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Harvest festivals

Most schools maintain the custom of celebrating harvest festival early in the autumn term. This article offers a number of suggestions for activities and resources on the theme of harvest celebrations. These can be linked to topics on food and farming and to subjects across the curriculum.

Ever since primitive man learned to cultivate his own crops, harvest festivals — thanksgiving ceremonies and celebrations for a successful and abundant harvest — have been carried out throughout the world.

The celebration of harvest in Britain dates back to pre-Christian times, when the success of crops governed the lives of the people. Saxon farmers offered the first cut sheaf of corn to one of their gods of fertility to ensure a good harvest the following year. Corn dollies (symbolising the goddess of the grain) were traditionally made from the last ears of wheat to be cut. Kern babies, however, were the last sheaf of wheat to be cut and is bundled up and dressed in white, trimmed with coloured ribbons to represent the spring. When the harvest was collected and stored safely in the barns, a celebratory supper was held to which the whole community was invited. The harvest home feast marked the end of weeks of hard work in the field. In the UK there is no national date for a harvest festival: harvest festivals and suppers are traditionally held near the harvest Moon (the full Moon which falls in the month of September at or around the autumn equinox).

The practice of celebrating harvest festivals in churches began in 1843, when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited the members of his parish to attend a special service of harvest thanksgiving at his church in Morwenstow in Cornwall. This led to the now-widespread custom of decorating churches with home-grown produce.

For information on Christian harvest festivals, the Jewish festival of the tabernacles (Sukkot) and a teaching unit on harvest festivals for RE at Key Stages 1 and 2, see the Standards Site.

See also TeacherNet's primary assembly on the topic of harvest festivals.

Local traditions and harvest food
In Northumberland, the corn dolly is attached to a long pole and carried home to be set up in the barn, while on the Isle of Lewis, the corn dolly's apron is filled with bread, cheese and a sickle. French, Slavonic and some Germanic regions use the last sheaf to create a Kornwolf, believed to hold a wolf-like spirit that resides in the last sheaf and provides the life force for the next season.

To find out how to make a corn dolly, visit the Ravenquest website.

See the Great British Kitchen website to find out about local harvest customs and traditional harvest fare, including recipes for Shropshire fidget, damson and apple tansy and Suffolk 'fourses' cake.

Harvest Songs
There were three men come from the West
Their fortunes for to try
And these three made a solemn vow
"John Barleycorn must die"

Activity suggestions:

Find out the rest of the words and the story of John Barleycorn
Are there any other memorable harvest songs?
Make up your own harvest song, story or poem

Harvest festivals in ancient cultures

The ancient Egyptians celebrated their harvest festival in honour of Min, the god of vegetation and fertility. The festival of Min was held in the spring, the Egyptians' harvest season. After a grand parade, a great feast was held with music, dancing and sports.
The ancient Chinese celebrated their harvest festival on the 15th day of the eighth month. The day was believed to be the birthday of the Moon and special Moon cakes stamped with the face of a rabbit (perceived to be the face of the moon) were baked.
The ancient Greeks worshipped Demeter as their goddess of all grains. Demeter's daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld. Demeter, the source of all growth and life, withdrew her powers from the Earth during her time of grief. Demeter's refusal to eat or feed the world until the other gods resolved her conflict with Hades over Persephone brought on winter, and no plants or grains could grow.

Because Persephone had eaten pomegranate seeds given to her by Hades, she was condemned by the gods to spend half of the year in the underworld and half of the year on earth with Demeter. Every year, when Persephone is in the underworld there is winter, and when she is on the Earth, there is spring and summer.
The Romans celebrated the Cerelia festival, where offerings of the first fruit of the harvest were dedicated to Ceres (Demeter in Greek). Some believe the festival was held in October, others say that it took place in April, to coincide with the arrival of spring.

Activity: find out about myths and spirits relating to the harvest in different cultures, present and past.

For more information on harvest festivals in ancient cultures see the Twilight Bridge website.

Around the world
Harvest time is celebrated all around the world — from Africa to Alaska. But do you know what celebrations are held in Barbados, how is it marked in Lithuania and when it is celebrated in India? Looking at harvest around the world can link in to topics such as the weather, climate and time.

See the Harvest festivals site for information on how harvest time is celebrated around the world. This site also includes suggestions for harvest games, recipes and songs from around the world.

Food glorious food
Factory farming and modern food-production methods can make harvest time seem a remote concept; food that was previously only available at harvest time is now on supermarket shelves for much of the year. This is an ideal opportunity to find out where different foods come from and how they are produced and processed. It's also a great introduction to topics such as healthy eating. See TeacherNet's Healthy living section for further information.

Activities:

Where did this come from? You will need: a shopping bag containing an apple, a pear, a packet of malted cereal, a packet of porridge, a loaf of bread, a tin of baked beans, a packet of dried beans, fresh and tinned carrots. You could also add products such as a jar of coffee, sugar, tea-leaves, packets of crisps and so on. This activity can be adapted to suit different ages and stages. Working back from the finished product, children can explain how the products got to the shops and from where. Older children can make flow-charts of the production processes and name other related products.
Harvest loaves. Depending on resources, facilities and the ages of the children, you can bake your own harvest loaves (some types of bread, such as sour dough bread do not need to be cooked).
Another option is to bring in bread from different countries — focaccia and ciabatta from Italy, a baguette from France, pitta bread from Greece and chapattis from India.

The cycle of life
Visit the Duchy Originals website to see the cycle of life from seed to harvest. This site provides suggestions for classroom activities aimed to fit into Key Stages 2 and 3. It also offers quizzes, crosswords and instructions on how to grow your own salad and sprout your own grain, as well as more complex recipe ideas.

Autumn leaves
Harvest time links naturally to topics on autumn — autumn walks and collecting leaves to use in Art work. Go to the Under fives website to view a sequence of autumn leaves. There are also pictures of leaves designed for printing which, when laminated, will make excellent leaf stencils for autumn art activities.

Food and farming
Farming and countryside education is a useful resource, offering information on a range of farming-related topics. A 'field to fridge' section tracks the progress of food production in pictures. There are local case studies as well as information on global farming issues. The site offers a wide range of fact sheets, which can be downloaded on subjects from cereals to rare breeds. See also the National Farmers Union website.

Harvest time is traditionally when abundant food was given to the poorer members of the community. This is an ideal opportunity to link to topics on famine or drought.

See the Action Aid website for a wide range of resources, free to download and use in your school (please credit Action Aid). The materials here can be used in teaching literacy, citizenship, D&T, science and art from years 3 to 6. Materials particularly suitable for harvest activities include a Key Stage 1 topic pack of activities on food, and a retelling of the Little red hen in colourful, interactive animation for Key Stage 2. The traditional fairytale is updated to show how farm subsidies in rich countries threaten the livelihood of farmers in the developing world.

Global Links, Action Aid's interactive website for schools, includes information and teaching packs on sustainable development education. The Fairtrade site contains plenty of useful information related to fair trade.

Other resources
Books for children: The world came to my place today, by Jo Redman (Eden Project Books, 2004). This book will tell you where materials such as rubber and cotton come from, and how household objects from doormats to soap are made.

For younger children, The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle (Aladdin Picture Books) can explain the process of growth from a seedling into a plant.

If you want to show your class a lush tropical rainforest, or the dry, scented lands of the Mediterranean but without leaving the comfort of your classroom, then visit the Eden Project site.

See the newly relaunched Growing Schools site for ideas on taking classroom teaching outdoors.

This article was commissioned by TeacherNet's editorial team, independently of DCSF policy teams.

Last updated: 31 July 2007