Human fruit machine
You’ll need
- Pens or pencils
- A4 paper
- Opaque bags (one per team)
- Five different varieties of fruit (get seasonal fruit, where possible)
Before you begin
- Check whether anyone in your group has any allergies or dietary requirements. Avoid getting any fruits for this activity that are unsuitable.
- Fill each of the opaque bags with fruit. Each bag should contain each of the five varieties you’ve brought.
Run the activity
- Split into small groups. Each group should sit or stand in a circle. Give each group a bag of fruit.
- The bag of fruit should be passed around the circle by each group. This should only stop when the person leading the activity shouts ‘Stop!’
- When ‘Stop!’ is called, the person left holding the bag of fruit in each group must choose a piece of fruit from the bag at random. This piece of fruit should be held up in the air.
- The more groups holding up the same piece of fruit (eg apples) as another, the more points they score. For example, in a game with five groups, three people holding bananas score their teams three points, two people holding oranges score their teams two points and the other team would score no points.
- The person leading the activity should note down the scores of each group to add up at the end. Keep playing until the game runs its course or until everyone’s had a go holding up fruit. You could have a target score for the teams to aim for (eg twenty points) as an extra incentive!
- When the game’s finished and the winning team’s been worked out, that team should choose a piece of fruit from their bag. The group should share their favourite way to eat that fruit.
- Discuss healthy eating with the group. Use the ‘Food group facts’ below for more information. Find out how much the group already knows about what they need to eat as part of a healthy diet.
We divide food into five main groups. We need a variety of food from each of the groups to get all of the nutrients our bodies need. We don’t need to achieve this balance with every meal – it’s more important to get it right over the course of a day or week. Lots of foods (like pizza, casseroles, and sandwiches) are combination of the food groups, and fit into lots of them.
Fruit and vegetables
- Fruit and vegetables are good sources of vitamins, minerals, and fibre.
- We should aim to eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day.
- Fresh, frozen, tinned, dried, or juiced fruits and vegetables are all good options – though it’s best to try and limit juice or smoothies to one portion a day. Beans and pulses also count as one of our five a day.
Carbohydrates
- Starchy carbohydrates such as potatoes, bread, rice, and pasta are important sources of energy and provide nutrients (including fibre, calcium, iron, and B vitamins).
- Starchy foods should make up just over a third of the food we eat.
Proteins
- Protein rich foods include beans, lentils, and peas – as well as eggs, fish, and meat. A balanced diet can include protein from all of these sources.
- Our bodies need protein to repair themselves. Protein rich foods also contain lots of vitamins and minerals.
Dairy and alternatives
- These foods are sources of protein, calcium, and vitamins. Calcium is important for our bones.
- As well as milk and milk products like cheese and yoghurt, calcium-fortified dairy alternatives like soya milks, yoghurts, and cheeses are also part of this food group.
Oils and spreads
- This group contains foods such as olive, rapeseed, or sunflower oil, avocados, and some nuts (almonds, brazils, and peanuts).
- We need some fat in our diets – our bodies can’t make essential fatty acids, and we need fat to absorb vitamins A, D, and E.
- Foods high in other types of fat, salt, and sugar aren’t a food group, because they aren’t essential for our bodies to work. However, it’s still okay to eat them – they’re not ‘bad’ foods, and they can be a part of a balanced diet.
Reflection
Each group’s bag contained five different fruits. This meant that there was an element of chance every time a player picked a fruit to hold up. Why else might it be a good idea to have different varieties and colours of fruit? How many of each should we be eating each day (hint: look in the bag!)?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
- Food
Remember to check for allergies, eating problems, fasting or dietary requirements and adjust the recipe as needed. Make sure you’ve suitable areas for storing and preparing food and avoid cross contamination of different foods. Take a look at our guidance on food safety and hygiene.
A more advanced version of this game could be played with more fruit or a different scoring system. Teams that correctly get scores of two or three several times in a row could get a bonus. One group could also carry on ‘spinning’ for a short while after the others before revealing their fruit, to raise the tension.
A more basic version of this game could involve fewer varieties of fruit. This may need a lower target score so that the game doesn’t run over.
Make it accessible
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
In the same meeting, you could get creative with ways to eat your fruit. Try making rainbow fruit kebabs to enjoy, or stage a blind taste test to see who knows their apples from their oranges.
In this game, fruit should ideally be taken from the bags at random. However, if they want, let young people express themselves by choosing their favourites.