate tasting sessions.

The learning objectives for this session are:

The role of the five senses in tasting
How to taste fine chocolate

We finish by awarding Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to the chocolate.

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Still need some answers?

Frequently asked questions

Please choose FAQs from the Flexi Options at the bottom of this page.

Can you do multiple workshops in a day?

The workshops last 2 hours each.

For two workshops in a day, these can be planned for one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Three groups can be accommodated by splitting the the workshops so that the first hour is delivered to all the children together (usually in the hall) and then the more practical second hour delivered to each of the three classes individually.

Do you deliver workshops outside Lincolnshire?

I am based in Louth, Lincolnshire and deliver workshops within a 1.5 hour travel distance from Louth. In addition to the cost of the workshops, there is a mileage charge (after the first 25 miles).

If your school is further than 1.5 hours travel distance I require a minimum booking of 2 workshops (or a minimum fee of £350).

My maximum travel time is approximately 2 hours.

How do you cater for allergies?

An ingredients list will be sent to you along with your booking confirmation. You are asked to make me aware of any allergies and as some of the products contain dairy there is an option to replace these products with non-dairy alternatives made by a vegan craft chocolate maker.

There are no nuts in any of the products. Duffy’s factory is nut-free but not certified nut-free and Solkiki vegan chocolate is made in a factory using nuts.

Please discuss any concerns about allergies before the day.

How long do the workshops last?

Each workshop will last 2 hours. We can plan in a break if required.

How much do the workshops cost?

A 90 minute workshop for 2024/25 costs £175 and a mileage cost of 45p per mile will apply after 25 miles of travelling distance.

What about safeguarding and risk assessments?

A risk assessment will be sent to you on booking and I hold an enhanced DBS certificate which will be presented on request.

What do we need to provide?

I can deliver in the hall or in a classroom, all I need is a screen to show a powerpoint with audio, tables, chairs and water bottles. Everything else I will bring with me

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Get in touch

Book your school workshop

If you have any more questions, you can always give me a call on 07939 562457 and I would be happy to discuss our school workshops further with you.

If you'd like to book a workshop, please fill out the form and include your class size, some preferred dates as well as which year group the experience is for.

I look forward to hearing from you and coming to inspire your whole class.