Programme and registration
The activities centre on the forest, nature, life on the farm, gardening, and sustainable development. Whenever possible, they are held outside in order to give children the change to experience nature first hand. Please note that these activities are reserved for the municipal elementary schools, and only teachers can register children.
Explore the farm and get to know its animals
Susi the sheep and her friends, the rabbits, hens, donkeys, sheep and goats, are excited to have the children of Luxembourg City visit them.
The children get to meet the animals close up, feed them and take care of them. Older children will also have the opportunity to make healthy foods using milk and grains, such as muesli, bread rolls, butter and fresh cheese, and get an insight into the kind of work that is done on a farm.
Children in Cycle 4 visit a nearby production farm and get to ask the farmer questions.
Learn about bees
Using the educational beehive in Kockelscheuer, the Activités-nature programme offers fun activities centred around the fascinating world of bees for school groups from Luxembourg City.
Depending on the season, the children get to work with beeswax, extract honey or build wild bee hotels. They learn all about the inner workings of a bee hive and why bees are an essential part of nature.
All activities are adapted to the individual groups so as to be age-appropriate.
Learn about nature and the forest
In the forest, children can stretch their legs while playing, developing their senses, learning about plants and animals, and letting their creativity run wild. Through various activities, they are taught to recognise the trees and animals found in the forest, and a variety of hands-on experiments help them explore nature's secrets.
As part of a roster of special projects, children in Cycles 1 and 2 go into the forest on four occasions to experience the changing of the seasons.
The natural pond, meadows, hedges and the orchard in Bettembourg offer opportunities to explore other natural environments.
Cook with food from the vegetable garden and orchard
There are two vegetable gardens at the nature centre: a home garden maintained by the gardeners from the Activités-nature unit and a school garden maintained by pupils from Luxembourg City.
From spring to summer, the children experience first-hand the various stages of growing fruits and vegetables: working the soil, sowing, planting, watering, weeding, harvesting. In autumn, they get to cook and eat a healthy meal made from "their own" fruits, vegetables and potatoes.
At the Bongert "Altenhoven" (near Bettembourg), the children learn about different fruit trees and the orchard with all its inhabitants. Here, the children get to make apple juice from the apples they pick.
Raise environmental awareness
In keeping with its commitment to education for sustainable development, the Activités-nature unit also organises activities that address the environmental challenges facing our Earth.
As they learn about and experience different technical aspects (energy, drinking water, waste and resource management), the children are encouraged to think about our lifestyle and its impacts on our planet.
Finally, as the actors and decision makers of tomorrow, they are encouraged to think about creative solutions to environmental problems.
Create natural artwork
The forest, farm and garden abound in natural materials such as wood, wax and wool.
The nature centre offers several workshops where the children can create their own pieces of art from natural materials. In these workshops they can:
- carve wood,
- produce dyes using natural substances,
- spin, weave and felt raw wool,
- make candles from beeswax.
