Fairtrade Fortnight - Purple Mash resources

What is Fairtrade Fortnight?

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual awareness campaign organised by the Fairtrade Foundation. This year, the Fairtrade Foundation will be shining the spotlight on the tea trade with the theme of Do it Fair - for People, for Planet and for Fair Pay.

How can I teach my class about Fairtrade Fortnight?

The Fairtrade website has many resources available to schools, including videos and games. You can also sign up to their newsletter to get updates on their educational offering. Some schools work towards becoming a Fairtrade school, gaining an award once they have completed different tasks.

Fairtrade activities on Purple Mash

The concept of fair trade is one that can spark debate, so why not hold one in class? For example, would you be prepared to pay a little more for Fairtrade products if you knew the money was helping people across the world? Well, there's a worksheet inside Purple Mash to help you plan out a debate on the topic and really get to the heart of the matter. You could also carry out a research project, finding four items that can be bought as fair trade products and writing about them. Once you've finished the research you could present your findings in an eye-catching leaflet.

There's lots of other writing that can be done on the topic. You could raise awareness by writing a newspaper article on deforestation and the importance of fair trade in stemming the tide. Or you might prefer to write letters, appealing to traders to stock fair trade products or asking those that do why they made the choice. If you want to focus on climate change, there is a slideshow to share with children, after which you can put their new found knowledge to the test with a climate change quiz.