When you first arrive, you'll be greeted by one of our friendly tutors who will welcome you to our beautiful reserve. We’ll show you where to drop your bags off and then head down to the training room for a fascinating introduction, learning all about Kent Wildlife Trust and the different creatures we might find during your visit.   

We’ll then get stuck straight into our awesome activities! You will have picked two or three of these activities in advance, depending on how many classes you are bringing on the trip.  

There are lots of engaging sessions to choose from: 

• Magical Minibeasts 

• Pond Dipping Detectives  

• Rock Stars 

• Perfect Plants 

• Beavers of Kent 

• Birds of Prey Discovery Lab 

• Forest School Experience 

• River Explorers 

Imagine you have picked Magical Minibeasts, Pond Dipping Detectives, and Perfect Plants. We might start the day off with a Perfect Plants session at the meadow, where we will discover what things plants need to survive and the process of pollination using a fun demonstration. We’ll learn all about the parts of a plant with an interactive activity before searching for examples in our beautiful flower garden. You’ll get to put your science brains in gear as we survey the plants and flowers we find, making a note of which insects prefer visiting different coloured flowers and wondering why that might be. 

After a short break we’ll jump straight into a Magical Minibeasts session where we’ll take our magnifying glasses and sweep nets to see who we can find hiding in the variety of habitats we have on site. You could rummage in our compost heaps to catch a millipede and try to count its many legs, you could inspect a grasshopper as you watch it leap from leaf to leaf, or perhaps lift a log or two to find some slimy slugs and woodlice. Depending on the age of the children attending, we might also read a minibeast themed storybook to get their imaginations running wild! 

Next up it’ll be time for lunch. Tuck in to your packed lunches in our covered outdoor teaching shelter and take some time to explore Camp Wild or Oak Lodge Garden. When everyone’s feeling reenergised, we’ll get ready for our final session of the day.  

Our pond sessions are nothing but excitement as we find a whole host of fascinating creatures that live beyond the surface. We’ll learn all about what features make them well adapted to living underwater and get a better understanding of their lifecycles and food chains. There is a big emphasis on respect for nature and the environment throughout the day which helps children to understand how to look after the delicate creatures we find. We might get lucky and find a dragonfly larva, water scorpion or even a newt! Our knowledgeable tutors will teach your group how to identify different species and we will look at the creatures we find on the big screen using a magnifier. 

To wrap the day up, we will return to the teaching shelter to summarise the fun we’ve had and solidify everything we’ve learned. Your coach or mini buses will collect you from the reserve and everyone will go home full of exciting stories about the great outdoors.  

If you’re interested in booking a visit to one of our sites, please find more information here. We have limited capacity so book early to ensure you get the chance to discover the wild world around you with Kent Wildlife Trust.