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Sensational Seeds
(half day or full day)
Through investigation, games and activities in the park, discover the wonderful adaptations of seeds, how they are dispersed and how they grow.
Sensational seeds can include these activities:
- Investigating and drawing seeds in the classroom, using magnifiers and microscopes
- Seed Olympics - games to learn about the different ways seeds are dispersed
- 'Seed tig' – a game about what seeds need to grow
- Seed fate germination game - why all seeds do not germinate
Sensational Seeds can be a full day session, combined with investigating flowers and flowering parts and learning about photosynthesis (spring/summer term only) - or it can be a half day session and combined with another half day topic for a full day's visit.
Pond and Woodland Explorer
(full day)
A full day programme comparing and contrasting two different habitats.
Pond Explorer
Pond Explorer helps your class discover the wildlife in one of the ponds at Gatton Park
The Pond Explorer can include the following activities:
- Investigating pond invertebrates in the classroom using magnifiers and microscopes – particularly looking at adaptations – and record one in detail
- A pond-dipping session at one of Gatton's ponds – looking for and identifying the invertebrates found.
- Introduction to food chains – games.
Woodland Explorer
Spend time exploring the natural woodland habitats of Gatton Park. Observe and record the animals that live there within the different layers of the woodland.
Find out how they fit into food chains or how they are adapted to survive life in the woodland ecosystem.
The emphasis of this activity is to experience the woodland and to use suitable equipment to sample and observe the animal life present such as pooters, sweep nets and tree shaking sheets.
Pond and Woodland Explorer is very popular with Year 4 pupils studying habitats but is educational and enjoyable for pupils of all ages.
Shipwrecked – Team building Challenge
(half day)
Bring along your class to get to know each other and to work together on team building activities.
Your class have been shipwrecked! They follow a map and a set of riddles around the beautiful grounds of Gatton Park to find new challenges to compete in.
The children compete in the challenges in teams and they include:
- " Build and raise a ship mast " – a relay race
- " Walk the plank "- use planks to cross the 'sea' to reach a desert island
- " The water challenge "- collecting water for the team to survive.
After each challenge
- the children in Years 3 or 4 are given 'flag' stickers to put in their Challenge booklet
or
- the children in Years 5 or 6 are given a piece of a code to copy into their Challenge booklet
and at the end they have to crack the code to find the treasure.
All of the activities require children to work together and develop both mental and physical skills.
Badges for the winners and certificates for all of the children that take part.
Geography through the window (Years 3 and 4)
(full day)
In the morning the session starts with a walk to collect information for map making. We will follow a route around the park, with groups taking it in turn to lead the walk. The children will use a photo sheet and identify where different photos were taken. They will collect data at each location.
Back in the classroom the children will make a group map and record how the group feels about Gatton Park.
In the afternoon the children will evaluate the view from Gatton Hall and then complete an orienteering challenge.
Maps and Mapping (Year 5 and 6)
(full day)
The morning session starts indoors, in the classroom, looking at OS maps of the area around Gatton Park, identifying some simple OS map symbols and using four or six figure grid references.
The class are then challenged to design a walk for a group visiting Gatton Park. They follow a route around the park and identify where a series of photos have been taken. At each location they also consider what they can see and who might consider visiting.
Back in the classroom the children complete a route card including the grid references for where they have been.
In the afternoon the children can either choose from the following activities:
- play compass games on the parterre
- practise route finding on the parterre – be a human sat nav
- follow an orienteering trail on the parterre
or
- use the information collected in the morning to design a leaflet for different groups of visitors to Gatton Park
Art in the Park!
(half day or full day)
Enjoy a full or half day of activities using art skills in an outdoor setting.
Look closely at trees and the shapes that their trunks and branches make. Then sketch the trees using charcoal. These sketches are then translated into paper mosaics back in the classroom.
Use Matisse as an inspiration. Look at the shapes and contrasting colours used by Matisse and create your own 'Matisse style' design using 'paper cutouts'. Walk to the Rock and Water Garden to discover the patterns and shapes of plants and flowers found there. Sketch the leaves, trees or flowers and translate them into 'Matisse style' shapes. Or walk to the Japanese Garden and sketch the features, such as the stone lanterns, tea house or bridge.
Or you can use Rousseau as an inspiration for a full day programme. Find out about Rousseau and his work. Visit the Rock and Water Garden – collect different shades of green from the plants and sketch different leaf shapes and patterns. Look closely at the trees around Gatton Park and make sketches. Use the sketches of leaf shapes and trees to deign a shoe box diorama in the style of the Rousseau painting "Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised)" and add animals.
Alternatively we can create a day based around an artist you are studying with your class. Arrange a free pre-visit with the Education Officer to discuss the options.
The Gatton Maths Challenge
(half day)
The Gatton Maths Challenge is a trail around Gatton Park made up of seven separate mathematical tasks, using a variety of mathematical skills. All tasks relate to the surrounding environment and aim to give maths a 'real-life' feel.
The children, with adult support, find their way between the mathematical tasks using a map and instructions which encourage them to think about and practice directions, co-ordinate and compass work. On completion of each task, the children are awarded a number.
After completing the tasks they will have collected all the numbers needed to break the secret code.
Suitable for a half-day session, the trail is ideally combined with an additional activity, possibly science or geography based.
The accompanying trail pack contains information about the tasks and master copies of adult helpers' and children's recording sheets.
Green Energy
(half day)
This programme offers an introduction to climate change, green energy and energy saving through games and practical activities.
Discover how animals are affected by microclimate through practical investigation and which animals around the world could be affected by climate change.
Use solar and wind generated toys to see how we can make renewable energy.
Play a parachute game to consider which appliances generate most greenhouse gases and make a pledge as to how you could save energy and reduce the effects of climate change.
