• Crocodile River Reserve

    School Programme

CRR Environmental Education School Programme

“If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it”

-David Sobel

The Wild Crew

Every month, young explorers join the Wild Crew for hands-on adventures in nature!

These events are designed to spark curiosity, build environmental awareness, and connect children with the wonders of the natural world—one fun, interactive outing at a time.

From wetlands and wildlife to geology and culture, there’s something new to discover each month in the Crocodile River Reserve.

Each session is led by qualified environmental educators and passionate volunteers who guide and inspire the children through age-appropriate, curriculum-linked activities.

The Crocodile River Reserve (CRR)

The Crocodile River Reserve is an important natural environment that lies in the biodiversity rich grassland biome. It conserves threatened ecosystems; the critically endangered Egoli Granite Grassland.

The CRR was proclaimed and declared a protected area in 2019 under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003 (NEM: PAA).

The CRR falls within the UNESCO Magaliesberg Biosphere and is a buffer to the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site.

School Programmes We Offer in the CRR

The Primary School Programmes teach children about nature in a fun and interactive way, helping to grow their awareness of all the incredible natural phenomena around them.

The High School Programme encourages the learners to take an interest in nature and teaches them to recognise the vital role the environment plays in the survival of our and all other species through interaction with nature itself. Seeing is believing.

Our in-house and CRR venue school programs also cater for Scouts, Girl Guides, Eco and Nature Clubs, Honorary Rangers and other special groups.

Sponsor the Wild Crew

Inspire a Love for Nature That Lasts a Lifetime

The Crocodile River Reserve School Programme has been reaching children across our communities for years—offering them a chance to connect with nature in a deep and lasting way. In 2025, we’re taking that mission even further with a fresh new identity: The Wild Crew.

Our vision is simple yet powerful:

More children. More access. More impact.

Thanks to generous sponsors, many children who would never have had the opportunity to explore our natural world have been able to attend our events. But the need continues to grow—and with your help, we can reach even more young minds in 2025.

Here’s what’s new:

  • The Wild Crew gives the programme a fun, modern identity that all age groups can connect with.

  • Monthly events will replace the previous quarterly schedule, ensuring regular exposure to nature throughout the year.

  • Separate age groups at events allow educators to tailor content and interaction.

  • New learning tools like microscopes and specimen boxes, generously provided by the GSA, enhance the experience.

  • All sessions are curriculum-based, and every child receives a snack pack and a Wild Crew file to collect event stickers.

  • At year-end, each child earns a certificate of participation—a proud reminder of their journey with nature.

We are also introducing two relaxed school holiday programmes, focused on play and appreciation rather than curriculum—perfect for nurturing a lifelong love of the outdoors.

The cost to sponsor one child is just R90 per event, with a full-year commitment of 10 events (R900 total). We aim to fill a 15-seat taxi each month with children from under-resourced areas and give them a consistent, immersive experience throughout the year.

You can help us do that.

Your support will cover not only the event itself but also transport and resources to make every experience memorable and meaningful.

🌱 Sponsoring a child means giving them a deeper understanding of nature, their place in it, and why it’s worth protecting.

Let’s grow a generation that understands and values the environment—one child, one adventure at a time.

Email Us About Sponsoring

What does the CRR environmental education school programme include?

Field outing in the CRR:

  • Qualified Facilitator/s
  • Conservation Fee
  • Educational Activities, including a nature walk
  • Resources for the activities where applicable

Excludes:

  • Transportation

In-house at a school:

  • Qualified Facilitator/s
  • Conservation Fee
  • Educational Activities
  • Resources for the activities where applicable

Note:

The in-house school programme timetable can be tailored to the needs of the School.

Want to Chat to our Environmental Educationists?

If you would like one of our environmental educationists to contact you, or to make a booking, please email us on schools@crocodileriverreserve.co.za.

Be sure to mention if the School is a Primary or a High School.

Contact Us To Book Download our Brochure
All 18 /Amphibians 1 /Articles 0 /Birds 3 /Cycling 0 /Education 1 /Events 0 /Fire Management 0 /General 0 /Grasses 2 /Invaders 0 /Mammals 2 /Plants 2 /Reptiles 2 /Spiders, Scorpions & Insects 1 /Talks 0 /The Wild Crew 0 /Trees & Shrubs 4 /Walks 0
Blesbuck

Blesbuck

The blesbok or blesbuck has a distinctive white face and forehead which inspired the name, because bles is the Afrikaans word for a blaze such as one might see on the forehead of a horse.
March 15, 2020/by admin
Lannea Edulis

Lannea Edulis

Lannea edulis has shiny green leaves that are hairy when young and leathery when matured, with creamy white flowers from August to October. It bears bright red ovoid berries from October to December that become purplish black when they become ripe, which have a juicy and pleasantly sour flavour and are eaten by mice, birds and humans.
February 23, 2021/by admin
Pachycarpus Schinzianus

Pachycarpus Schinzianus

Pachycarpus schinzianus is also known as Creamcup or Bitterwortel, and is a rough-textured, erect perennial which grows between 0.3 and 0.6 m tall. Every spring it resprouts from an underground rootstock.
January 8, 2020/by admin
Black-Crowned Tchagra by Albert Froneman

Black-Crowned Tchagra

This bird of the Crocodile River Reserve tends to favour the northern mountain bushveld. The black forehead and crown differentiate this Tchagra from other Tchagras. It is also a larger, bolder bird and is more conspicuous in its behaviour.
January 7, 2020/by admin
Tree Walk in the Crocodile River Reserve

A Successful Tree Walk in March 2021

The Tree Walk held in the Crocodile River Reserve offered an insightful and easy to understand introduction to the day, starting with the structure of leaves and how to use this to identify a tree. What followed was a walk through the beautiful veld of the Reserve during which we identified a variety of trees - such as the fascinating underground tree Lannae Aedulis, the Diospyros Lycioides (Blue Bush), the common but beautiful Acacia Karroo (Sweet Thorn) and the Protea Caffra Trees but to name a few.
March 24, 2021/by admin

Our first post-lockdown scorpion walk

After months in lock-down, it was a joy to get back outdoors and into nature, as our creepy crawly expert, Jonathan Leeming, shared fascinating facts about why all arachnids should be treated with respect rather than fear.
October 12, 2020/by admin
African Finfoot by Eric Stockenstroom

African Finfoot

The African Finfoot or Watertrapper, (Podica senegalensis) is a very rare and vulnerable bird species.  The Afrikaans name for the African Finfoot is "Watertrapper".
The African Finfoot is about the size and shape of a large cormorant. 
January 7, 2020/by admin
Bullfrog in Laezonia

Giant Bullfrog

The Giant African Bullfrog is among the largest frogs, with males weighing up to 1.4 kg. It is an insatiable carnivore, eating insects, small rodents, reptiles, small birds, and other amphibians.
February 1, 2020/by admin
Buffalo Thorn Tree

Buffalo Thorn Tree

The Buffalo Thorn Tree is widely used for magical and medicinal purposes because of the spines or thorns, which are paired; One is hooked, and the other is straight. According to Nguni legend, the thorns of the Ziziphus tell us something about ourselves - that we must look ahead to the future (straight thorns) but we must never forget where we have come from (hooked thorns).
February 23, 2021/by admin
Large Sourplum

Large Sourplum

The ripe fruits of the Ximenia Caffra or Sourplum are eaten by birds such as barbets, bulbuls and starlings and mammals such as giraffe, impala, kudu, grey duiker, steenbok, bushbuck and eland enjoy eating it's leaves. The larvae of a number of butterflies feed on the leaves, some examples being the Bush Scarlet butterfly, Natal and Silvery bar, Bowker's and Saffron sapphire and the Brown playboy.
February 24, 2021/by admin
A field of bristle-leaved red top grass, also called Melinis Nerviglumis

Bristle-Leaved Red Top Grass

It is easy to confuse the Bristle Leaved Red Top grass with the Natal Red Top if not for one thing: the Natal Red Top grows in disturbed soil (a pioneer), while the Bristle-leaved red top is an indicator of undisturbed veld.
November 6, 2019/by admin

School Holiday Programme 2024 Photo Gallery

In total we had 52 attending the CRR 2024 School Holiday Programme over the four days in July 2024.

We hope that all the children who attended have happy memories of the time they spent with us in the CRR and have taken away with them a deeper understanding of the natural world, and the importance of caring for it. It was an absolute privilege to have each and every one of them here, and we hope we get the opportunity to see them again at another one of our School Programme initiatives. It would be impossible to
convey to those reading this post everything the children experienced and did, so please take the time to look through the diary of photos. A picture can truly speak a thousand words.
July 20, 2024/by admin
Chacma Baboon from Wikimedia by Charles J Sharp

Chacma Baboon

Baboons are omnivorous with the bulk of their diet including fruit, seeds, insects, bulbs and any small poor helpless bird or mammal that they can catch.
January 8, 2020/by admin
Themeda Triandra

Themeda Triandra Grass

One of the species regarded as the most valuable grass in sourveld is Themeda triandra. Also known as Red Grass, it grows abundantly when the veld is in good condition.
December 18, 2019/by admin
Crinum Bulbispernum

Crinum Bulbispernum

The Crinum lily is a large bulbous plant up to 1m high, which produces attractive grey green gracefully arching leaves during the summer months, and is often seen in the Crocodile River Reserve.
January 8, 2020/by admin
Handling Tortoises

Handling Tortoises

Tortoises store water in a cloacal bursa or sack in the rear of the body for use when required. They will also excrete this water supply as a defence against predators [or humans!] and to dampen dry soil when digging holes in which to lay eggs. If you pick up a tortoise trying to survive in very dry conditions it may excrete its valuable water supply, resulting in the eventual death of the animal.
February 9, 2020/by admin
Black-Collared Barbet by Bernard DUPONT

Black-Collared Barbet

The Black-Collared Barbet or Lybius Torquatus is also known as the Rooikophoutkapper and is one of the most common barbets in Africa, occurring from the DRC to Kenya and southern Africa.
January 7, 2020/by admin
Brown House Snake

Brown House Snake

The Brown House Snake, is one of the most common and most useful snakes in South Africa. It is attracted to human dwellings where it feeds on rats, mice and lizards. They are not venomous and are completely harmless to humans. House snakes are powerful constrictors which rely on their muscle power to constrict prey.
March 15, 2020/by admin
css.php