Classroom Lessons & Activites
Bring learning to life! These nature education lessons are excellent for classrooms, fairs, and events. Contact us with questions, to schedule a class or to sign up for one of our upcoming events.
Classroom Lessons
Our critters can come to your classroom! These lessons are a fantastic way to bring learning to life and add to any life-cycle, pollinator, science and nutrition units.
Classroom Activities
These are excellent additions to life science, animal, and insect units in school!
An In Depth Look
Big Buzz About Bees
Age Range: 4 to 10, parents love this too!
Big Buzz About Bees is an engaging experience that children love! Everyone gets a chance to see and touch all the parts of a working beehive and learn about the tools that it takes to be a beekeeper. We’ll talk about how bees collect pollen and nectar and contribute to many of the foods and products we love. We’ll also explore the many jobs that the different types of bees do inside and out of the hive. The class wraps up with taking a peek inside of a real working hive (it’s completely contained safely behind plexiglass) so we can see real worker bees caring for young larvae, making honey, and if we’re lucky, we may be able to spot the queen bee! And of course, we’ll taste the sweet rewards of beekeeping - honey harvested locally at Sager Family Farm!
Farm Fun - Chickens
Age Range: 4+
In this lesson, we’ll learn all about our little feathery farm friends: chickens! This is a fun way to learn about animal life cycles from egg to chicken. We’ll talk about how mama hens care for their eggs, how baby chickens develop inside the egg and hatch, all of the food and nutrients that a baby chick needs to grow into a big fluffy chicken, and of course all of the wonderful things that we get from chickens. We’ll even get to pet a live chicken - yup, that’s right. A real chicken right in your classroom!
CA Native Pollinators
Age Range: 6+
This lesson is all about the lovely little local creatures that pollinate our plants. In California alone, we have 1,600 different species of native bees! On top of that, we have flies, butterflies, birds, and even the wind to help us out. Throughout this lesson, we’ll focus on why pollination is important and we’ll brainstorm why each insect or animal might be best suited to its partner plants.
Chicken Hatching
Age Range: 5+
This is an amazing scientific project for kids of all ages, and best of all, this kit simplifies the whole process! This is a great hands-on project to learn anything from basic observation skills, data measurement, embryo development or even more complex systems such as nutrition and circulatory systems. Absolutely everything you need is included in this kit, even an easy to use incubator that automatically turns the eggs and clearly monitors temperature and humidity levels (not one of the low-grade ones that can be very troublesome). After your chicks hatch and you’ve enjoyed their company for up to a week, you return all of the equipment and even the little chickies who will be placed in loving homes.
This is an in-class activity kit that includes: hatching eggs, incubator, candling light, thermometer, hygrometer, brooder cage with bedding for chicks, heating element, chick feeder and waterer, chick food, instructions, & lesson ideas.
Seed Balls
Age Range: 8+
Making seed balls is a great way to learn about pollinators while helping them out in your own neighborhood! Depending on the age range, this can be a fun activity to tie into plant needs and life cycles, or even tie in mathematical and science concepts (examining the best diameter and number of seeds for optimal growth). Seeds are customizable, we usually go for CA natives for best results!
Native Bee Hotel
Age Range: 5+
Your class can host an attractive home for native, solitary bees. These gentle little bees are low-maintenance and perfect for a school setting. With this kit, you’ll receive cocoons for either Mason Bees or Leafcutter Bees depending on the time of year. These cocoons are ready to hatch, so your little pollinators will emerge in the next few days - your kids will love checking on them!
This is an in-class activity kit that includes: Native Bee Hotel, lake reeds and paper tubes for nesting, information about native bees and successful housing, mason bee cocoons ready to hatch, instructions, & fun facts.
*** Note: Your Bee Hotel will need to be placed near lots of blooming flowers to feed your native bees. We’re happy to help you assess if your location is suitable.
Lip Balm Workshop
Age Range: 8+
Learn to make your own lip balm with simple tools and all-natural ingredients! In this hands-on class, you'll get to make 5 tubes of lip balm using beeswax and coconut oil. Pick a flavoring from:
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Bubblegum
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Caramel
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Chocolate
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Coconut
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Gingerbread House
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Grapefruit
These make fantastic gifts, bring a friend if you want to swap flavors after class! (Each student will get to customize their scent, all 5 tubes of lip balm will be the same scent).
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Jasmine
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Lemon Grass
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Lavender
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Spearmint
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Vanilla
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Ylang Ylang
Honey Infusing
Age Range: 10+
Learn how to add even more flavor to your favorite honey! In this hands-on workshop you will see how simple it is to create flavored honeys using lemons, lavender, cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans and even fresh jalapeños! We’ll talk about how to guard against spoilage and what foods pair best with these tasty flavors - come hungry for a snack! We'll be sampling our creations!
Hive to Table
Honey Harvest
Age Range: 12+
How does honey get from the hive to your table? Come find out at this hands-on honey harvesting workshop! You'll get to help with each sweet and sticky step of the honey harvesting process, including:
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Learn how to tell when honey is ripe and ready to harvest.
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Uncap frames and spin them in a centrifugal extractor to remove honey from the comb.
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Jar and take home a bottle of local raw honey that you harvested!
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Learn what contributes to the colors & flavors of all-natural honey.
Wear clothes that you don't mind getting sticky! T-shirt, shorts and sandals are ok for this class, optionally bring a change of clothes in case you don't want your car to get sticky. There will be no contact with the hive or bees during this class.
