What is PLAYFOOD?

PLAYFOOD aims to help primary-school children to make sustainable, responsible food choices through digital game-based activities. The project is structured around the fact that primary school students are considered as “vulnerable consumers”, as they mirror family habits and depend on the choices of their parents, their teachers, and their close family environment. PLAYFOOD aims to educate and raise awareness among all those target groups in order to minimize food waste, choose local and seasonal food, and understand the climate impact of what we eat.

The main objectives of PLAYFOOD are:

• Raise awareness and shift behaviours among pupils, parents and teachers.
• Create an EU-wide digital platform with games and classroom activities on sustainable consumption for primary education.
• Connect subject-matter experts with the school ecosystem and ensure evidence-based content.

In order to achieve the abovementioned objectives, a set of activities will be organized in the frame of the project. The most important ones are:

• Organization of school dialogues and a brief survey to capture needs and ideas.
• Setting up of an Expert Registry to support content and schools.
• Build the PLAYFOOD platform interactive with games for students and ready-to-use lesson plans for teachers.
• Pilot in classrooms and refine materials with teacher feedback.
• Share results online and through a webinar and a final public event.

The project is expected to deliver measurable improvements across pupils, teachers, families, and schools.

Pupils will develop a stronger understanding of food waste, local and seasonal choices, and the food–climate link, alongside greater confidence to act both at school and at home.

Teachers will increase their capacity to teach sustainability using ready-to-use lesson plans, benefit from peer learning through the network, and retain ongoing access to the digital resources.

At home, children will pass on what they learn to their parents. That mean changing everyday routines such as what to buy, how to store food, and how to use leftovers.

Schools will embed the piloted activities in their annual plans and adopt low-cost initiatives (e.g., class gardens, waste-reduction drives) that can be repeated without external funding.