Fairtrade Fortnight - Purple Mash resources

What is Fairtrade Fortnight?

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual awareness campaign organised by the Fairtrade Foundation. This year, it's celebrating 30 years since Fairtrade products hit the shelves. This year, the Fairtrade Foundation will be shining the spotlight on YOU, and how you can Be The Change, by choosing Fairtrade every time.

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.

Climate change slideshow and quizzes

At Purple Mash, we’ve got a selection of resources to help you teach about Fairtrade. You could start by sharing our Climate Change Slideshow, and then completing one of the Climate Change quizzes., to keep on topic of this year's Fairtrade Fortnight focus.

Slideshow

Climate change quiz 1

Climate change quiz 2

Writing activities

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 Fair Trade 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.