Five ideas to improve your children's awareness of the environment in BrittanyFun visits and ecological issues

Five ideas to improve your children's awareness of the environment in Brittany

How about using your holiday to encourage your children to look after the planet? Concerning issues such as protecting the oceans and animals, sustainable energy production, eating well, etc., here are five ideas for family outings which will titillate their ecological spirit through games and experiments.

1. Experiment with wind energy… by pedalling!

Centre EOL in Saint-Nazaire

Why do we need electricity? How does an offshore wind turbine work? In Saint-Nazaire, the Centre EOL answers your children’s questions about these modern windmills and this renewable marine energy. And the best way to properly understand is to take part! At this unique site in France, you can breathe on a wind turbine to start a video, you can pedal with all your strength to produce wind, you can measure your smartphone’s consumption in watts and you can even make a model of your own wind farm. After your visit, climb up to the terrace with 360° view of the Saint-Nazaire shipyards. This is where some XXL elements of the future and first French offshore wind farm will be made.

Centre EOL à Saint-Nazaire

2. Explore marine biodiversity close-up

Océanopolis and Espace 70.8 in Brest

Otters, seals, sharks, and also anemones and sea cucumbers are waiting to be discovered at Océanopolis in Brest, where your children will learn about the wealth, but also the fragility of marine biodiversity, particularly in Brittany. An entire world can be explored through the microscope or binocular magnifier in the Minilab dedicated to experiments. They’ll be blown away by observing everything that lives in a single drop of sea water! During the school holidays, animation pods will inform them about the secrets of seaweed, coral protection and plastic pollution…

Océanopolis

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From June 2020, don’t miss the “70.8” space in Ateliers des Capucins dedicated to the oceans. There are numerous fun and interactive activities to find out more about the blue planet.

3. Natural gardening and low-tech inspiration

Ecocentre du Trégor

In Radôme park, the Ecocentre du Trégor is a mine of ethical ideas to reproduce at home. Children and adults can stimulate their ecological spirit and their curiosity backed up with experiments. In the “Potager des harmonies”, a permaculture vegetable garden, you can pick up some good natural gardening practices. On the “Chemin des énergies”, you can work some odd machines inspired by low-tech. Like the “Waste Windmill” or the “Upside-down Snail” which makes you think about how you consume electricity… Fleeting structures and a bare-foot sensory walk offer a more poetical approach to ecology. Do your teens like riddles? Then take part in an escape game (from age 11), on the trail of a scientist and his ingenious invention: a source of green energy able to replace nuclear energy.

Ecocentre du Trégor

4. Respect wild and threatened animals

Parc de Branféré

This large domain is home to ancient trees, glades, waterfalls, islands and undergrowth, as well as the Nicolas Hulot school for Nature and Humankind! Parc de Branféré’s vocation is to educate children and adults to respect animals from all over the world. Here, you can see over 1,000 animals from every part of the globe living in semi-liberty, such as West African giraffes, red pandas, Indian rhinoceros, gibbons and other threatened species. Parc de Branféré is also home to 35 species that are part of a European conservation programme. Children aged 8-12 can get even closer to them as a “trainee keeper”. On the programme: cleaning the enclosures, preparing meals and giving out rations.

Parc de Branféré

Read Be an animal keeper for the day

5. Nurture your knowledge of fruit and vegetables

Légumes Project in Saint-Pol-de-Léon

What does an artichoke flower look like? Why is beetroot red? What does a cauliflower smell like? Sight, touch, smell… a sensory discovery is on the cards at Légumes Project, a living museum dedicated to fruits and vegetable, and to food in general, at Ferme de Kerguelen in Saint-Pol-de-Léon Here you can learn to differentiate the vegetable families, you can discover their nutritional values linked to their colour, you can plunge your hand into a box to guess what’s inside by touching… It’s not as easy as you think! In the middle of one of the largest vegetable-growing regions of France, the visit is also the opportunity to find out about growing aids, the sectors linked to vegetables, supply circuits, soil biodiversity and its importance. You can even take a walk through the organically-farmed plots to meet the farmer. Your children will undoubtedly have a lot of questions!