Nature Adventure Club Walks
With Autumn apparently having arrived already in rather a wet fashion, Top Ender and Big Boy thought that they had seen an end to our Nature Club walks. It amuses me to see how little they remember of last year where they were taken out every weekend to burn off some energy on some rather long rambles! Anyway with a bit of wrapping up warm (and adding our lovely wellies to our list of things to take with us when we go out) and a bit of protection from surprise rain showers we have been off following the cards from the Nature Club looking around us for signs of the changing seasons. We went to one of Milton Keynes Park Trusts managed green spaces called Linford Wood.
Now Linford wood is a little famous in some circles because it houses the one and only ever built staircase that was designed by Chris Lowe when he was a student architect and before he became one half of The Pet Shop Boys. See famous.
Top Ender and Big Boy had a blast walking round the woods and completing the different activities on the cards (on the lanyard that in the photos is around BB's neck). The great thing about these cards and the Nature Club website is that because it is seasonal there is always something relevant to do. Daddy and I found the cards really interesting too because the challenges are suitable for a range of ages as we all had a go at tree rubbing and we all loved looking out for different animals in the woods and looking for signs that different animals lived there.
I think that the idea of the website is to get children understanding more about nature and spending time outside. Challenging them in a fun way to find things, to make things and to get down with nature is a great way of doing this and being able to have a leaderboard on the website of families who have completed the challenges and uploaded pictures (taken or drawn) is a great incentive for families to get outside.
Tops and BB loved completing the challenges and although I've been naughty and haven't uploaded the pictures of the completed challenges it didn't matter to them. It was getting out and exploring, looking at things that they have taken for granted as having always been there (like trees) and it has really opened my eyes to the magic that is nature too. If you want to join up with the challenges you can, by going to the Nature Adventure Club Sign up page.