The activity takes place indoors and outdoors. There are two main strands: nature and reading.
Naturalist section
Pupils are invited to observe nature in the school grounds: observing plants, insects and birds throughout the seasons. They then compile a portfolio of the main species observed: drawings, description, lifestyle, etc.
This activity raises children’s awareness of nature and the need to preserve biodiversity. The children learn to observe and report on the information they have gathered (description, drawing, report). They are encouraged to easily recognise the major taxa and certain common species. Finally, one of the major objectives is to foster children’s sense of wonder about nature!
Examples of activities planned over the seasons:
Autumn: collecting leaves and making a herbarium; borrowing leaves; observing plants in the vegetable garden in autumn; exploring seeds; how they spread; mushroom families
Winter: Sedentary birds; borrowing bark; evergreen trees/shrubs; winter blooms: hazel, alder; what happens to animals in winter: migration, hibernation.
Spring: Wild flowers in the playground; study of the number of different species on 1m² of lawn; Insects and spiders; Birdsong; Pollination; Bees; The vegetable garden in spring and herbivorous insects.
Cross-curricular and one-off activities :
– Making an insect hotel
– Observation of an ecosystem: an old wall, a vegetable patch, a shovelful of earth
– Focus on a species or taxon
Reading section
This section complements the nature section. The children listen to and read stories and albums related to the current activity. The children are given a selection of books to borrow from the school library.
