What a rainy week it has been. I won’t lie, it’s been harder to find the motivation sometimes to get outdoors and into nature with the kids, but I’ve learnt from week 2 of the Wildlife Trust’s #30dayswild challenge that you really don’t need to do anything major or organise anything crazy, just a wander around the garden or a splash in some puddles for five minutes is enough to raise the mood, get some fresh air and feel a bit more connected with the outside world. Rain or shine 🙂
This week we did a mixture of things – some at home, some out and about, and we enjoyed nature that was very, very big (trees) and nature that was very, very small (bees and bugs).
After the success of planting our wildflower seeds that came with our #30DaysWild pack, we went to the garden centre to buy some more bee-friendly plants and seeds, and had a marathon plantathon in our patio. The beauty of this activity is you are helping wildlife as well as getting kids into the outdoors and enjoying learning about nature. Find out what bee-friendly flowers we planted in the link above.
A visit to the British Wildlife Centre
The British Wildlife Centre is close to me but we’d never been so this was a good opportunity to visit to see what it was all about. Verdict? A great day out for all the family. If you want to earn a ‘good parent’ badge, this is a good place to go as it’s educational as well as being really good fun for all ages. We saw British Wildlife you generally never get to see out in the wild like otters and badgers. The red squirrels were feeling a bit shy when we visited but the foxes and owls were quite happy to be seen out and about.
Eggbox scavenger hunt in Staffhurst Woods
Defying the rain we headed under the canopy to the Surrey Wildlife Trust’s Staffhurst Woods. This is a lovely spot for a walk. In summer (or when it’s dry anyway) there trail walk is even suitable for pushchairs. We didn’t walk too far as our eyes were kept peeled to the ground for beetles, bugs and butterflies.
The Wildlife Trusts have some good activity sheets to print out and follow with kids. Great if you are feeling a bit uninspired. We took our little legs to explore our local street tree. We climbed it, examined it, hugged it and drew it. Then used all our clues to work out just exactly what tree it was.
So simple, so why have I never read to my kids outdoors? It makes such a routine task much more enjoyable. I could have sat out all day reading with my son. Bonus was we actually had some sunny weather too – hooray! Find out what nature books we read in the link above.
Another woodland trip. What is it about kids and their obsession with bugs and beetles? We had great fun turning over logs and tree stumps and rifling through piles of wet leaves looking for critters. Taking some spotting sheets from The Wildlife Trusts turned this game into something a bit more interesting too as we got to put names to faces. Hello bloody nosed beetle.
We went full circle and back to making our garden patch more wildlife-friendly with a homemade bee watering station. Find out how easy it is to make, and what you definitely should not do in the blog post link above!
Onto week 3!
2 comments
We’ve seen so many bees around our house recently. I think we might have to have a go at a bee watering station. Could maybe use some old takeaway containers – save them ending up in landfill. Thanks for the idea.
#AdventureCalling
Some great ideas, I shall have to find some of the Wildlife Trusts activity sheets as that sounds like a fab way to get the kids engaged. I like the idea of reading outside as well, like you say it’s so simple and I know the boys would love it. Thanks for sharing so many of your fab ideas #AdventureCalling