School Workshop: The Chocology Challenge

Discover the secrets of chocolate by going on a journey to see where chocolate comes from and who makes it for us. There is also a tasty chocolate reward for everyone!

Book a school trip

Workshop overview

Pupils are challenged to go on journey around our Rainforest Biome to meet various characters from the story of chocolate. They are asked to perform tasks to collect resources and then return to claim their prize. The groups will meet the ancient Mayan god of chocolate, a cocoa farmer, a scientist, a Spanish explorer and a shop keeper and hear their stories. If the students gather all the prizes they win a tasty snack.

Visiting teacher from Pensans Primary School

“ How many children studying chocolate can experience humidity, see a cocoa tree growing, hold a cocoa pod, smell cocoa beans? This workshop made our whole topic real. We were thrilled with what you delivered. ”

Practical information

This workshop enables children to:

Learn about the importance of chocolate through history
Empathise with farmers and producers and talk about trade – fair and otherwise
Discover some of the stories, people and places that are important in the story of chocolate

We've designed the workshop to help teachers cover the following subject areas:

In Geography, pupils should be taught to use maps to locate the UK and other countries, continents and oceans. They should understand geographical similarities and differences between these places through studying their human and physical geography as well as weather and climate. They should also understand early trade links between locations in South America, Africa and the UK.

In English, pupils will be taught to listen to and discuss stories explaining their understanding of what has been read to them.

In Maths, pupils are taught to solve problems involving multiplication and to estimate answers to problems posed.

The workshop costs £8.25 per pupil with a minimum charge of £165 per group (includes VAT). Maximum group size is 35. The cost includes:

a facilitated workshop with our Education Team
free access to the Eden site for the day
all equipment needed for the workshop
free teaching resources enabling your class to prepare for the workshop and to follow up on the activity
a personal welcome from the Education Team at the entrance
a base for your bags in our purpose-built education centre, The Core
a space to eat your own lunch

The price includes free entry for accompanying adult helpers, whose participation is essential to the success of the day (please note our suggested adult/pupil ratios are as follows: Early Years Foundation Stage, 1:3; Key Stage 1, 1:6; Key Stage 2 and 3, 1:10; Key Stage 4, 1:15; Key Stage 5, 1:20). You’re welcome to bring more helpers if you’d like. Additional helpers are charged at our group booking rate.

We also offer a free preparatory visit to Eden for teachers wanting to plan their school trip, which should be booked in advance.