We find that connecting children with nature from a young age brings countless benefits, from enhanced wellbeing to greater environmental awareness. After the Easter break, we were thrilled to welcome our primary students back to Collège Champittet with our Earth Week celebrations, bringing together lessons in nature and sustainability.
To start off, our 4A, 4B and preschool students learned about the important role that bees play in our ecosystem with Cedric, our school’s beekeeper. Cedric, who is a member of the Swiss Printemps d'abeilles Association, brought pictures and bee toys to illustrate the function of these tiny but mighty insects. A honey-tasting and candle-making workshop (using beeswax, of course!) helped our young learners develop an appreciation for bees in a memorable way, while staff also enjoyed a chance to visit our private beehive with Cedric.
Nature explorations continued with our birdwatching workshop for our 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B classes. Our students had a great time using a telescope to observe birds right here on campus, even learning to identify different species by birdsong!
Our school also celebrated Earth Day on April 22nd with a book swap, combining our commitments to both sustainability and reading. Primary students in Grades 1 to 4 exchanged their pre-loved books with each other, discovering new stories as well as the joy of sharing and reusing.
Finally, the week concluded with a pony visit, to the delight of our learners in preschool and Grades 1 and 2. Our students had the chance to interact with friendly ponies at our school, including feeding, petting and brushing them. The happy, calming effect on our students was truly noticeable. Romane, an older student who came to watch the ponies, explained that this experience was making one of her dreams come true.
Earth Week may be over, but at Champittet, learning in nature continues all year round.
