Secondary School Level Activities for Educational Visits

Come experience our city farm as an authentic context for immersing your learners in a dynamic natural setting that offers a safe and encouraging space for activities that challenge understanding and present opportunities for meaningful, positive learning experiences in the real world.

Secondary School level visits are designed to ​support your teaching programs that foster the development of confident, connected, actively involved, and lifelong learners, through inquiry- and nature-based experiences that encourage learners to ask questions, take action, and cultivate connections with the environment and each other. While our program is not certified to any national standards, we are committed to supporting your learners in the pursuit of NCEA and other such qualifications with practical experiences on the farm.

Have a look below at some of the activities we can arrange for your group, to help you get your learners outside, observing & interacting in nature, investigating key concepts, and practicing essential skills — all while having a great time! Choose from one or more of these to build your session, or get in touch for a bespoke experience tailored to your outcomes.
Activities on this page:
Curating Your Session​:
Have a look through these activities, then use the booking enquiry form below to tell us about your group and choose the activities you would like for your learners, or to let us know how we can help deliver a bespoke experience that meets your goals and learning outcomes.

​If you are interested in visiting us with the same group multiple times over the course of a school term or academic year (i.e. Regular Visits), then Unit Lesson Plans can be arranged to take advantage of a schedule of recurring visits, to arrange for a sequence of sessions that build on prior learning and experience in order to deepen investment, reinforce knowledge and skills over time, and broaden the scope of achievement objectives and learning outcomes. You can indicate your interest in this option in the booking enquiry form below.

Visit the School Visits main page for more information on our program, health & safety, and charges.
Farm Tour & Sensory Expedition
📚 ​Secondary School Level
​An essential activity at Kelmarna, and one of our most popular, this guided exploration of the farm gives learners the opportunity to slow down and really focus on the world around them, to observe and connect with details and patterns in nature that often ordinarily go unnoticed.

Learners will use all five of their senses – hearing, sight, smell, touch, and taste – to engage with the natural environment through focused investigation, getting to know the farm and its operations, and developing skills and  interest in exploration that can be applied in any setting.

Learners will help guide our wander, encouraged to practise creatively and effectively communicating their experience, examining the details they observe, and considering the role and interconnections of the things we encounter.

A staple of most visits, this activity is highly recommended for all ages and levels. Never the same experience twice, there is always something fascinating and fun to discover in every season. This activity can be adapted to suit any age group and most booking arrangements.​
Newspaper Plant Pots
📚 ​Secondary School Level
​Take the opportunity to get crafty on the farm by learning how to upcycle old newspaper into plant pots and then get hands-on with the soil to pot up and sow a seed.

Learners will practise observing and following instructions, and applying concentration and dexterity to manipulate newspaper into a sturdy structure, then use tools to attentively convey soil into their pot. They will learn essential principles for sowing seeds at a viable depth before focusing again to carefully dimple the soil and sow a seed of their own.

Our potting soil is made on site from fundamental ingredients according to our own recipe, and this activity can be expanded to examine these components of the soil and how they work together to support our seeds and seedlings into healthy, productive plants.

A fun challenge and practical skill, this activity is recommended for getting hands-on in a controlled setting while practising propagation and resource recovery. All materials are provided, including certified organic potting soil and seeds, and learners get to take home their finished product.
Creepy Crawlies & Composting
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level
Take advantage of the unique resources on our farm to introduce your learners to super cool creepy crawlies, and safely handle worms and larvae while learning about the benefits of their poos and wees!

Learners will have the opportunity to observe and interact with tiger worms used in vermiculture composting, and the larvae and pre-pupae of Black Soldier Flies used in composting as well as for chicken feed. Both of these beneficial organisms are fun to handle, and they play an important role in generating sustainable natural soil conditioners and whole-food sources for our chooks.

This activity can be expanded to increase the scope of interaction with the compost systems and organisms, to include exercises such as measuring temperature, weight, and volume; using byproducts like compost, castings, and liquid fertilisers in the garden; and considering more critically the impacts of these systems on our farm and in the community.

This activity is recommended to provide learners with novel experience and perspective, to gently stretch their comfort zone and frame relationships with nature as positive and constructive.
Trash-to-Treasure Hunt
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level
​As a certified organic farm and with our site based on permaculture design principles, it's important to us to establish and maintain sustainable and regenerative systems that make the most of every resource.

Learners will practise taking a broader approach to identifying value, measuring durability, and determining application in this activity that is designed to challenge assumptions and highlight the significance of things beyond their most obvious context.

Learners will investigate a multitude of living examples around the farm where materials that might otherwise be considered 'trash' are repurposed and valued as taonga, or treasures. What's more, we will consider how circular systems can help reduce impacts on the environment while saving time, money, and achieving amazing results.

This activity is recommended to demonstrate upcycling techniques and inspire creative reimagination of waste as resource. It can be adapted to suit varying ages and levels, including with hands-on craft activities for certain upcycling projects.
Pals & Pests
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level
​On the farm, we acknowledge that every organism has a role in supporting a healthy ecosystem. However, we also acknowledge that not all of these roles are always well suited to our goals and expectations. In the activity, we will look closely at what labels like 'pest' really mean and how our understanding can shift relative to context.

In this activity, learners will examine the variety of animals and insects that live and work on the farm, to consider their roles and how their mahi relates to our community farm. Rather than as categorically 'good' or 'bad', we will instead evaluate relationships in terms of being 'beneficial' or 'non-beneficial' to our goals of producing food and maintaining a therapeutic community space.

This activity begins with a discussion component in which learners rank organisms on a spectrum, to record their assessments and compare different organisms with regard to how well they alignment with our goals. Then, the activity can be expanded to include an investigation of certain organisms in their habitat, at work on the farm.

An exercise in critical thinking and collaborative group discussion, this activity is recommended to practise these essential skills while building a deeper understanding of and connection with the natural environment.
From Flower to Fruit and Back Again!
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level
What is the purpose of a flower, a fruit, or a vegetable? Why are pollinators so important? Learners will examine the lifecycle of flowering plants to identify key stages, the role of animals and insects, and important outcomes for both the plant and for us gardeners at each stage.

We will focus in particular on the connection between flowers and fruiting bodies to close the loop on what might otherwise seem like a linear journey. We will consider in particular the role of pollinators and identify a variety of sometimes unlikely creatures that join in the pollination process.

Learners will come away with a deeper understanding of flowering plants and a deeper connection with their food, where it comes from, and how animals, insects, and ourselves play a role in keeping this essential cycle going.

This activity is recommended to forge and reinforce connections with food systems, the natural environment, and to provide context for familiar aspects of learners' everyday world such as flowers, fruits, vegetables, and seeds.
Edible Seasons in the Garden
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level
​Every year we move through a cycle of four seasons that each bring changes to the weather, climate, and what's going on in the garden.

Learners will take a closer look at this annual cycle, the characteristics that come with each season, and consider what these changes mean for the garden as a natural space and how they impact our work and planning as gardeners. In particular, we will discuss the importance of saving seeds and preserving food.

With an understanding of the seasons and patterns of production in the garden, we will discuss how to provide food across the year, particularly over the colder winter months. We will explore eight fundamental methods for preserving food, which can work on their own and together to help us keep food fresh for longer and even change and improve flavour and nutrition.

This activity is presented like a board game in which learners identify and uncover fundamental elements to support a broader understanding. There are also culinary extension activities for engaging learners in food preservation.
Fun with Fermenting
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level
​Fermentation is an age-old practice of working with beneficial microorganisms to not only preserve our food but also change and enhance the flavours and nutrition it offers.

Learners will explore the basic process of fermenting with lactobacillus bacteria before launching into a recipe for making simple sauerkraut. They will get hands on to transform a cabbage into a jar of living sauerkraut, learning and using essential skills in the kitchen as well as forging crucial connections with their food.

Materials are priced in addition to booking fees, and all finished products are free to be taken back with participating groups.
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This culinary activity is recommended to help forge and reinforce connections with food systems while demystifying and familiarising relationships with fermented foods. It also serves as an excellent extension to the Edible Seasons module.
Herbal Tea Time
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level
The garden is a great source for wellbeing, not only by providing nutritional food but also a variety of herbs that can add stunning flavours to our food or be steeped into tea infusions that are soothing and delicious to drink.

Learners will practise identifying different plants to forage for seasonal herbs, getting to know them by name, sight, and smell. We will also cover some of the common health benefits and traditional rongoā uses of certain herbs. Learners will then gather at the Village Green to craft and taste test their own blends by combining different herbs and brewing them in hot water. 
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Bring your learners along for an herbal adventure that will take you around the farm, filled with fragrance and flavour, that will bring to life a variety of herbs that might ordinarily go unnoticed, with the simple process of brewing for a few minutes in hot water, to create our own delicious herbal teas!

​This activity is recommended to give learners experience connecting with the environment, expanding their relationships and familiarity with plants, and gain safe and practical experience foraging for edible elements in the wild. Herbs, hot water, and mugs provided. Selection of herbs subject to season, and allergen precaution advised.
Village Green Vacation
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level
​The Village Green is our central community space, the only area where grass is favoured over cultivating food, and where we can gather together and spend time over kōrero and kai.

You are invited to make the most of your trip to the farm by taking the time to pause and relax in the space, park up on the Green for a picnic, or simply enjoy the farm outside of a structured activity. Learners are welcome to spend morning or afternoon tea breaks, lunch, or free time on the lawn and around the gardens.

Free time on the Village Green can be added to most bookings to supplement learning and practical activities with the chance to wander, explore, and enjoy the wonders of the garden on your own.

This recreational opportunity is recommended to allow learners to connect with the environment on their own terms and at their own pace. Food and drink not provided. Certain organic scraps may be collected on site, otherwise all rubbish must be taken away.
Unit Lesson Planning, for Regular Visits
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level
​The challenges of scheduling often mean that groups can only visit us once or once in a while. However, where possible, the benefits of repeat and regular visits can't be overstated in terms of the opportunity it creates for learners to reinforce their learnings, become familiar and comfortable with the many facets of our farm, and to develop a genuine investment in engaging with the natural environment as well as skills for putting environmental values into practise.

An ongoing program allows us to plan more in terms of the content of visits, expand our learning objectives, and collaborate more deeply towards the best outcomes for your learners. Repeat and regular can mean as few as a couple of times per term to as frequent as weekly visits with us on the farm.

Please get in touch if you are interested in unit lesson planning with us for your group, or with any questions regarding how we can help accommodate your schedule to engage most effectively with your group while leveraging the unique resources of our city farm.

Unit planning for regular visits is recommended to allow learners the opportunity to build and reinforce connections over time, to more effectively incorporate the authentic context of our city farm into your teaching program. The frequency and regularity of visits can be managed to suit your group, as well as the unit lesson content catered to your teaching program. Please get in touch to see how we can help!

​Book an Educational Visit
🪁 Primary & Intermediate School Level Groups
For other enquiries, get in touch with our Education Manager at education@kelmarnagardens.nz