As well as finding a range of harvest activities for EYFS outcomes, you'll also find many activities that'll fit nicely into your Understanding the World topics. Understanding and celebrating the importance of certain festivals and traditions in different cultures helps children gain a more well-rounded understanding of the world around them. That's why we've included a selection of detailed harvest festival activities for early years that focus on harvest's significance as a cultural festival, like this colourful What is a Harvest Festival? PowerPoint. It helps you take children through the historic meaning of harvest in a simple, easy to understand way with beautiful illustrations. Similarly, you'll find this excellent Harvest Festivals Around the World PowerPoint useful for sharing the diverse ways in which cultures around the world celebrate harvest. It's a lovely way to introduce children to unique traditions they may not have heard of before, while celebrating diversity and cultural differences. What are some ideas for harvest activities for early years? Sheaves were gathered into stooks, between six and 10 sheaves leaning against each other to allow drying air to flow though. Local custom accounted for the differences in number, so that styles of stook varied across the country. In Kent the ‘hooded stook’ was preferred, in which an additional sheaf was laid on the top as a cap to keep rain off. The ‘Irish mow’ in south-west England was a pile of 20 sheaves. Whatever the style, the rows of stooks gave a characteristic pattern to the harvested fields where they remained to dry for about three weeks. You could join in with 'Harvest Samba' (from Youtube) or choose a song of your own. Suggestions from BBC collections below. As Mr. Fox sadly cried and his tears fell to the ground, the Queen Mother reached down from Heaven to console him. “There, there,” she said.” “You have saved the Earth from nine of the scorching suns. We will make a deal with the one sun left in the sky to rise and shine on Earth each day for a time called morning and to set and rest behind the mountains for a time called evening. In the UK the harvest festival, also known as the harvest home, is traditionally celebrated on the Sunday nearest the harvest moon. This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox, which is often between 21-23 September. The awesome sight of the glowing orange harvest moon/Getty

The potatoes that the boys in the film talked about, been dug up, then transported from the farm to the factories where they will be made into crisps or chips... One day in March 2016, I had gone to a garden store in Rome, Italy, my adopted city, to buy some flowers to plant for the first time in my life. Harvest celebrations pre-date Christianity, but it has always been seen as a very spiritual time to give thanks for the year’s crop. Symbolic corn dolls, made out of the last sheath of the harvest, were placed on banquet tables when parishes had their huge feasts. The doll was then kept until the spring to ensure the continuation of a good crop next year. This custom began with Saxon farmers, who believed the last sheath contained the spirit of the corn.

Farmers in the arable districts were anxious about the labour force as harvest approached, and complaining of shortages. About a million regular farmworkers were employed in England and Wales in the mid-19th century, but numbers swelled during harvest, especially in the eastern arable counties. To augment their regular workers, farmers turned to anybody willing to present an able body. The village wives were recruited, and there were all sorts of casual and migrant workers – tramps, gypsies and especially the Irishmen. People used to come out from the towns to help as well, but by the 1860s, the demands of industry were reducing that supply of workers. The hop harvest in Kent was the last survival of that practice, petering out in the 20th century. Finally, you could use this Harvest Shape Poetry resource. With these poetry templates, you can have your learners write poems about the harvest, helping them learn more facts about this festival as they create their poems. You could start off with a group discussion, or set this task after your harvest assembly.

Role-play: Why not open up a Fruit and Veg Shop in your learning setting for a fantastic early years role-play during a harvest topic?

When is harvest in the UK?

Mr. Fox and all of the forest animals cheered and clapped and danced when they realized the scorching suns were no more. Each year at harvest time, they gather acorns and nuts and berries and all of the bounties of their great harvests to offer the Queen Mother and her white rabbit in the moon as a gesture of gratitude and goodwill. So Sally and her parents drove to the church empty-handed. Sure enough, everyone else was laying out donations on a table. Sally wandered over and looked at all the food. She felt a bit embarrassed not to have brought anything, but she knew she was right, really. Nobody wanted wonky vegetables. After the harvest came the celebration – harvest home (called ‘horkey’ in some places). Harvest was one of the great village festivals – the celebration of the successful gathering in of the corn – and shared by all the village. Mm-hm,' said Samira. 'I lost my job and couldn’t get another. I was really struggling to make ends meet - down to my last pound. But the food bank helped to keep us fed - even provided the odd treat, like chocolate cereal, to keep the children happy.' Activity trays: Filling a large activity tray with lots of harvest-themed items like fruits, veg and seeds is a great way for children to explore the topic. Try our creative Harvest Activity Tray Plan.

A harvest tea or supper, shared by squire, farmer and labourer alike, was followed by dancing and merry-making. It was this final part of the day that caused consternation among the respectable classes – “unrestrained riot and excess” was how the celebration of 1867 was described in the Essex parish of Foxearth. As a result, the festival was “taken in hand by the clergyman”, and centred on a thanksgiving in the parish church.We’re making it work with what we have and will be exploring the Harvest Moon this week as part of our nature study curriculum, Exploring Nature With Children. There wasn’t much joy at Sally’s, though. They’d had such a busy week! Sally had been doing tests at school, her Mum’s job was frantic and her Dad had been away on business until late last night. Usually they planned ahead and did a special shop for the food collection. But not this year - it had slipped their minds. The date for the Harvest Moon changes each year- the closest full moon to the autumnal equinox is called the Harvest Moon. So he explained. “The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels. We also love to sing songs and tell stories during our celebration. Festive songs add a lightness to the walk and make it oh so special!

You could also try this KS2 Harvest Comprehension Activity. This is a great themed activity that will help pupils develop their comprehensive reading and writing abilities while teaching them more about the harvest festival. Then Dad popped his head round the door and said: “Maybe we could bring some vegetables from my vegetable patch in the garden!” Well, that’s just the thing,” Mr. Fox replied. “My sons have disguised themselves as 10 fiery suns, and will not come down from their perch high in the sky. But I have a plan to get them down.” Read the story to yourself at least a few times. Read it out loud to yourself. Read it in front of a mirror to yourself. Read it until you know it by heart. One of my proudest moments came when I read on the internet how to dry and string the pepperoncini together with thread, like I had seen in hundreds of Italian markets, homes, and Italian films. They were picture perfect - could not believe that I had grown them (see photo below). NOW a seasoned kitchen gardener!

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There are a few stories we love to tell too. I wrote one of them year ago when my oldest two kids were 3 and 6 and it is still a favorite today! Scroll down to the bottom of this post for a printable version of the story! A Harvest Moon Story