Magnificent Milk activity ideas

Activities

Here is a set of activities to work alongside the Online Field Trip about milk.
The intention is to provide a range of activities that span the curriculum
and motivate children to have an interest in milk – where it comes from, the
processes it goes through before it reaches our homes, and the wide variety
of ways in which we use it. After the introduction, the activities are listed in a
structured order to progress children through the topic and end with some
extension ideas. Feel free to select the activities that suit the needs of your
children.
Ensure parental/guardian permission has been sought prior to tasting any
milk products and that you are aware of any allergies or intolerances.

Key words

Dairy, full fat, skimmed, semi-skimmed, almond, soya, rice, oat, calcium, protein, plant, grain, bacteria, protein, calcium, vitamins, minerals, lactose, cereal, pint, milkman, vat, milking parlour, health, carton, bottle, education.

Introducing milk

• Show the children a variety of packaged milk. If you can, have a plastic carton, a cardboard carton and a glass bottle. It would also be good to have a selection of full fat, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk. Invite the children to comment on what the different milk cartons are made from and whether they think the milk inside is the same or different. Discuss the difference between a ‘blue top’, a ‘green top’ and a ‘red top’ and see if the children know which kind they use at home.

• Ask the children where milk comes from and most of them should say that milk comes from cows. Show the children the Did You Know Cards [Do You Know Where Milk Comes From?_5-7_Milk] and discuss the different types of milk. Ask the children if any of them drink milk other than cow’s milk at home. Explain that calcium and protein are important nutrients, especially for growing children, but that some people are allergic to cow’s milk and need to use an alternative.

A milking timeline

• With the children, talk about how cow’s milk comes to be on a shelf in the shops. Invite their comments on each stage of the process, including all of the following, which relate to the 8 boxes on Worksheet One [A Milking Timeline_5-7_Milk]:

Picture 1: Text: It is early morning and the cow is waiting for the farmer.
Picture 2: Text: The farmer takes the cow into the milking parlour.
Picture 3: Text: The farmer fits the milking machine onto the cow’s udders.
Picture 4: Text: The milking machine squeezes the milk from the cow.
Picture 5: Text: The milk is placed in a vat to keep it cool.
Picture 6: Text: Someone from the dairy comes to the farm to collect the milk in a tanker.
Picture 7: Text: At the dairy, the milk is treated to make it safe to drink.
Picture 8: Text: The milk is packaged ready to be sold in the shops.

• Discuss the fact that the cows welcome being milked otherwise they would feel very uncomfortable.
• Discuss the fact that cows used to be milked by hand before the milking machines were invented.
• Discuss the importance of keeping the milk cool throughout the whole process. Welcome the children’s ideas on what they think would happen to the milk if it was not kept chilled. If you can, have an example of some milk that has gone off to show to the children, and explain that bacteria grows as the milk starts to turn bad.
• Show the children Worksheet 1 [A Milking Timeline_5-7_Milk]. Explain that the pictures are all in the wrong order and you would like them to cut the pictures out and stick them onto Worksheet Two in the correct order.

Milk in schools

• With the children, discuss whether milk is available in their school for everyone to drink. Explain that there was a time in the past when it was the law that all children should be given free milk in school.

Packaging

• Bring in a variety of milk bottles and cartons and compare them. Investigate what they are made from and how easy they are to open and pour. If you can, show the children a glass milk bottle and ask whether anyone has a milkman and has milk delivered to their door. Explain that the milkman’s glass bottles are supposed to be rinsed and used again, rather than thrown away.

• Tall cardboard milk cartons can be turned into many things and are great for craft activities and junk modeling. Try collecting some cartons and asking the children to turn each one into a house. This works well due to the raised top of the carton, which suggests a roof. The carton can be painted or covered with paper or felt. Add doors, windows etc and a tiled pattern on the ‘roof’. If you want to make shorter houses, just cut the bottom off each carton. When each house is made, stand them side-by-side along a shelf or cupboard top and you have a whole street.

• Due to the latest government legislation, milk will be seen in more and more schools. Ask the children to comment on why they think the government wants more children to drink milk instead of sugary drinks and fruit juices.

• Ask the children to design a poster for a School Milk Club, encouraging pupils to drink milk in their morning break time. Discuss the things that should be included, such as the health benefi ts to growing children and the importance of having a drink in the middle of the morning to keep brains and bodies functioning well. Encourage bold colours and large, clear text to grab the attention.

Ways to use milk

• Before you begin this activity, ask the children if they have ever heard the phrase “don’t cry over spilt milk”. Ask for suggestions as to what this phrase might mean. Explain that it means there is no point in being unhappy about something that can’t be helped.

• Read the poem together: Don’t Cry Over Spilt Milk. Copies are available to download [Don’t Cry Over Spilt Milk_5-7_Milk].

• Ask the children to recall all the diff erent ways milk was used to make something in the poem. How many of these have the children tried?

• Talk about the ways children use milk at home. Collect data and fi ll in the bar chart showing the results [Ways To Use Milk_5-7_Milk]. Talk about the results. Which way of using milk is the most popular and which is the least?

• Milk can be turned into a healthy milkshake by blending it together with a portion of whole fruit such as strawberries or bananas. If you have access to a blender, make a fruity milkshake to enjoy with the children. Remember, no sugar needs to be added to make this a delicious snack.

Milk testing

• Use a carton of full fat, a carton of semi-skimmed and a carton of skimmed milk. Remind the children that these three milks are different because full fat has cream, semi-skimmed has half the cream removed and skimmed has all the cream removed. Ask the children to predict whether they think they can tell the difference between them. Carry out some blindfolded taste testing and share the results. Which type of milk is easiest to identify just from the taste?

Milk bottle subtraction

• Sing the song Ten Milk Bottles (to the tune of Ten Green Bottles).

Ten milk bottles, sitting in the shop
Ten milk bottles, sitting in the shop
And if one milk bottle
Should accidentally drop
There’d be nine milk bottles
Sitting in the shop

Point out that a bottle is being subtracted for each verse of the song.

• Ask the children to make up some of their own subtraction sums. Give them the Milk Bottle Subtraction sheet [Milk Bottle Subtraction_5-7_Milk] and ask them to draw some milk bottles on the first shelf. Then they should write how many bottles are going to drop, and finally draw how many bottles are left. They can do this each time to create different sums. Children can work with higher or lower numbers according to their ability.

Crossword review

• Review how much information the children have retained on the topic of milk by asking them to complete the fun crossword. Copies available to download [Milk Crossword_5-7_Milk].

• To make the crossword more challenging, you can cover up the answers in the box at the bottom, so that the children have to generate the answers themselves.

Clues Across:

1. An animal that milk comes from. [Answer: cow]
2. Milk is taken here after it leaves the farm. [Answer: dairy]
3. Cows eat this. [Answer: grass]
4. A drink made with milk and fruit. [Answer: milkshake]
5. The place where cows are milked. [Answer: farm]

Clues Down:

1. You eat this for breakfast and add milk to it. [Answer: cereal]
2. A kind of milk made from grains. [Answer: rice]
3. You can buy milk here. [Answer: shops]
4. This animal gives milk like a cow does. [Answer: goat]
5. A kind of milk made from a plant. [Answer: soya]