The Chocolate Story
Workshops
1. Once Upon a Bean
The history of chocolate is brought to life in our ‘Once Upon a Bean’ workshop. Through storytelling and interactive activities, our little explorers discover chocolate’s fascinating beginnings, starting with the Aztecs. We retrace the steps of the infamous world explorer, Hernán Cortés from the palaces of Spanish royalty to the majestic rainforests of South America and find out how this journey turned the humble cacao bean into the billion-dollar chocolate industry that we know today.
2. Bean to Bar
Next up, sweetness meets science in our Bean to Bar workshop.
This lesson has us reaching for our botany books, as nature shows us how she uses biology and chemistry to transform a cacao bean into a chocolate bar. Your little scientists will learn about crop cultivation, the fermentation process and what actually happens in the bean to bar process.
3. Lollipop Making Masterclass
Grab your chef hat and apron for our lollipop-making masterclass where craft chocolate meets the magic of nature!
In this workshop we celebrate earth’s pantry by focusing on organic, natural wholefoods that show children that all the best treats are often grown in soil. We let their artistic talents run wild and free in this hands-on session and explain the importance of healthy eating and the goodness that the human body takes from the natural food that grows around us.
4. Chocolate Tasting Masterclass
In this workshop, your students will discover the art of tasting chocolate with all of their five senses and learn what is actually going on in their body when they are tasting good chocolate. Each child will have their own chocolate-tasting mat, chocolate samples and chocolate-tasting guide, as well as a friendly lizard called Luker to teach them how to truly taste and enjoy the chocolate they eat. We close this mindful chapter with story-time and meditation.
5. Is it fair?
Now for the big question. Is it fair?
Through storytelling, this workshop invites cacao-crusaders and justice-dreamers everywhere to take a closer look at what’s going on behind the scenes of the chocolate story and how small changes make a big difference when we choose our chocolate. Your students will uncover the clues that distinguish ethically produced chocolate from its less savory counterparts.
We see what fairness really looks like for our cacao farmers in South America and catch a glimpse of the life-changing impact that fair chocolate is having on children across the world that are dreaming of a better future, just like us.
10% of the profit made from our school workshops goes directly to social and educational initiatives to help vulnerable children growing up in and among cacao-farming communities in rural Colombia.