It’s National Children’s Gardening Week from 25th May to 2nd June, which coincides with half term. This is a great time to swap out screen time for green time. There are so many benefits of gardening with children as Squires Garden Centres highlights in this article.

Here are a few simple gardening ideas to try this National Children’s Gardening Week…

Quirky Planters

You can transform unwanted items such as old wellies, shoes, tins and bottles into quirky plant pots. They look great and are a brilliant way to recycle unwanted items. Suttons gives the rundown on what flowers to sow this month: https://www.suttons.co.uk/flower-seeds/flowers-to-sow/may

Sew some fruit, vegetable and salad seeds

This is one of our Summer Holiday Challenges. Get some seeds that are suitable for sowing in the summer months and are easy to grow such as carrots, salad leaves, cucumbers, peas or pumpkins (which if sown May/June will be ready for Halloween). Let the kids prepare the ground, sow them, label them and care for them. Then look forward to harvest time! I find children are usually more open to eating/trying things they’ve grown themselves.

We’ve also planted some potatoes in the past.

Cress heads

An oldie, but a goodie. Remove the top of the eggs, leaving two-thirds intact. Wash the shells and carefully dry. Then decorate with felt tip pens. The usual is to draw a face to accompany the cress ‘hair’, but great creative! Next dampen some cotton wool balls in water and place one in each shell and then sprinkle some cress seeds on top. Put them in a sunny spot and in about 5-7 days it’ll be ready to harvest. Egg and cress sandwich anyone?

Encouraging wildlife into your garden

Plants provide food and shelter for wildlife. In previous years, we’ve scattered wild flower seeds and have done Beebombs, which attract butterflies, bees and other insects.

Flowering plants such as lavender, foxgloves and roses provide plenty of nectar. Birds love the humble daisy, and sunflowers are a big hit as we discovered for ourselves.

You could also add a Ladybird tower to attract this cheerful spotty bug to your garden as well as the other beneficial insects, which keep pesky aphids and greenfly at bay.

Grow sunflowers from seed

Who doesn’t love this cheery, bold and bright flower? They’re incredibly easy to grow and shoot up quickly. Now is the perfect time to sow seeds outdoors for blooms from June through to September. You can even plant a seed in an individual biodegradable pot containing a soil coin and start off indoors. The pot can then be planted directly into the ground outside when the sunflower is ready. The Big Sunflower Project has some handy hints and tips on the transition from indoor to outdoor.

Make a miniature terrarium – mini garden in a jar

We’ve not done this before, but it looks cute and fun!

• Use a clean glass jar such as a jam jar
• Add a layer of decorative stones and sand
• Top with soil
• Add moss on top that will act as grass
• Plant miniature plants or cuttings into your jar
• Get creative; add a small decorated rock or Lego characters, plastic figurines or animals

Similarly you can create a fairy or dinosaur garden. Simply sow flower seeds that are appropriate for the time of year and add decorative details such as a house, pebbles and mini ‘trees,’ and then add your figurines.

Happy gardening and please post any of your children’s’ gardening ideas or projects in the comments section below.

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What you spot, record and report enables the RSPB to analyse trends and help effectively protect the UK’s birdlife. Sadly, the UK has lost 38 million birds from its skies in the last 50 years; the RSPB is doing everything it can to reverse this and you can help…

How do you take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch?

Firstly sign up (it takes about a minute) and the RSPB will send you everything you need including your free Big Garden Birdwatch guide. You can opt to have resources posted to you or download for even more environmental brownie points.

Then just choose one hour between Friday, 27th January and Sunday, 29th January to spot your birds. If you don’t have a garden don’t worry, you can choose an area in your local park, green space or even street.

Three simple steps

1. Watch the birds around you for one hour

2. Tally how many of each species of bird lands on your patch. Just record the highest number of each species you see at any one time so you don’t risk counting the same bird twice.

3. Go online and tell the RSPB what you saw: rspb.org.uk

What we’ve done to prepare for our birdwatch

We’ve stocked up on a variety of bird food, which includes fat balls, a seed mix with mealworms (particularly attractive for robins and blackbirds), wild seed mix and nuts, which are popular for great tits, blue tits, woodpeckers, jays etc. Birds are very appreciative of kitchen scraps. These are a very cost-effective way of attracting and feeding them.

We have a couple of hanging bird feeders and a bird table so it should be a good combination. If you haven’t already got any feeders/table already in situ, set up new items as far ahead of the Big Garden Birdwatch as possible as birds can be quite cautious/skeptical about change.

We’ve also got our trusty binoculars at the ready and the hot chocolate on standby.

Make sure you have your phone or camera to hand to take some photos.

Some useful resources 

• RSPB First Book Of Birds – Anita Ganeri, David Chandler
• i-SPY Birds – Collins Michelin i-SPY Guides – we’re big fans of these pocket-sized boredom busters!
• Birds – Usborne Spotter’s Guides
• RSPB My First Book of Garden Birds – Mike Unwin, Sarah Whittley 

The post RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2023 appeared first on The Parent Social.

From hedgehog refuges to bird feeders and insect hangouts, here are seven ways you can tweak your outside space to welcome more creatures…

7 easy ways to attract more birds and wildlife

Tip #1 – Feed and house the birds

It’s coming up to nesting season for UK birds, so now is a good time to put up homes for our feathered friends and their offspring. Bird boxes are usually best put up in autumn, but it’s never too early or too late to offer shelter.  

The same goes for feeders. They are most important in winter when natural food sources are scarce, but it never hurts to have a backup supply of protein-rich seeds, nuts and mealworms available for them in case the local reserves run low. Try to get squirrel-proof feeders if you can. These generally have a metal cage around that only small birds can get through. 

For the best show, you can position your feed near your birdhouse and watch them flying back and forth.

Tip #2 – Make an insect home

You can buy ready-made insect houses that are similar to bird boxes in shape and have loads of hidey-holes inside for little bugs to get into. However, you can also make one yourself. Garden refuse is a great, natural way to make an insect house – and it’s generally natural material that they gravitate to.

So, get your sticks, old bits of wood, broken plant pots, bark and more, then pile it all up under a tree or at the base of a bush. They’ll create a shady, damp area with plenty of spaces for the crawlies to creep into.  

Tip #3 – Make a rocky spot for wildlife

Stacks of rocks are another space where small creatures love to hide. They’re cool and dark and often trap moisture underneath – the ideal environment for a lot of insects and mini beasts. 

These kinds of spaces are simple to put together, just stack some rocks, bricks or stones up in a pile by a fence or near some quiet bushes and let the little creatures find their way.

Tip #4 – Try wilding your garden

Wilding simply means letting the grass grow tall, leaving the weeds alone and planting wildflower seeds. Combined, these create a wild area where pollinators, insects, hedgehogs, and all manner of bugs will be able to hide. 

You don’t have to let your whole garden go wild, you can just choose one border or a patch of grass. Similarly, you could also add more nature-friendly plants and shrubs to your space. Certain trees, like the crab apple, are great for a wide variety of creatures and can provide year-round wildlife support.

Other plants that your new garden friends will like include:

• Lavender, campanula, hardy geraniums for bees
• Buddleia, sedum, marjoram for butterflies.
• Sunflowers, honeysuckle, hibiscus for birds.

Tip #5 – Offer birds a drink

Water is essential for birds (and other wildlife), but clean sources can be hard to come by. Invest in a birdbath and refresh the water every couple of days to keep them watered and clean.  

If you have a regular cat or dog visitor to your outside space, then a tall one or one that hangs is a better option. However, birds do prefer them at ground level for easy access. 

One DIY birdbath option is to create a small dip (not too deep) in the ground, line it with something waterproof and fill it with clean water. Add stones and sticks in and around it for easy access. You could even use an old frying pan or shallow serving bowl!

Tip #6 – Welcome the watery wildlife too

There’s something so cool about having frogs and fish in your garden; they’re so fascinating to watch. They’re easy to attract with a pond. This doesn’t have to be a hugely expensive undertaking; old bathtubs and large buckets, even a big hole and some pond liner will do:

1. Choose a semi-sunny space (creatures like to rest in the shade too)
2. Dig the right size hole
3. Line it with the bath, bucket or material
4. Fill in or decorate around it
5. Add the water and some stones to help anything that falls in, get out.

Once that’s all done you can add water lilies and other aquatic plants like oxygenating watercress to keep the environment from stagnating. Most importantly, you can add some fish and any frogs or frogspawn. Then just sit back and see what other wildlife comes to visit.

Tip #7 – Start composting

People often worry that compost heaps can attract unwelcome creatures like rats, but if done correctly with a purpose-built composter or with mesh lining the bottom of your bin, it’s less likely. 

All you need to do to create your compost and welcome in the worms, beetles and insects is fill your composter with:

• Garden waste (grass clippings, leaves and tree cuttings)
• Uncooked vegetable and fruit peelings
• Other food waste like eggshells and teabags
• Some cardboard

These will all rot down and provide valuable nutrients to critters before you use it in your garden to support your plants.

Seeing nature come alive in your garden is a wonderful sight to see, and it offers many valuable learning opportunities for your family too. So why not try a few of these easy adaptions and see what wildlife comes to say hello?

Debbie is an experienced writer currently working for Affinity Agency in Norfolk, UK. Her main goal is to help others learn, develop and have fun through well-researched and informative content.

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And for something a bit different…

Enriching the garden with pheasant chicks

You can enhance the diversity of wildlife in your garden by considering the introduction of pheasant chicks. Creating a welcoming environment for these charming birds adds a delightful dimension to your garden’s ecosystem. While not known for prolific egg-laying like some birds, the presence of pheasant chicks contributes to a lively and balanced outdoor space. Incorporating considerations for pheasant chicks alongside other wildlife-friendly practices ensures a harmonious coexistence in your garden habitat.

The post How to introduce more wildlife and birds to your garden appeared first on The Parent Social.

(Information courtesy of Wild Science)

Animals that can be found in the UK in August  

While the UK is host to a huge number of animals all year round, it’s also a major migration spot. Many of our native birds spend the warmer months with us before returning to Africa and southern Europe when it gets too cold. Just like humans, animals are also a lot more active outdoors in the summer months and the following list includes some of the great animals that can be found across the UK in the late summer, providing ideal animal spotting opportunities throughout the holidays.

House Martin

As its name suggests, the British house martin prefers to build its nest from mud on man-made structures like houses. These birds make their homes across the UK and can most typically be found hunting for insects to eat in open countryside before returning to their nests back in civilisation.

A relative of the swallow, house martins have the distinctive forked tail, though theirs is slightly shallower than the deep V of a swallow’s tail. The most noticeable characteristics of the house martin are the white feathers which grow on their legs and toes, giving them fluffy trousers which make them easy to spot when resting on buildings or branches.

Swifts

Although swifts begin their return migration as early as July, sightings of the bird continue through until September, so there are sure to be a great deal of opportunities to see them during August. The swift is another bird with a deeply pointed tail but it can be differentiated from swallows and martins thanks to its long, curved wings like a boomerang.

Blackcaps

Typically a summer visitor, many blackcaps head back to Europe in October, but increasing numbers are spending the winter here, meaning sightings can happen all year round. The males are distinguished by their notable black caps; caps of the females are browner in colour. These birds are quite evenly distributed across the country but are summer residents of inland Wales, the northwest coast of Ireland and the north of England.

Willow Warblers

This brightly-coloured bird is grey-green in colour with a yellow chest and head. They often migrate back in September and October, so they can be found in August in woodlands throughout the UK. The best place to sight them, though, is in Leicestershire, where they often breed around Rutland Water.

Puffins

One of the UK’s most endearing bird species, puffins spend their summer months on British coasts in Yorkshire, Pembrokeshire and Scotland. These fantastic beasts have brightly coloured, parrot-like beaks, tuxedo colours and orange feet. Many places where puffins make their homes run boat tours out to see them as they rest on the rocks and raise their young.

Places where puffins can be seen include:

• Hermaness & Sumburgh Head, Shetland
• Farne Islands, Northumberland
• Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire
• Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire

Painted ladies

Painted Lady butterflies make an incredible journey to reach the UK. Starting in northern Africa, these beautiful bugs fly through Spain and France before landing on UK shores during the summer. From here, they spread across most of the UK, favouring gardens with nectar producing plants.

For the best chance of spotting them, plant red valerians in the garden. Painted ladies drink the nectar from these flowers and often like to lay their eggs on the stems of the plant, meaning some lucky gardeners may see more than one generation in a summer.

Hummingbird hawk-moths

These fast-flying insects can sometimes be mistaken for hummingbirds in British gardens, although there are no hummingbirds living in the UK. They have reddish-brown wings, white speckled abdomens and their extended tongue gives them the appearance of a hummingbird. These moths love bedstraw and wild madder but will drink from any nectar-rich plant. They also have great memories and regularly return to the same bushes at the same time of day.

Dragonflies

While adult dragonflies emerge throughout the summer, and can even develop as early as May, the highest species diversity is usually recorded in July and August, making this part of the summer the best time to see as many beautiful kinds as possible. The best place to spot them is anywhere near water which isn’t too dirty.

Dragonflies are most active on warm, sunny days so choosing the ideal beast-hunting day is essential. Dragonflies and their close relatives, damselflies, are often out at the same time and are sometimes difficult to tell apart. The best way to distinguish them is when they’re resting, as damselflies sit with their wings closed while dragonflies rest with their wings spread out.

Newts

Adult newts start their mating season earlier in the year and most females have laid their eggs by the end of July, when the adults will slip back into the grass for the rest of the year. This makes August the best time to spot their spawn and the baby newts that grow from it.

Southern Peterborough has the largest newt population in the UK but there are reserves in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire as well. For those who can’t make it to these places, newts may also breed in well-kept garden ponds, so any garden could be a hotspot for newts for the luckiest animal hunters.

Basking sharks

In the summer months, the second largest fish in the world can be found off the coast of the UK. While the thought of a shark the length of a double-decker bus feeding off the coast of Cornwall may sound like a terrible nightmare, these gentle giants actually feed on microscopic fish called zooplankton.

Cornwall’s clear waters make for one of the best places to see them, but they have also been spotted in the west of Scotland and Wales. It’s unlikely that they’ll come in close enough to be seen from the shore, but some boat tours further off the coast might be the best way to spot this impressive fish as it spends its summer in our waters.

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Britain is home to some of the most amazing and diverse animals from coast to coast. For the most adventurous among us, summer is the best time to see some of these beautiful animals as they pass through.

This article was written by Damon Culbert from Wild Science, providers of animal workshops and classes in schools across the UK.

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Here are some of the many ways in which you can encourage your child’s creativity this summer.

Creativity Outdoors 

While the British Isles may not guarantee blue skies throughout the summer, now is the time to get out and about and make use of your local amenities. The outdoors can provide your children with opportunities for creativity that may not be possible during other seasons, so how about:

• Nature Collages – go out and collect bits and bobs for a pretty picture or collage. Create a woodland scene out of sticks, leaves and grass or a bird portrait from feathers and twigs. The possibilities are endless

• Rock Painting – have a trek and collect a number of rocks that catch your eye, then give them a wash and paint them. The different shapes offer lots of scope for designs. The finished pieces make sweet ornaments for the home or garden

• Make a Wildlife Patch – dedicate some time to looking after nature, and encourage compassion for our environment. If you have a garden allocate a special place and plant some sweet flowers for the bees and butterflies, or a little wooden box with some food and water for animals passing by. If not, find a quiet place in your local area, perhaps in a park or on a hedgerow, and look after it – remove litter or leave some seeds for birds

• Build a Den – be careful not to trespass or annoy neighbours, but outdoor dens are a must for summer activities. Whether you stick to long branches and make a simple wigwam or bring sheets and tarp from home, there is lots of fun to be had, and lots of den ideas to play around with

Creativity Indoors

A great way to help grow your children’s creativity at home is to encourage them to make or do something for the house that everybody can enjoy. It can also teach them some pretty nifty skills for later on in life, so why not try:

• Sewing or Cross-Stitching – being able to do simple repairs to clothing and textiles is a dying art, so teach some basic stitching techniques. Try small projects like a simple little beanbag toy filled with rice or a cross-stitched greeting card

• Tie Dyeing – simple and endless fun, tie-dye some plain bed sheets or t-shirts to be enjoyed again and again. There are lots of different patterns to experiment with, and finally unravelling the dyed product is something like magic!

• Decorate Crockery – try upcycling. Buy some plain plates, bowls, tumblers from a charity shop and paint them.

• Indoor Den – dens are not just for the outdoors. Again, this can present a healthy challenge to children if you lack room. See what can be made out of a small space. Sheets and blankets, divider screens and clothes horses are among the tools.

Encouraging creativity is a significant step towards independence. Giving your children the tools to think outside of the box and come up with inventive ways to amuse themselves is important to character development. It also  enables you to enjoy new activities together in the meantime.

You might also like: Summer Holiday Challenges 

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By Charlotte Baldwin, Operations Manager at IQ Cards

IQ Cards are a fundraising company that provide schools and establishments with the necessary tools to fundraise via selling high-quality and unique gifts designed by pupils. As part of the established on-demand print and digital solutions provider The IQ Digital House, ensures that all requirements and products are produced to the highest standards, delivered on time and at great value prices. Several of the IQ cards team are mothers and PTA members themselves appreciating and understanding school protocols extremely well. They are the preferred supplier for PTA UK. For more information please visit: http://www.iqcards.co.uk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/iQCards

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Sofia was bought a Wildlife World Me and My Birds Wild Bird Feed Making Kit and it is great.

I’ve been fascinated with our feathered friends since I was little as my grandad had an aviary. I was also a member of the RSPB‘s youth branch – so this was right up my street. It’s probably no coincidence that the twins’ third word after ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’ was ‘bird’.

The kit contains:

 1 x Bright mixing bowl
 2 x Bird cookie shape cutters
 1 x Natural feeding log
 3 x Pastel shade cup cake casts
 1 x Wooden spoon
 1 x Bag of ‘magic mix’
 2 x Coloured ropes
 1 x Wooden perch stick
 Rice paper decorating flowers
 1 x Bag of bird feed mix
 1 x Small pack of fruit and seeds for decoration
 1 x Garden bird feeding and recording book

The instructions are really easy to follow and there is one ‘recipe’ which involves combining the ‘magic mix’ (which looks a bit like powdered custard), water and bird feed mix, and then adding the fruit and seeds. This can be used for three different feeding methods: feeding log, cup cake or cookie shape.

Mixing the ingredients

Filling the feeding log

Moulding one of the cookies

Leave them to set for 12 hours.

It took a few days for the birds to get used to the feeders but once they did we were inundated.

The birds we spotted

We saw robins, blue tits, great tits, greenfinches, sparrows and goldfinches, which were accompanied by the usual ground birds that we get (namely pigeons, wood pigeons, magpies, jays and crows). All three girls were absolutely fascinated. The younger two just loved seeing all the birds, but Sofia (aged four) enjoyed identifying the different breeds.

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Sadly this specific kit is no longer available, but similar items are available.

Ashortwalk Eco Recycled Bird Feeder – Bird Cake Kit

My Living World LW105 Window Bird Feeder, Multicolor

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