On Thursday, November 10, the grade two learners of St Gregory Primary School eagerly set off on their class excursion to Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve in Howick.

Unfortunately, they left the sunshine in Estcourt and arrived to a rainy and cold Howick. However, this change of weather didn’t dampen the learners’ spirits one bit. Their guides, Busi and Jennifer, warmly welcomed the group and started their day off with fun songs.

Next, the children each made their own unique bird feeder with peanut butter and bird seeds. Afterwards, nobody could be sure of who enjoyed the peanut butter more – the birds or the class! Once the rain had cleared, the children were given big yoghurt tubs that they had to fill with various items found during a walk to the gum tree forest.

The class loved hunting for the various items whilst learning about nature and some of the animals found at the reserve.

With much excitement, the group came across a dazzle of zebras and saw a blesbok sprinting across the field. At the gum tree forest, the children learnt about camouflage and had great fun playing hide and seek amongst the trees. They didn’t want this game to end! The group returned to the craft area and the children each filled their own artist palette with the items they had collected from the walk. The palettes were filled with flowers, leaves, seeds, soil and dung.

After a fun-filled morning of adventure, the children climbed back on the bus with big smiles, happy hearts and very muddy shoes! They were all very excited to put up their bird feeders at home and show off their artist palettes to their families.