Living in harmony with nature

2 June 2026

Term 2, 2025–26 · Air Dragons · Ages 6-8

How did people live before supermarkets, before central heating, before everything came wrapped in plastic? For one term, the Air Dragons went looking for answers — not in textbooks, but through their hands. They made cheese, baked sourdough, fermented food, and wove dream catchers. Then they taught everything they had learned to the School community at a makers' market they ran themselves. Everything started with a question:

How can humans live in harmony with nature?

The project drew on the knowledge of ancient civilisations and Indigenous cultures — how they fed themselves, stored food through winter, and built daily life around the rhythms of the land rather than against them.

Real people

The children learned directly from the School community, with parents coming into the classroom to share traditional knowledge, including:

• Sourdough bread making, shared by a parent who demonstrated how to prepare and proof a natural starter and bake with it — a technique used long before commercial yeast existed

• Kombucha brewing, where families brought in live cultures and walked children through the fermentation process from sweet tea to a fizzy, probiotic drink

• Sauerkraut and vegetable fermentation, with parents demonstrating how salt and time can preserve food for months without refrigeration — a winter staple in many cultures around the world

Real places

The children visited two cultural institutions in Budapest that were directly connected to their D2R theme, both led by Carmelo:

• Museum of Ethnography— the children took part in a guided session called "A Story Sprung from Fire," which introduced Hungarian folk art through colour, symbols, and traditional storytelling. They explored how colours — particularly red — appear in folk patterns and everyday objects, and how art can carry cultural values across generations. Afterwards, they had time to explore exhibitions featuring objects from ancient civilisations and Indigenous cultures from around the world.

• Hungarian Heritage House — a guided tour of the exhibition gave the children a close look at the traditions of Hungarian folk art and craftsmanship, directly feeding into their in-class making work with natural materials and fermented foods.

Real products

By the end of the term, the children had made real things with their hands, including:

• Vegan cheese and sourdough bread, made using traditional techniques explored through the lens of how ancient and Indigenous communities prepared and preserved food

• Fermented foods, prepared for storage and health using methods that predate refrigeration

• Dream catchers and clay bead necklaces, created as part of exploring the material culture and traditions of Indigenous peoples

• Five interactive Expo stations, designed and run by the children themselves at The Wild & Warm Market.

The Wild & Warm Market

The term culminated in a community gathering - a makers' event organised and run entirely by the children. Families and guests were invited to purchase a passport and rotated through hands-on activities:

• Fermentation station — sourdough bread and sauerkraut on show, demonstrating how communities rely on their natural environment for food

• Handcraft station — visitors made necklaces using natural materials, connecting to the craft traditions explored in the term

• Herb station — herb teas prepared and shared, linked to plant knowledge and healthy living

• Weather station — wind, sun, and water forecasting activities using a portable structure co-designed with Loic, housing thermometers, a hygrometer, a wind vane, a rain gauge, and a Goethe barometer

• Quiz station — a playful way to share and test what the children had learned about history, folk traditions, and Indigenous cultures across the term

The gathering closed with live folk music and dancing, with a band playing traditional songs and inviting the whole community to join in. All funds raised went towards building a raised bed garden at school next term — the children's own next project.