As we move into the summer, numbers continue to increase at Wild in the Woods. During half term 78 children attended our bee themed sessions over two mornings. We built bee homes, planted bee friendly wildflowers, made candles from beeswax and cooked sweet treats with honey. There were also opportunities to learn more about bees in the tipi tent with books, create artwork, use microscopes to get up close to bees, investigate parts of a bee hive and identify bees through guides. The youngsters at Wild in the Woods love pond dipping – the mini pond we put in has attracted so much wildlife including two of the three species of newt we have in the UK. Sitting by the lake trying to catch fish is also really popular at the Woods – it’s a beautiful place for a spot of mindfulness especially in our busy lives. Children thoroughly enjoy building dens, making mud pies in the mud kitchen, watching the clouds go by from the hammocks and using the binoculars to spot birds from the bird hide we have weaved with hazel.
After making links with a local wildlife rescue centre we have been raising some ducklings which were orphans – these are nearly ready to be released onto the lake now. Thank you to Gelders for the use of your electricity to power the heat lamp whilst they were young and for the palettes we’ve built an enclosure for the ducklings from.
The new treehouse which was donated to us in memory of a baby girl who sadly passed away is also a big hit – we’ve put a telescope on the top deck to spot wildlife from – the heron is good for seeing from up here!
Some of the children planted an apple and pear tree next to the tipi tent as part of the ‘plant a tree for the Jubilee’ scheme, which (along with the beautiful cherry trees) will enable them to learn about how food gets to our plates.
We’re now creating an area to attract bugs ready for when we focus on minibeasts in July. Until then it’s all about trees and leaves in our regular groups. Some of the things we will be doing is cooking with nettles, measuring how much carbon a tree holds on site and making charcoal on the fire.
Over the next few weeks we are opening a group for teenagers to run alongside our primary school age group which runs at the weekend.
Book your places at https://bookwhen.com/wildinthewoods!
