Raising a New Generation of
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A Kiwi Keeper is a guardian of the natural world. They seek a relationship of reciprocity with Nature.
We asked some of our Kiwi Keepers in Aotearoa what they think about the programme.
“The children very much enjoy the programme. They are eager to check the class timetable to see if we are doing Kiwi Keepers that day. It's an amazing programme and I feel incredibly lucky to be offering it to them.”
“I liked the microplastic game about the whale and the Krill”
“We get to learn new animals and protect the forests”
“Kiwi Keepers is fun and good”
“Kiwi Keepers is amazing, we learn about animals”
“Kiwi Keepers are my best thing to do at school”
“So grateful for this programme as it has really sparked a huge new passion for our son around the New Zealand bush, native species and the protection of our beautiful Whenua.”
“We can keep the animals that are endangered healthy”
“Kiwi Keepers are on the rescue!”
“My favourite is learning about the bats and snails”
“I've learned to protect the animals”
“It's amazing that we do Kiwi Keepers, I love animals”
“I love being a Kiwi Keeper. Healthy soil, healthy everything!”
Take a look below to see what some of our Kiwi Keepers are getting up to in Aotearoa.
We surveyed the educators who taught the Kiwi Keepers programme pilot.
Be part of this evidence-based natural science programme for children aged 5-7 years.
From ecology to earth science to individual species to wellbeing, the lessons draw on the natural sciences and Kaitiakitanga.
The 10-week programme includes the 30-lesson syllabus with a photo ID card and safety lanyard for each student and educator.
The lessons utilise behavioural science, storytelling, play and exploration to educate, inform and empower students.
The Kiwi Keepers syllabus aligns with New Zealand Curriculum strands, such as Nature of Science and Living World.
The lessons include supplementary materials and are ready-to-teach requiring very little to no preparation.
We're accepting applications from educators to join the Kiwi Keepers programme in Aotearoa.
Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions about the Kiwi Keepers programme.
No. If we accept your school into the programme it won't cost you anything to run aside from maybe a few consumables for building weta homes etc but these will often be donated by local stores.
Yes, absolutely. You have no obligations even if your application is accepted. Once the programme has started however, there are a few research related obligations but still you can pull out at any time.
Kiwi Keepers is run by the Overshoot Behaviour Lab of the Merz Institute, an international, interdisciplinary research institute that works on existential threats. The primary threat they work on is called Anthropogenic Ecological Overshoot. Overshoot is defined as the human consumption of natural resources at rates faster than they can be replenished, and entropic waste production in excess of the Earth's assimilative and processing capacity (Merz et al., 2023). The research is to better understand how to influence behaviour, including identity.
Yes, you can. Just remember to select the "Homeschooler" option on the application form.
You can email us at support@kiwikeepers.org for replacement ID cards or lanyards.
The programme consists of thirty 1-hour lessons. We ask educators to try and run them at around 2-3 lessons per week.
Yes, we have consent forms that need to be send to parents/guardians. This can be done physically or via student management systems like Hero.