This week, Year 5 hosted our exciting Eco Festival and it was a huge success! The festival linked to our inquiry question, “What is a business and how can you make a profit?” and our theme, Cracking Ideas. We worked hard to turn our creative ideas into real businesses that would attract customers from across the school.
Before the festival, each group researched eco-friendly products and thought carefully about what people would want to buy. We learned that businesses need to spend money on resources, attract customers and make enough profit to be successful. We also considered how our products could help the environment by using organic ingredients, Fairtrade products and recycled materials.
When the festival opened, children from all year groups arrived with money to spend and excitement filled the hall. There were so many fantastic stalls to choose from! Visitors could enjoy refreshing drinks from Cool Pops, Marvellous Mocktails and Legendary Lemonade, or tasty snacks from The Munch Bunch, Kebabulous, Cheese ‘N’ Crunch and Pizza Puffs.
Freya Y5RHP – “Creating the Eco business was a great way to learn how to run a business and make a profit. We had to keep our business sustainable and sell our food product at a reasonable price. This was challenging but fun, and we all persevered.”
Many stalls focused on sustainability. Eco Girls sold wild strawberry and basil plants to encourage wildlife in gardens, while Secret Seeds challenged customers to grow mystery seeds planted in recycled materials. Other groups used Fairtrade and organic ingredients to create delicious treats. Eco Eagles and Fruit and Fudge sold brownies made with wonky berries, Fairtrade bananas and cocoa powder, while Drizzled Out tempted customers with Fairtrade dark chocolate-covered strawberries.
Riley B Y5IB – “I really enjoyed selling our vegetarian organic Tacos. Our business was called Cheese ‘n Crunch. My favourite part was when someone bought our product, said how much they enjoyed it and wanted to buy more. I loved seeing the smiles on their faces.”
Some of the most creative stalls included Rainbow Rangers with their colourful rainbow couscous salad, Fruity Dreams with fruit-face yoghurt pots and Fruitiverse with their delicious banana splits. Banana Bliss Smoothies were also very popular.
As the day continued, we noticed that some stalls had long queues while others had to work harder to attract customers. This helped us understand how important advertising, presentation and customer service are in business.
“We sold healthy, organic popcorn using Fairtrade toppings. It sold really well and we made a large profit. Our stall was really busy and we worked well as a team.” Ethan Y5RHP
The Penalty Shoot Out stall added even more excitement to the festival. Children enjoyed testing their football skills and trying to score all three goals to win a prize.
Throughout the day, we carefully counted our sales and thought about whether we were making a profit. We discovered that profit is the money left after paying for all the ingredients and materials needed to make a product.
Eylul added, “The best part was seeing our hard work pay off when customers came back to buy more. We sold the rainbow couscous salad, which the Year 6 children particularly enjoyed and said it was delicious.”
By the end of the festival, we had learned so much about running a business. We discovered that successful businesses need a great idea, careful planning, teamwork, budgeting and excellent customer service. Most importantly, we learned that businesses can be successful while making positive choices for the environment.
Lots of us said that The Eco Festival was one of our favourite experiences in Year 5.
Overall, the Eco Festival was a fantastic experience that brought our learning to life. We developed our teamwork, communication and enterprise skills while having lots of fun. It was a brilliant example of how a simple idea can grow into a successful business and help answer our inquiry question: What is a business and how can you make a profit?
