OUR PROPOSALS FOR CHILDREN

CHILDREN IN NATURE

Our proposals for the little ones

Our proposals are divided into two age groups:

1. from 3 to 11 years;

2. from 12 to 14 years.

All activities are aimed at learning through practical experience, placing themselves in direct relationship with Nature, with companions and with adults. The main aim is to achieve these general objectives:

• knowing how to play constructively and creatively with others, knowing how to argue, confront, support one's reasons with adults and peers;

• develop a sense of relationship with everything around him; animals, plants, rocks, elements of the landscape;

• reflect on one's actions and on the consequences of collective and individual behavior

• ask questions about what is good or bad, and reach a first awareness of one's rights and duties, of the rules of living on a single and finished planet.

• be able to orientate oneself in the first generalizations of the past, present, future and move with increasing security and autonomy in spaces, even unfamiliar, gradually modulating voice and movements also in relationship with others and with shared rules;

Families are also involved:

• in discovery activities - excursions with the guidance of experts;
• in aggregative activities - walk between nature and fantasy, in animated paths in the woods;
• with continuous information on the conduct of activities in general (presentation of the
• programming, developments and results).

FROM 3 to 11 years

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

1. Discover and enjoy the movement and space and the perceptions that derive from it
2. Consider globally if the child is able to explore, decode, use the various messages proposed by multimedia, in a guided manner;
3. Group, order, quantify and measure things and phenomena;
4. Know how to place daily actions in the time of day and week;
5. Correct reporting of past events; knowing how to make predictions in the short term;
6. Carefully observe living organisms and their environments, natural phenomena, realizing their changes;
7. Become familiar with both the strategies of counting and working with small numbers and with those necessary to perform the first measurements of lengths, weights and other quantities.
8. Identify the positions of objects and people in space, using terms such as forward / behind, above / below, right / left, north / south etc;
9. Knowing how to follow a path based on precise indications, referring to measurements and cardinal points, traced on a sheet.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

Manipulation games with the use of various natural materials (leaves, pebbles, feathers etc.).

Through these manipulation activities, children will acquire important information while having fun and satisfying their desire to touch and experiment

Guided motor games, like "hide and seek" and "flag stealer" in the woods;

Orienteering games in space, recognition of cardinal points with the use of the Sun and mosses on the bark of trees, with treasure hunt in the immediate vicinity;

Graphic representations of lived experiences, with spontaneous pencil drawings and colors;

Tales of stories first as passive and then active subjects, with the invention of funny characters;

Games to stimulate the child to make associations, quantifications, classifications, seriations;

Experimental games of transformations with various elements and objects;

Games of "pretending to be…" and representations, identifying oneself with the animals of the forest;

Build, shape, knead, spread, press, crush, peel and stick, there are various ways of discovering materials and therefore getting to know them. The manipulation activity includes a series of activities such as kneading shapeless materials such as plasticine, salt dough, food etc., and natural elements such as paper, leaves, branches, flowers, etc., it is precisely through sensory exploration that the child experiences diversity and, thanks to what he perceives, he will have the opportunity to relate to the big and the small, the much and the little, the tender and the hard ...

Discovering the woods

• research and collection of material (leaves, fruits, branches, bark, seeds ...) to be divided after. The material collected in the woods is subject to observation, manipulation, classification, interpretation, representation, through: play, collective work, frontal lesson, brainstorming, simulation, tactile paths, experiments;
• discovery of clues (footprints, shells, feathers ...) and immediate visible changes;
• tactile, olfactory, visual, auditory sensory experiences;
• listening to the sounds of the forest: water, wind, animal sounds ...;
• from experience to problem solving: how to cross a large river without getting your feet wet, or how to climb a tall tree, with the help of an animal friend, even an imaginary (drawn) one;
• guided knowledge of plants, seeds, herbs, animals. The teachers manage the experimentation activity for the discovery of the micro world using specific tools such as: magnifying glasses, microscopes, lamp with lens and prepare synthetic placards on the various plants encountered in the forest and their characteristics (shapes, foliage, type of bark , seeds, leaves ...).

The magical world of mushrooms

Discovering their real and imaginary characteristics:

• observation / manipulation / sensory discovery (smell, colors, consistency ...) of the mushrooms and graphic realization of their representation;
• discovery of the various types of mushroom on books;
• reading stories and nursery rhymes that investigate the imaginary and imaginative relationship between mushrooms and other inhabitants of the forest: let's invent absurd fairy tales!

The water resource

It is about letting children know the importance of having clean and drinking water available, stigmatizing waste in the face of scarcity of the resource, activating good practices on the correct use of the good, developing sustainable behavior and becoming aware of the water footprint with activities that answer questions like:

1. what sounds does water make?
2. how do trees carry water to the leaves?
3. how do the leaves change color?
4. how do fruits grow?

Children are soiled with mud or resin and must try to clean themselves without water, or they must find water to drink in the stream of the forest, making sure it is clean first.

My first herbarium

The proposal aims to stimulate the participants' curiosity, sensitivity and wonder towards the environment by combining a naturalistic trip with a creative laboratory. Through direct experience and with the support of teachers, children will have the opportunity to get to know plants to learn from love and respect them from an early age.

The activities will be divided into two phases:

1) Outdoor lesson on the species of plants present;

2) The children will then experience the group work by coordinating to create real botanical cards, virtual and based on the photographs that each will be able to realize, elaborated after the computer.

FROM 12 to 14 years

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

1. Consider globally if the boy is able to explore, decode, use the various messages proposed by multimedia independently;
2. Measure things and phenomena, lengths, weights and other quantities;
3. Correctly report events from the past, even remote, of the life of the Universe and the Solar System;
4. Know how to make predictions in the medium term;
5. Carefully observe living organisms and their environments, natural phenomena, realizing their changes;
6. Knowing how to navigate according to the reference points offered by the territory, reading geographical maps, using a compass and GPS, measuring differences in height and routes, estimating their distance and difficulty of travel, evaluating and comparing the various possible alternatives;
7. Know how to make weather forecasts, to plan a trip

ACTIVITIES

The inhabitants of the forest

Brief introduction on the fauna that lives in the forest through a multimedia presentation. Along a path, in a wooded environment, the kids will go looking for traces of the passage of animals such as footprints, leftovers from meals, pens but also sounds, noises and sightings. The path will be accompanied by a game about secrets, curiosities and false myths related to the animals of the forest.

The secrets of the night

The purpose of the activity is to make the main species of nocturnal forest animals and some of their characteristics known in an engaging and playful way.

Many studies show that fauna around the world is changing its rhythms becoming more nocturnal due to human interference and its activities. When the sun goes down, twilight animals, such as bats and badgers, are activated first and need little light. It is then the turn of the nocturnal animals, that is, those which concentrate most of their activities after sunset and which have therefore developed particular adaptations and strategies.

To better identify with the night environment, the boys are also blindfolded in turn and guided by a companion along the stretch of a path, to sharpen all the other senses with respect to the sight.

The exciting excursion is then completed by stimulating the singing of nocturnal birds of prey, to listen to their response.

The tricks of the transformers

Thanks to an articulated excursion among the most characteristic environments of the area, such as meadows, woods and open areas, the participants are guided to know the incredible strategies and habits of the butterflies. Putting yourself in the shoes of Lepidoptera will allow them to "change" step by step, acquiring greater awareness of the beauty and importance of these precious living beings and discovering a new world and way of life: the insect world.

The keepers of our breath

Activity articulated in a frontal lesson that presents the participants (about two hours) and in an exploratory outing in the woods for half a day, to introduce kids to the vegetable kingdom with the help of tables and simple tools.

The language will always be adapted to the age of the participants; even complex concepts will be decoded and presented in a direct, simple and fun way.

Who will eat today?

The game is about identifying oneself in an animal and taking on all its characteristics, with strengths and weaknesses typical of the chosen species, which will have to deal with the encounter with a prey or a predator and make choices, even strategic ones, which will lead to success or failure.

Having fun and moving, the participants become aware of the roles that nature assigns to each species in the complex ecosystem in which it lives, where the one who is physically stronger does not always win.

The race of Life: biodiversity

The participants will compete along a ring route at the end of which the winner will be the one who has managed to record, in any way possible, the presence of the highest number of species, equipped with all the portable instruments possible, such as books, smartphones etc.

The swamps

Participants are guided to discover the biodiversity of wetlands, competing with those who register the largest number of species present in any way that is compatible with their protection.

Group reflections are stimulated on the importance of protecting apparently useless and inhospitable ecosystems such as swamps.

Orienteering competitions

Accompanied by a teacher who coordinates everything, the participants will form teams that will have to walk a path exploring a wooded area, hiding clues, asking to make choices, to pass skill tests and answer precise questions and trace everything on one minimal but useful geographic map to find the route taken, hiding at the bottom the prize due to those who manage to finish it.

Subsequently, in the second phase, the teams will exchange the cards previously obtained and begin to try to retrace the same itinerary shown on the card, in search of the hidden prize.

In this way team play, cooperation and knowledge of the different are put in the foreground, as well as acquiring knowledge about other living beings, of the forest.

The orienteering test also has the function of stimulating the recognition of reference points, therefore the orienteering and a different way of knowing the new territory that you are going to explore. Quizzes, skill tests and other games will allow you to literally enter nature while having fun, but with respect and according to precise rules.

COSTS

• teacher: up to 6 people 180 Euro, after 20 Euro / head (minimum 2 max 25 person);
• meals like pic-nic or lunch in a partner restaurant.

PLAN

• arrival in Aosta with your own transport (timetables and train tickets here, and buses here and here);
• in front of the train station you take the bus that leads to choosed destination (timetables here);
• lunch in a partner restaurant, based on typical dishes and products from the Aosta Valley;
• return to Aosta by bus.

ACCESSIBILITY AND SERVICES
handicapped: YES

blinds: YES
animals: ADMITTED on a leash
toilettes: YES, free
photographs: ADMITTED

NOTES

The language and activities are adapted according to the age of the participants. Is very important and necessary to report allergies, intolerances or the like and the possible presence of people with mental difficulties, in order to evaluate the situation and be able to choose suitable routes and activities. It is recommended to wear clothing and shoes suitable for going out in nature.

THE LESSON IS ALSO IN CASE OF RAIN OR SNOW

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom/Treni-Regionali/Valle-d%27Aosta

https://www.flixbus.it/orari-fermate-autobus/aosta

https://www.svap.it/it/31/linee-e-orari/

https://www.autobus.it/