Plan, Shop & Cook a Meal Learning Week (Ages 10–14)

From choosing dinner to serving it up, this is real-world learning in action.

Plan, Shop & Cook a Meal is a hands-on 3-day learning experience designed to build practical life skills, independence and confidence through an everyday task: planning and preparing a meal.

Rather than sitting down to “do maths”, learners use maths, literacy, planning and problem-solving naturally as they choose a meal, create an ingredient list, work within a budget, compare supermarket prices, shop, cook and calculate the approximate cost per serve.

Across the three days, your learner will:

• Choose a meal they genuinely want to make
• Find and read a recipe
• Create an ingredient and shopping list
• Check what they already have at home
• Set and work within a realistic budget
• Compare supermarket prices and quantities
• Make informed shopping choices
• Estimate and compare their actual grocery total
• Follow a recipe and prepare the meal
• Practise kitchen organisation and clean-up
• Calculate the approximate cost per serve
• Build confidence completing an everyday task more independently

Adult support can be added wherever needed, particularly for shopping, knife use, hot surfaces and kitchen appliances. The goal is not a perfect meal. It is building the skills and confidence to plan, problem-solve and take greater ownership of an everyday task.