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This term, Primary Three’s topic is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and last month we visited The Cocoa Bean Factory in Braehead.

When we arrived we were kitted out in aprons and hair nets and then taken into the Chocolate Room!  We made trains, ducks and rabbits using a chocolate mould and created a beautiful bar of chocolate festooned with sweets.  Some of us were given chocolate moustaches or cats whiskers on our faces.

After we had experimented with chocolate, we went through to the information room.  We learned that cocoa beans come from the cacao tree and are placed under banana leaves and left to dry out in the sun. In groups we cracked and peeled the cocoa beans then crushed them using a mortar and pestle. Tasting the results produced mixed reactions!

We had a fabulous day and here are some of our comments from the children:

“I really enjoyed shaking the moulds.”

“My favourite part was when we cracked open the cocoa bean.”

“I liked getting the chocolate face paint.”

“I liked making everything by hand.”

We were also fortunate to receive visitors from the Nestlé factory in Girvan.  Emma and Jenna told us all about the process that the company uses and we got to examine and smell produce from the different stages of chocolate making.  We found out that the Girvan factory only makes ‘chocolate crumb’.  This looks like moon rock and tastes delicious.  The crumb is then sent down to the main factory in York to be made into the chocolate that we buy in the shops. It was very interesting and we enjoyed their visit.

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