Endangered species and their habitats are important subjects for many pupils

Eco Fish Workshop – Key Stages 1 – 4

Plastic is a part of our daily lives, whether it be a bottle, a straw, or plastic bag, it makes up a large part of the materials we regularly use.
When carelessly discarded plastic reaches our seas, it poses a threat to the animals that live there and depend on the oceans for food. To a dolphin, a floating plastic bag looks like a jellyfish and small pieces of floating plastic look like fish to seabirds. Drifting nets entangle birds, fish and mammals, making it difficult to move or eat. As our consumption of plastic mounts, so too does the danger to marine life.
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After exploring the issues through an interactive presentation on the subject of marine litter and looking at single use plastic and their alternatives. Each pupil will then be invited to decorate a cork fish with colourful recycled scales they have made to bring awareness to the problem of plastic in our oceans. This highlights how we can all play a part in supporting a thriving ocean ecosystem. The fish create eye-catching artworks which can be taken home or displayed in school to spread awareness about this important issue.
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This workshop is also available as an online option. Please get in touch for further details.
In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:
  • Eco Schools Awards
  • Marine Litter
  • Renewable Materials
  • Science / Eco Week
  • Off-timetable Days
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Life Processes and living things
  • Endangered Animals
  • Animals and Us
  • Habitats
  • Nature
  • Diversity
  • Food Chains
  • Identifying Animals
  • Local Environments
  • Citizenship

This workshop lasts from 45 minutes to an hour with up to 30 pupils in each class. 

Happy Habitats Butterfly and Bug Seed Book – Key Stages 1 – 4

This activity looks at the important role of how gardening and planing with wildlife in mind, bugs and bees are allowed to flourish. After exploring ideas around great garden habitats for insects and wildlife, participants make their own recycled booklet and use range of nature themed rubber stamps to decorate it, complete with wild meadow flower seeds inside to plant at home.
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This workshop is also available as an online option. Please get in touch for further details.

In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:

  • Eco Schools Awards
  • Renewable Materials
  • Science / Eco Week
  • Off-timetable Days
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Life Processes and Living Things
  • Endangered Animals
  • Animals and Us
  • Flowering plants
  • Habitats
  • Nature
  • Diversity
  • Food Chains
  • Identifying Animals
  • Local Environments
  • Citizenship

This workshop lasts from 45 minutes to an hour with up to 35 pupils in each class. 

Bug Hotel Workshop – Key Stage 1 – 4

Since the 1950’s the UK’s wildlife has been in steady decline. Many factors have contributed to habitat loss, including the removal of hedgerows, a warming climate and the widespread use of pesticides, all of which have resulted in the reduction of many species including butterflies, bees and birds. These declines are regarded as ‘environmental indicators’.

In this session we will explore the reasons why our indigenous wildlife is declining and what we can do about it. The workshop includes making a ‘safe haven’ for all kinds of creatures by producing a ‘Bug Hotel’ to help improve and encourage wildlife in school grounds and local communities.

The whole class will take part in making a ‘Bug Hotel’ by foraging for natural materials and placing what they have found alongside bamboo canes inside wooden structures. Among other beneficial insects solitary bees (which are safe with children) will use the canes to lay their eggs and seal up the hole using mud or leaf litter. These ‘Bug Hotels’ are a great addition to school grounds or wildlife gardens.

This workshop is also available as an online option. Please get in touch for further details.

In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:

  • Eco Schools Awards
  • Science / Eco Week
  • Off-timetable Days
  • Mini Beasts
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Life Processes and Living Things
  • Endangered Animals
  • Animals and Us
  • Habitats
  • Sustainability
  • Pollution
  • Nature
  • Diversity
  • Food Chains
  • Identifying Animals
  • Local Environments
  • Citizenship

This workshops lasts 60 minutes with up to 35 pupils in each class. 

Bug Hotel Workshop – Early Years / Key Stage 1 – 4

Insects pollinate our fruit, flowers and vegetables while playing an essential role in the food chain as the main food source for many amphibians, birds, and mammals.

Our interactive presentation visits the earth’s oceans and rainforests and on our journey we learn about the unique plants and animals found there. We then focus on insect habitats in the UK and identify the wildlife found nearby, in gardens or school grounds.

We construct a ‘Bug Hotel’ to provide a safe haven for all manner of small creatures including bumble bees, ladybirds, butterflies and moth species. This space allows them to hibernate during the winter until springtime.

Pupils will be asked to find and place a variety of natural materials into the ‘Bug Hotel’ to make it cosy for its guests! We end the workshop by asking the children to help find a suitable site for it. Building a ‘Bug Hotel’ will help children of all ages learn about the natural world around them and the structure will contribute to your school’s ecosystem.

This workshop is also available as an online option. Please get in touch for further details.

In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:

  • Eco Schools Awards
  • Science / Eco Week
  • Off-timetable Days
  • Mini Beasts
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Life Processes and Living Things
  • Endangered Animals
  • Animals and Us
  • Habitats
  • Sustainability
  • Pollution
  • Nature
  • Diversity
  • Food Chains
  • Identifying Animals
  • Local Environments
  • Citizenship

This workshop lasts from 45 minutes to an hour with up to 35 pupils in each class. 

Rainforest Workshop – Key Stages 1 – 4

The workshop starts by listening to the sounds of the rainforest.  We quickly discover that rainforests are one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. They contain two-thirds of all the world’s plant and wildlife species. For example a single hectare of tropical rainforest may have as many as 200 species of trees.  Large areas of rainforest have been cleared to make way for cattle farming and soya bean production. The removal of commercially valuable hardwoods such as teak and mahogany have accounted for most of the lost species.

To help us learn about the rainforest in more detail, we use an engaging presentation with colourful pictures, maps and video of the plants and animals that make the rainforests so diverse. We also talk about the different uses of wood including paper manufacturing.

As a way of engaging with the subject pupils are invited to make a unique up-cycled notebook from recycled paper and old maps, which is environmentally sound and aesthetically pleasing. This raises awareness around recycling, re-using materials and helping protect the world’s forests.

This workshop is also available as an online option. Please get in touch for further details.

In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:

  • Science / Eco Week
  • Rainforests
  • Life Processes and Living Things
  • Deforestation
  • Endangered Animals
  • Habitat
  • Animals and Us
  • Diversity
  • Climate
  • Sustainability
  • Pollution
  • Population
  • Identifying Animals
  • Citizenship
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Off-timetable Days

This workshops lasts 45 minutes to an hour, with up to 35 pupils in each class. 

Tree Planting Workshop – Key Stages 2 – 4

Tree Planting Workshop

Fight climate change and make homes for wildlife in one session.

Trees play a huge role in storing carbon from the atmosphere. This is vital in the fight against climate change. We need to increase tree cover in the UK to meet targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In this workshop, pupils will learn about the environmental benefits of planting trees. By returning trees to the landscape we improve our air quality and habitats for wildlife, with birds and insects becoming abundant as nature takes hold. After discovering more about the incredible power of trees to help improve our environment, pupils will be given the exciting opportunity to plant a tree for the benefit of wildlife and future generations.

If your school has limited space, a hedgerow can be planted instead of trees to create a wildlife corridor. If you don’t have enough space to grow any trees or hedgerow, each pupil can make create an up-cycled acorn vase to grow in the classroom or at home. The oakling, a young oak tree, can thrive and be observed for up to one year in the vase, receiving essential nutrients from the acorn. Once matured, the oakling can be replanted outside and the vase reused for a new acorn.

In this workshop we explore a number of curriculum aligned topics and themes:

  • Habitats
  • Nature
  • Diversity
  • Food Chains
  • Climate Change
  • Endangered Animals
  • Animals and Us
  • Life Processes and Living Things

  • Identifying Animals
  • Local Environments
  • PSHE
  • Eco Schools Awards
  • STEM
  • Citizenship
  • Science / Eco Week
  • Off-timetable Days

This workshop lasts from 45 minutes to an hour with up to 30 pupils in each class. 

Say ‘No’ To Plastic Bags Workshop – Key Stages 1 – 4

Plastic has become a part of our daily lives and everywhere you look you can probably see plastic of some sort. It’s a useful material but becomes a serious problem if it ends up in our natural environment, especially in our oceans, coastlines and marine biodiversity.

Plastic bags are the third most common type of litter found in rivers and on beaches in Europe. Used for just a few minutes they last for decades in the marine environment. Millions of mammals, birds, turtles and fish die every year as a result of entanglement or ingestion of man-made litter. This workshop raises awareness on how to avoid unnecessary waste.

Decorating a reusable cotton bag with colourful environmental designs acts as a reminder and helps reduce the amount of plastic we consume. Simultaneously, it encourages pupils to make achievable changes in their lives. Cotton bags and templates are provided to ensure that every pupil has a reusable mini shopping bag to take home and use.

This workshop is also available as an online option. Please get in touch for further details.

In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:

  • Eco Schools Awards
  • Science / Eco Week
  • Off-timetable Days
  • Mini Beasts
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Life Processes and Living Things
  • Rivers and Oceans
  • Endangered Animals
  • Habitat
  • Animals and Us
  • Reduce-Reuse-Recycle
  • Sustainability
  • Nature
  • Citizenship
  • Local Animals
  • Diversity
  • Food Chains
  • Identifying Animals
  • Citizenship

This workshops lasts 45 minutes to an hour with up to 35 pupils in each class.  

Natural Bird Feeder Workshop – Key Stages 1 – 4

Birds use a lot of energy to maintain a constant body temperature which means they are always on the look out for energy rich foods. During the spring and summer, birds eat insects which provide fat and protein. When winter comes, food sources like seeds are less abundant, and insects decrease in numbers.

The workshop will explore the reasons for our dwindling bird population in the UK and help pupils understand the ways that they can help. After looking closely at contrasting bird habitats from close to home and further afield, pupils will gain a greater understanding of what is needed for bird life to thrive. They will be given the materials to make a pine cone bird feeder which can be used at school or taken home, giving pupils a chance to observe the birds whilst providing another source of food.This practical workshop is enjoyed by both teachers and pupils through hands on making activities and working outside. The finished bird feeders enhance the environment they are placed in, encouraging biodiversity and enriching local habitats for bird life.

In this workshop we explore a number of curriculum aligned topics and themes:

  • Science / Eco Week
  • Local Environments and Animals
  • The Four Seasons
  • Animals and Us
  • Life Processes and Living Things
  • Endangered Animals
  • Habitats
  • Diversity
  • Food Chains
  • Sustainability
  • Citizenship
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Off-timetable Days

This workshops lasts 45 minutes to an hour, with up to 35 pupils in each class. 

  • “Working with Green Up Your Act has been a great experience. From the first point of contact Philip was enthusiastic about our school’s 'Go-Green' work and had great ideas to help make it a successful project. The whole school, children and teachers alike, loved the assembly and it left us full of enthusiasm and the children who made up-cycled items had a great time. The up-cyling workshops were accessible to all children and they are using what they made and really proud that they have recycled. We look forward to working with Green Up Your Act again in the future.”
                                                                                                                                                     
    Katherine Lamb Emmaville Primary School - Tyne & Wear
  • Thank you for the great workshops you did today.  The best thing about it was that the children were really engaged in the activity and gained hands-on experience from the interactive workshops. It was particularly beneficial to the children as we made bug and bird houses for the school’s locality and at the end of the session, we placed the bug and bird houses around the school garden. It was important that the children took ownership of the location of the habitats, by making informed decisions as to the suitability. Each Eco session, throughout the school,  fitted in with the relevant year group topics and enabled me, as a teacher,  to put their learning into context through practical experience.
    Charlotte RodenSustainability Co-ordinator St Scholastica's Catholic Primary
  • In our School of conservation, we have been learning about our local area and recycling, and next term will be looking more closely at minibeasts and their habitats, so this was a super introduction!  We enjoyed learning about different habitats and looking at lots of pictures and information. We went outside and collected leaves and twigs to make our very own bug barns.  We are going to place them in our playground and investigate if they attract any minibeasts!  Thank you Phillip for your interesting and fun workshop!
    Julie BremnerSunnyside Primary - Glasgow
  • Our Year Two class has been studying mini beasts and life cycles this term, so we were really delighted to have Phil Hunton with us for the day to share all his expert knowledge about biodiversity and to help us to build a specially designed butterfly cafe. We started the day in the classroom, learning more about butterflies and their habitats and Mr. Hunton answered lots of interesting questions. We then went outside and he showed us how to measure a perfect circle using string around a stake, soon we were weaving the walls of our cafe. We planted butterfly friendly seeds that we will enjoy looking after for the next few weeks. The whole day was really well and informative and also great fun. Everyone learnt something new and the cafe is a really lovely attractive addition to our school grounds. We hope it will increase the biodiversity of our local area and we are really looking forward to seeing how many butterflies visit our garden.
    Alison HadfieldBrighton and Hove High School – Butterfly CafeGreat activity
  • It was great to have Philip in our school. The reception children really enjoyed becoming "Habitat Heroes" and the recycling workshops were a hit with the year 4 and 5 . Philip was also happy to discuss how we could move our school eco-club forward. Thanks for travelling all the way to our school
    Ben WilsonSparhawk Infant School - Norwich
  • "A huge ‘thank you’ to Philip Hunton (Green Up Your Act) for providing each and every class in our school with an entertaining and educational workshop for our Eco Day. In keeping with our theme of ‘Recycling Waste‘ the younger children enjoyed the ‘Green Shoots’ activity, finding out about the importance of composting and planting a seed in their own recycled pot. The older pupils had a great time learning all about ‘Upcycling’ and produced a recycled notebook to take home. We will certainly be inviting Philip back in the near future."
    Sue QuinnThe Granville Inderpendedt School Sevenoaks
Green up your Act
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