Are you having a school sports day this year? Hold a fruit event in your sports day and you could win some lovely prizes.
We’re asking primary schools to host their very own fruit event at their sports day. The race winners can be in with a chance of winning family trip to LEGOLAND. There are two trips to be won.
All you have to do is include a fruity event in your sports day. Choose from the lemon and spoon race, runner bean relay, peach volleyball, potato sack race or why not create your own (the more creative the better).
To enter, just take some nice photos of the fruit event and of the winner of the race. Either email or post the photo[s] to us before the deadline on June 22nd.
Email entries to:innocentsportsday@realevents.ie Postal entries to: innocent fruit sports day challenge, Real Events, Fumbally Court, Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8
We've some great prizes:
Top prizes: 2 prizes of a family trip to LEGOLAND (including flights, 2 night hotel stay & a day ticket to LEGOLAND for a family of four)
Runner up prizes: 2 prizes of a months supply of innocent smoothies for kids
Teachers’ prizes: We’re not forgetting the teachers who organise it all. All teachers who take part will be entered into a draw to win a weekend break away for two in Ireland (2 prizes to be won)
Don’t forget to share your fruit event photos with us on our facebook or tweet them to @innocentIreland.
At the start of March we launched our innocent and GIY Sow & Grow schools pledge. We had schools all over Ireland sign up and over 15,000 kids got planting their own vegetables and herbs. Their lovely teachers posted some brilliant photos to our gallery.
We were blown away by the amount of work all the teachers and kids put in. With so many great photos it was really hard to pick a winning school. But we can announce that the winning school was 5thclasses of St. Thomas’ SNS, Tallaght. The classes really got involved by planting over 50 plants and uploading lots of very creative photos. They even got to taste what they grew with cress sandwiches and soup at the end of the project.
This Friday 1stof June, the kids of St Thomas’ are off to Bloom festival in the Phoenix Park to get their award from Donal Skehan and enjoy a trip to Dublin Zoo. The school also gets a mentorship from GIY and €500 worth of growing equipment.
The runner up schools in the innocent and GIY Sow & Grow schools pledge were Cloghan’s Hill NS, Tuam and Scoil Ui Fhiaich, Kildare.
A huge thanks to all the schools to took part.
Michael Kelly of GIY says, “If you encourage a child to sow a seed, you potentially change their attitude towards food forever – that's why we have been so excited to see the level of participation in the innocent GIY Sow & Grow schools campaign this year. Up to 15,000 children have got stuck in and sown a seed in schools up and down the country – these are the next generation of GIYers. We want to thank all the teachers and children that got involved, and congratulate this year's winners. The future truly belongs to those of us willing to get our hands dirty.”
We haven’t made a new kids smoothie recipe for a while, but we think this one was worth waiting for. Combining the delicate taste of cherry with a sweet, jammy strawberry-packed punch, it’s one of our most refreshing recipes yet and perfect for quenching your thirst after a game of mini-golf in the park. And just like all of our drinks, it contains real, pure fruit and no rubbish whatsoever. It’s cherry cherry good (sorry) and on the shelves in selected Dunnes and Tesco stores now.
To celebrate we're giving away a case of our new smoothie. To win write your answer to this question in the comments below: Name a county in Ireland that rhymes with cherry. We'll pick the winner from a hat. Good luck.
This competition is now closed.
Congratulations Sinead C, you've won a case of cherries & strawberries smoothies for kids. We'll send you an email.
This week, our grassy van headed back to school. We drove across the country visiting some of the schools who have taken the innocent & GIYSow & Grow schools pledge. We got sowing and chatting with kids in Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Dublin and Galway.
The boys and girls in St Brigid's Presentation Primary School in Middleton got a very special visit from GIY patron Darina Allen, who got her hands dirty and chatted to the kids about how great it is to grow your own.
Darina is encouraging school children nationwide to grow their own, she said:
‘As a keen GIYer I am delighted to see primary schools around Ireland take part in the innocent and GIY Sow and Grow schools pledge. It is really important for kids to learn about where their food comes from an early age and I was very proud today to help my local school today take their first steps in growing their own.’
A big thanks to all the schools; Scoil Moin A Lin, Limerick, St Brigids Presentation Primary School, Middleton, Our Lady of Good Council, Ferrybank, Waterford, St Colemans NS, Kilkenny, Educate Together Blessington, Patrician College Finglas and Scoil Rois Taylor's Hill, Galway, who were all so welcoming and doing some really great growing.
Check out the progress of Sow & Grow on our website.
The innocent and GIY Sow & Grow schools pledge is in full swing. We've had 15,000 kids in schools all around Ireland sign up to grow their own. To get them started, we sent out seeds, pots, growing guides and lesson plans. Every class that gets involved is in with a chance to win prizes worth €2,500 and one year’s mentorship from their local GIY expert. The winning class also gets a day trip to the Zoo and the Bloom festival where they will be presented with their prize by home cook & food writer, Donal Skehan.
This week our grassy van is hitting the road to give some encouragement to seven schools around Ireland who've taken the pledge. We'll be dropping in with a local GIY expert, who'll have some top tips for growing and of course, loads of smoothies. Keep an eye here for some photos of the visits.
We've already loads of lovely photos uploaded to our Sow & Grow gallery, check out the progress here.
Don't forget you can still get seed packs by purchasing special packs of innocent smoothies for kids or fruit tubes. Happy growing.
A big thanks to all the schools who have signed up to take the innocent and GIY Sow & Grow schools pledge. All 500 pledge packs were snapped up and we're delighted to say that they have all been sent out to schools around the country.
With the sun shining outside, we are calling all schools to get growing in the classroom by taking the innocent and GIYSow & Grow schools pledge. Every class who takes the pledge could be in with a chance to win a day trip to Bloom where they will be presented their award by home cook & food writer Donal Skehan. The winning school will also receive €500 worth of growing equipment and one year’s mentorship from a GIY specialist in their local area.
If your school want to take part but didn't manage to get a pack, you can still get involved in the pledge by uploading photographs of your class planting in your school garden or classroom here.
Don't forget you can still get seed packs by purchasing special packs of innocent smoothies for kids or fruit tubes. Check out the gallery to see how schools across the country are getting along. We will be announcing the winners of our innocent and GIY Sow & Grow schools pledge at the end of May. Good luck.
Animals don't eat it; it eats animals. And the odd human if the films are to be believed.
But whatever the truth, there's no doubt that the venus fly trap is a plant to be feared. Especially if you're a fly or a spider.
The trap is triggered by tiny little hairs on the inner surface of the plant. If a prospective meal wanders in and stumbles over a couple of these hairs, it snaps shut, trapping its prey inside. The plant then begins to produce special acids which kill and digest its lunch. And if the little fellow tries to escape, the trap just closes tighter and digests it even faster. There really is no escape.
Once it's finished eating, the trap reopens ready for the next unsuspecting victim. Each individual trap on the plant can only operate 3 or 4 times, after which it photosynthesises like a normal leaf or withers and dies.
But that's enough from us. Here's David Attenborough wearing a nice shirt to show us exactly how it works:
And what's more, for the next month or so you could win one of these wonders of nature with our kids juicy drink. All you have to do to be in with a chance is to enter the special code from promotional packs in the gang's garden. Just make sure you take your umbrella.
It's springtime, the sun is shining (for now) and our new seeds have just hit packs of our smoothies for kids and fruit tubes.
What’s more we are calling all schools to get growing in the classroom by taking the innocent and GIY Sow & Grow schools pledge. To get involved, teachers can sign up to receive a special growing pack for their class at www.innocentdrinks.ie/sowandgrow which includes seeds, soil, growing guides and lesson plans. Once Teachers upload their photos of their class planting seeds; they will receive their special Sow & Grow certificate. Every class who takes the pledge could be in with a chance to win a day trip to Bloom where they will be presented their award by home cook & food writer Donal Skehan. The winning school will also receive €500 worth of growing equipment and one year’s mentorship from a GIY specialist in their local area. The innocent and GIY Sow & Grow pledge runs from March to the end of May so sign up to get a special pledge pack now.
We had a great morning yesterday at the Rathfarnham Educate Together N.S. where Donal Skehan (home cook, food writer & photographer) got growing with some 3rd class students to launch the pledge.
Caoimhe and Maeve did some digging with Donal
Donal said: "I'm really delighted to be part of the innocent and GIY Sow & Grow schools pledge. We want as many primary schools in Ireland to take part and get kids growing. It's so important for kids to know where their food comes from and there is a real sense of achievement in growing your own food and using it to create delicious recipes. So roll up the sleeves and let's get planting."
Maeve and Ian got to grips with some cabbages
Back: Michael Kelly (CEO GIY Ireland), Donal Skehan. Front: Ian, Caoimhe, Maeve and Cian from Rathfarnham Educate Together National School
Rosy cheeks. Dirty hands. And muddy footprints in the hallway.
When the frost has melted away, there's nothing better than getting the little ones outdoors for fresh air and a bit of gardening. This springtime, we want to get loads of kids in Ireland outside planting and harvesting their own gardens. From March until the end of April, every box of our kids smoothies or fruit tubes will come with its very own pack of easy to grow seeds. There are six different varieties to collect including carrots, tomatoes, cress, basil, violets and sunflowers. The best part is that all grow into something you can eat - delicious.
Whether your garden is big, small or not much at all, our seeds can be grown in containers of all shapes and sizes. From empty smoothie cartons, to welly boots and window boxes – everyone can take part. Getting kids sowing and growing is a great way for them to learn where their fruit and veg actually comes from and it turns out they’re more likely to eat stuff they’ve grown themselves too - so it’s another clever way to get them eating their greens.
Every pack has handy growing instructions, cut out and keep plant markers and loads of cool plant facts. Keep an eye on www.innocentdrinks.ie and follow us on twitter @innocentIreland for information on our exciting schools competition which we'll be launching this week.
It's spring, the days are getting longer (we like egg sandwiches), so we decided to plant some cress on our window sill. We waited patiently for something to appear...
and were super excited on this grey Monday morning to find these lovely shoots in the cup.
Keep an eye here for some more sow & grow updates to come.
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