Food chains: who eats what?: what children learn
A food chain shows who eats what. It always starts with a plant, because plants make their own food using sunlight. The next living thing eats the plant, and the next one eats that animal. Grass is eaten by a rabbit, and a rabbit is eaten by a fox: grass → rabbit → fox. In Year 2, children learn that animals get their food from plants and other animals, and they use simple food chains to show it.
In this game, children see the parts of a food chain mixed up and put them in order, starting with the plant. The chains use plants and animals from British gardens, woods and ponds, plus one from the African grasslands, so children can talk about habitats at the same time. The arrow in a food chain means "is eaten by", and saying it aloud helps children check each step.
This topic covers the Year 2 statutory requirement in the National Curriculum in England (Living things and their habitats): pupils should be taught to “describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food”. Year 2 pupils are usually aged 6–7.
There is no direct equivalent in the US Common Core State Standards.
How to play
Put the numbers in order. Use the arrow buttons, or pick one card and then another to swap them. Each game has 5 rounds. After you press Check, the correct order is shown if you got it wrong.
Step by step
- Find the plant. Every food chain starts with a plant (or part of one, such as seeds, leaves or acorns). Put it first.
- Find the plant-eater. Next comes the animal that eats the plant, such as a rabbit eating grass. Plant-eaters are called herbivores.
- Find who eats the plant-eater. Then comes an animal that eats that animal, such as a fox eating a rabbit.
- Keep going to the top. Some chains have a fourth link, such as a sparrowhawk that eats blue tits. The last animal is not eaten by anything else in the chain.
- Read it back with "is eaten by". Grass is eaten by a rabbit, which is eaten by a fox. If every step makes sense, the chain is right.
Worked examples
Example 1: Put in order: fox, grass, rabbit.
Working: Start with the plant: grass. A rabbit eats grass. A fox eats rabbits.
Answer: grass → rabbit → fox
Example 2: Put in order: blue tit, leaves, sparrowhawk, caterpillar.
Working: Leaves are the plant. Caterpillars eat leaves, blue tits eat caterpillars and sparrowhawks hunt small birds such as blue tits.
Answer: leaves → caterpillar → blue tit → sparrowhawk
Example 3: Where does every food chain start?
Working: Plants make their own food from sunlight, so they do not need to eat anything else.
Answer: With a plant.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Starting with the biggest animal. Remind children that the chain starts with what gets eaten first: the plant.
- Reading the arrow the wrong way. Teach the arrow as "is eaten by" and point from the food to the eater.
- Thinking the top animal eats everything in the chain. Each animal eats the one just before it. A kestrel eats the mouse; it does not eat the seeds.
Activities to try at home
- At dinner, make a food chain for something on your plate: grass → cow → you.
- Watch birds in the garden and talk about what they eat and what might eat them.
- Draw a food chain comic strip with an arrow between each picture.
- Print the worksheet and ask your child to read each chain aloud using "is eaten by".
Ideas for the classroom
- Give groups picture cards and ask them to build as many food chains as they can, then share.
- Make a human food chain: pupils hold cards and line up, then the class checks each link.
- Link to a pond-dipping or minibeast hunt and build a food chain from what was found.
- Use the game as a starter, then ask pupils to invent a food chain for a different habitat.
Free printable game and worksheet
The free printable starts with a game sheet, such as a colour-by-answer picture, an answer maze or a secret-code joke, followed by a worksheet. Both use the same checked questions as the online game, and the answers are on the last page. Print it, or save it as a PDF from your browser’s print menu.
Open the free printable game and worksheet
Frequently asked questions
Why does a food chain start with a plant?
Plants make their own food using sunlight, water and air. Animals cannot, so every animal's food can be traced back to a plant.
Do people belong in food chains?
Yes. People eat plants and animals, so we can be part of food chains, such as grass → cow → human.
What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
A food chain is one line of "who eats what". A food web joins lots of chains together, because most animals eat more than one thing. Children meet food webs later in Key Stage 2.