As it felt as though we had spent far too much time stuck in the house, and Britain was due a mini-heatwave, we decided to have a nature based project this week to get us out and about a bit more.
We pressed some flowers - and then laminated the results:
Monica (left) and Solomon's (right) pressed flowers
We created stick fairies, using materials found during a picnic by the lake:
And we did some wildlife spotting and learned about bees using some online resources. .
We also watched a couple of films set in the English countryside: Swallows and Amazons (1974), and Coot Club.
The children enjoyed both the films, and it even prompted Solomon to suggest the Coot Club sequel as the next project.
Next week's project: Arthur Ransome and the The Big Six
The kids were signed up to a home education workshop on living things and their habitats at Ferry Meadows, so we decided to make that the subject of this week's project.
Solomon taking the ground temperature in a quadrant at Ferry Meadows
The workshop involved looking at micro-habitats, meadow leaves, and bug hunting, and the children got to see a wide variety of insects.
We also went on our own bug and leaf hunt later in the week. We used the Autumn Leaf ID sheet from the Woodland Trust, and did some leaf rubbings/paintings.
Slug
Leaf Rubbings
Solomon and Monica were also asked to pick their own animal to explore in more detail. Solomon picked bats, and we explored some of the resources on the Bat Conservation Trust web site, including making a bat finger puppet.
Bat Finger Puppets
Monica picked rabbits, and watched a number of videos about how they lived underground:
This week's project also coincided with the BBC's Autumnwatch being available on the iPlayer, and that kept Solomon enthralled and Monica mildly interested.
We followed the Wildlife Trust's instructions on how to make your own birdfeeder, and hung them in the garden to entice the birds in for the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch. We watched the garden for an hour and saw a total of one measly pigeon!
Birdfeeder Fat Balls
The second week coincided with BBC's Winterwatch, which was a great way to introduce the children to the variety of wildlife that can be found around the country. We also went on a couple of nature walks in the local area, firstly around Woodston Ponds and then around Ferry Meadows using some of the Nene Park Trust's worksheets. The bird hide was a particularly big hit, especially after the measly returns from the big garden birdwatch.
Woodston Ponds
View from the bird hide at Ferry Meadows
Finally, we finished the project by making the RSPB's food chain mobile of an owl, a mouse, and a nut.
