Nature Tots

On the first Tuesday of each month they are holding a ‘Nature Tots’ session at Fermyn Woods near Brigstock. It is a group for preschoolers run by one of the parks rangers. We went along last week.

First the children were given a plastic beaker and a stick that was to be their stirring stick. They were shown various plants that are highly scented and told to pick a leaf from each. They scrunched up the leaves so they could smell the scent on their hands. The leaves were then popped into the cup. The ranger poured some water into the cup and the children stirred up they perfume. Afterwards, they were told to throw stand next to each other in a line and throw the perfume over their shoulder and back to nature.

Next they walked along to the pond. The ranger had taken some water full of tiny tadpoles and put in into a container so the children could get a close look without the risk of falling into the pond!

As the group walked further through the park they were shown ant nests, badgers sets, holes where rabbits had been digging, the web of a funnel spider and then a container full of little insects from the other pond. My memory is terrible, I’ve completely forgotten what the little bugs were called.

By this time the children were getting quite tired. The Ranger asked the children to sit down on the grass, close their eyes and listen to see what sounds they could hear. It was difficult to hear the sounds from nature with such a big group of toddlers!

As the children walked back to the café they were given a small bookmarker shaped card that had double sided sticky tape attached to it. They were to find little things that interest them and stick it to the bookmark. I thought this was a fab idea. In other groups the children have been given glue and paper to make a nature picture but this idea worked really well. It was also an ideal size for little hands to hold.

At the end of session the children were given a lovely homemade shortbread biscuit in the shape of a person and a glass of juice.

I thought the Nature Tots session was really good and we’ll definitely attend again. If anyone else is interested then the cost is £3 per child. You need to contact the park in advance to reserve a place.

This blog post is being entered into the Tots100 Blog Hop in the hope that the children and I can become reviewers for Worlds Apart Toys.