There is a place in Sicily where for almost fifty years stories of animals and of land have been told. It is called Fattoria Jannarella, and it is one of only ten educational farms accredited by the Sicily Region — an official recognition, arrived with Decree no. 70 of April 10, 2014, which for the farm is a source of pride and for the families and schools that choose it is a guarantee of quality.
But numbers, alone, do not explain what really happens when a group of children crosses Jannarella's gate. What happens is that the classroom moves outdoors, that textbooks give way to touch, to the smell of freshly kneaded bread, to the gaze of a horse that allows itself to be cared for. It is an idea of education that arises, they say from the farm, “from the love for the land and for animals, from the desire to make them feel good and from the desire to share their stories with those who wish to listen to them”.
A simple method: first you tell, then you do
The heart of Jannarella's educational proposal lies in an idea as simple as it is effective: each workshop is divided into a theoretical part, made of storytelling and questions and answers, and a practical part, where children become protagonists. It is called learning by doing — learning by doing — and it is the common thread of all proposed activities.
The days for schools are organized with care: three rotating workshops, groups of a maximum of twenty children who alternate during the morning, and a break of about twenty minutes for a genuine breakfast, based on warm bread, oil, and homemade donut. Each day welcomes a maximum of sixty guests, a limit that guarantees each child an authentic, uncrowded experience.
Six workshops, six ways to discover the countryside
The range of activities offered by Jannarella well illustrates the farm's philosophy. There is Natural colors, designed for the youngest children of kindergarten, where vegetables, fruit, and spices become watercolors without chemical agents. There is the’Educational garden, open to children of all ages, where planting and caring also means learning responsibility and patience.
With From ancient grain to bread children knead with their own hands, count and weigh the ingredients, and discover the history of ancient grains through the ears. Natural soap, indicated from the second primary grade upwards, combines manual skills and environmental education, teaching the use of natural products against the pollution of seas and aquifers.
Direct contact with animals is not lacking: the Farm Tour accompanies children among stables and enclosures, with particular attention to respect and observation; the Grooming with the pony or horse teaches how to clean and care for the animal, building that empathetic trust that is at the base of every human-animal relationship.
An offer designed for schools
Fattoria Jannarella offers half-day packages, from 9:00 to 12:30: 10 euros per child for groups larger than thirty participants, 15 euros plus VAT for smaller groups, with facilitated conditions for public bodies. Upon confirmation of the reservation, as is customary for school trips, the subscription form is required, to be signed and sent via PEC by the School Principal.
Why choose an educational farm
In an era when children spend less and less time outdoors, experiences like Jannarella's offer something that no classroom lesson can replicate: real contact with the land, animals, and the rhythms of nature. It is not just a trip, but a small seed — that of sustainable agriculture gentle towards the environment, of a future in which, as they say from the farm, “we will no longer have to talk about saving species, because they will already be protected by all of us”.
