Design Technology - Fruit Kebab (Key Stage 1)

This unit of work forms part of the PrimaryDT scheme of work that features over 60 units of work designed to deliver outstanding outcomes for primary school children in design technology.
This unit of work has been revised and updated for 2026 and is based on delivering six sessions of design technology that are guided by high quality presentation slides accompanied by all the resources that are needed to deliver the lessons, including a knowledge organiser.

Comprehensive medium-term planning that includes
• Unit overview and sequence of learning
• Prior learning needed and links to other curriculum areas
• Learning statements (from our curriculum pathway document)
• List of resources and background information to support teaching and learning
• Key vocabulary for the unit of work
• Teaching activities (investigative and focus tasks)
• Teaching activities (designing and making)
• Advice for challenge and support strategies
• Assessment indicators that children are keeping up with the curriculum

Accompanying this revised unit is further information about the scheme of work and the progression chart and vocabulary list used when creating the scheme of work.

Design Brief: Design and make a Fruit Kebab for Akeyo as a gift from Handa

Sequence of Learning for Teachers
In this unit of work children design and make a fruit kebab based on the story of Handa’s Surprise written by Eileen Browne. Children learn the names of a range of fruit and investigate where fruit can be bought locally. Children learn how to cut and prepare a range of fruits. Through tasting apples, they begin to develop their taste vocabulary. This vocabulary is extended through more taste tests where the children are taught how to cut fruit using the bridge hold and the claw grip. Children are taught key healthy eating messages including eating five portions of fruit and vegetables every day, drinking lots of water and cutting down sugary foods. Having designed and made their fruit kebab they evaluate their product and the products of other children repeating using a taste test. As part of the evaluation, they write a letter from Akeyo to Handa thanking her for the gift and saying what they liked about the fruit kebab.

Sessions:

1. Investigate Task 1: All About Fruits.
2. Focus Task 1: Cutting and Preparing Fruit & Investigate Task 2: Apple Taste Testing.
3. Investigate Task 3: Handa’s Fruit Basket.
4. Design & Make: Knowledge Session - Healthy Eating and 5 A Day & Design Session.
5. Design & Make: Making a Fruit Kebab.
6. Evaluation Session: A letter to Handa.

Some activities / sessions can be re-arranged or delivered in different ways in the learning sequence to allow for whole-class teaching and/or small adult-led sessions to take place at the same time.