Educational farm, what is it and what to do on your visit

Learning about the cycles of nature, animal care and cultivation of agricultural products is now possible within more than 2000 square meters of the educational farm inside the new Forte Village Nature Park.

More and more families are choosing to visit an educational farm as a favorite destination for late-summer outings and picnics, and it’s no surprise: in an age where frenzy seems to be a constant element in everyday life, where days fills with duties, screens, notifications and the intensive use of technology distancing people from the authentic natural cycles, the choice of immersing yourself in a rural environment becomes an opportunity for recreation yet an educational way of enriching and nourishing minds, hearts and sensibilities of both adults and children.

Visiting an educational farm, like the one inside the new Forte Village Nature Park, means rediscovering the value of direct touch with animals, observing their behavior with care and respect, learning to recognize their needs and habits, and allowing yourself to enjoy the intense and genuine scents of freshly plowed earth and flowers, and the melodious song of the birds that populate these vegetable gardens and orchards.

In this perspective, learning doesn’t feel just like an intangible concept, related only to books and classrooms, but turns into a real, practical and engaging activity: every gesture, like touching the earth and caring for an animal, every small discovery like the birth of a chick or picking a ripe vegetable, baking fresh bread and preparing butter from raw milk, stimulates curiosity, creativity, empathy, a deep sense of responsibility toward the environment around us.

Children learn to observe, ask questions, try their own hands, and respect the natural cycles, while adults rediscover the wonder of living in the present, distancing themselves for a few hours from the chores of everyday life. A visit to an educational farm for children therefore represents a complete multisensory experience, where sight, hearing, touch, smell, even taste get involved in a natural educational journey, for a long lasting impression of shared memories for the whole family.

What’s the meaning of educational farm?

An educational farm is an area arranged to provide structured educational experiences, primarily for children, youth and families, aiming at promoting practical knowledge, skill development and increased environmental awareness. These spaces highlight country life as a recreational activity, but become also veritable open-air classrooms where every aspect of farming and animal management turns into an opportunity for active and shared learning.

These activities are designed to combine theory and practice, enabling visitors to directly experience several stages of country life, like sowing seeds, growing plants, harvesting fruit and daily animal care. In addition to this, many educational farms even offer creative workshops, sensory experiences and dedicated cooking classes, integrating creativity skills and practical knowledge into a unique educational experience.

But not only animals, as these facilities usually include also vegetable gardens, orchards, stables, chicken coops, greenhouses, apiaries, nature trails and areas for recreational activities, all designed to foster learning through hands-on experience. Such initiatives are organized according to clear educational goals: developing children’s cognitive and relational skills, promoting responsible and sustainable behavior toward the environment, raising awareness of animal and nature care and fostering the understanding of biological and agricultural processes.

What’s possible to do in an educational farm?

There are many activities to experience on an educational farm, designed to actively engage children and adults, fostering curiosity, observation and a deep sense of responsibility. The most popular activities for children on educational farms include:

Animal care activities

Animals are the core of an educational farm. Caring for goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens, horses or cows means more than just feeding them; it’s about learning to observe them, respect them, taking care for them responsibly. Many farms involve hands-on workshops related to milk, egg or honey production too, showing children how some common products of our tables are made.

• Daily care: feeding and caring for cows, horses, goats, sheep, chickens and rabbits;
• Behavioral observation: understanding habits and needs of different species;
• Milk, egg, and honey workshops: milking, cheese-making, discovering the life cycle of farmyard animals;
• Horseback or pony rides: learn to ride and understand horse behavior;
• Close up to rare farm animals: donkeys, turkeys or ducks, with recognition and care activities.

Agricultural activities

After meeting with animals, agricultural activities provide an opportunity to experience the natural cycles of crops. Sowing, watering and harvesting fruits and vegetables teaches about the value of patience, hard work and seasonality.

• Vegetable gardening: from planting to harvesting;
• Field work: grape harvesting, olive picking and wheat threshing;
• Orchard care: recognize fruit trees and follow seasonal cycles;
• Harvesting aromatic herbs and flowers: learn their culinary and decorative uses;
• Educational gardening: hands-on activities with composting and natural fertilization.

Creative and manual workshops

Educational farms provide spaces where manual skills match with imagination. Transforming agricultural products into bread, jams or cheeses, or crafting objects with natural materials, allows children to try with their ingenuity and adults to rediscover ancient knowledge.

• Transformation of agricultural products: bread, jams, cheeses, honey;
• Artistic workshops with natural materials: painting with plant pigments, straw or wicker weaving;
• Sensory paths: discovering nature through all five senses;
• Building miniature educational gardens in pots or boxes;
• Crafting artisan products such as natural soaps or candles.

Nature-themed and exploration activities

Guided walks and trails allow children to explore local flora and fauna, understanding how the ecosystem surrounding the farm works following natural cycles.

• Trail walks: observing medicinal plants and herbs, flowers and wild animals;
• Orientation games: recognizing plants and animal tracks;
• Visiting apiaries: learning about bees and their key role in pollination;
• Birdwatching and insect observation: learning to distinguish species and behaviors;
• Collecting and studying seeds, fruits and leaves for scientific purposes.

Educational play areas

Educational farms combine learning and play with activities designed to stimulate fun, social skills, creativity and imagination in children and kids.

• Traditional group games: rediscovering old school community games outdoor;
• Storytelling: fables, tales and legends from the rural world;
• Theater and musical activities: workshops combining art, creativity and nature;
• Educational picnics: outdoor lunches with explanations of seasonality and nutrition;
• Educational treasure hunts: group tours about vegetable gardens, animals and workshops.

What’s the main goal of an educational farm?

Educational farms are places dedicated to spending a few hours having fun with loved ones, exploring together true open-air workshops designed to transform every activity into hands-on and multisensory learning opportunities. The primary goal of these spaces refers to providing practical and scientific knowledge about agricultural and natural life: plant cultivation cycles, daily animal care, understanding seasons and discovering biological processes that regulate the growth and reproduction of flora and fauna. Through firsthand experience, children and adults can learn concepts that would otherwise remain unclear, developing an authentic and conscious relationship with nature.

A secondary objective revolves around the development of social and emotional skills. The activities experienced as a community, the collaboration in caring for animals and harvesting fruit, as well as all the creative workshops and educational games, truly foster socialization, empathy and a sense of responsibility. Children learn respecting peers, sharing tools and spaces, understanding the relevance of caring for living beings different from themselves. As a matter of fact, even adults rediscover values like patience, careful observation and listening, enjoying an educational journey that engages all generations.

Educational farms also aim at promoting environmental awareness and sustainability. Through simple activities such as composting and reducing individual ecological footprint, responsible garden management, animal care and separate collection of natural materials, participants develop environment-friendly behaviors and a deeper understanding about natural cycles and biodiversity. This approach helps build more responsible citizens, feeling sensitive to environmental issues, in a context where direct touch with nature facilitates the learning of complicated ecological concepts in an intuitive and memorable way.

Last but not least, educational farms stimulate curiosity, creativity and critical thinking. Every activity, such as caring for an animal, processing agricultural products, taking part in art workshops or sensory experiences, is designed to raise questions, observations, reflections. Children learn to reason about cause and effect, solve practical problems, try firsthand with alternative solutions, to understand the importance of collaboration and planning. At the same time, they experience emotions such as wonder, surprise, satisfaction, strengthening their bond with nature and making learning an engaging and lasting journey.

Educational farm: animals and nature at the Forte Village Nature Park

Always committed to environmental protection and a tourism model that combines luxury and responsibility, Forte Village in Santa Margherita di Pula, acknowledged “Best Resort in the World” at the World Travel Awards for over twenty years in a row, recently introduced a new facility representing a milestone in its journey towards more sustainable hospitality.

This is the Nature Park, a large green space encompassing a wealth of both sardinian and exotic flora and fauna, along with a true complete educational farm, a space spanning over 2000 square meters divided into two areas. Inside, traditional sardinian farm animals like sheep, rams, primitive local goats and tibetan goats, for a deeper understanding of native breeds and local farming practices. Each animal, despite being born in captivity, comes from certified farms and receives regular care in a dedicated veterinary infirmary, a key aspect for the safety of all guests and the well-being of the animals themselves.

This project was conceived as a recreational space and above all as a living workshop where environmental education, knowledge and wonder intertwine. The educational animal farm is organized according to an experiential format that alternates moments of direct interaction with animals with a few guided activities, to make visitors curious, respectful and aware. Children, for example, can learn how animals feed, how to recognize their behaviors and the necessary daily care they need, while adults have the opportunity to rediscover the value of rural tradition and sustainable agricultural practices.

Alongside farm animals, the park devotes notable attention to plants as well. The synergistic garden, cultivated without using any chemicals, teaches visitors the value of biodiversity and the collaboration between plants. Aromatic herbs, typical local vegetables and medicinal flowers bloom here, becoming raw ingredients for cooking workshops, sensory experiences and educational sessions about health and well-being. At the core of this green area stands the Caretaker’s House (Casa del Custode), a place that embodies the project’s essence: it hosts workshops, cooking classes and themed meetings, and at nightfall it turns into a truly enchanting setting for dinners under the stars, in the silence of the mediterranean nature.

Access to the Nature Park is possible via guided tours lasting approximately one hour, twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 am). To enrich the experience, three custom kits were made available – Basic, Advanced, Pro – including useful gadgets for the tour, while younger guests can receive the Nature Park Passport, an illustrated booklet with games and stamps. Alternatively, you can participate without any kit for €15.

Reservations are required, groups are limited to ensure a more intimate and nature-friendly experience. For further information about the educational farm and the Forte Village Nature Park, or for booking your stay, please call to the number +390709218818 or send an email to holiday@fortevillage.com.

Do you want to visit a real educational farm and experience a sustainable holiday in a true natural paradise? Discover Forte Village Resort in Sardinia