Duchess joins Blue Peter to get children playing outside
THE Duchess of Cambridge will tonight present an episode of Blue Peter as part of her campaign to encourage Britain’s children to venture outdoors.
The Duchess, who last month unveiled her “back to nature” garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, takes part in a segment to advocate spending “10 to 15 minutes” playing outside as often as possible.
It features pond-dipping and denbuilding, and the Duchess launches a competition for viewers to design a sculpture to put in her garden at RHS Wisley in September.
The Duchess tells of how her own children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – are “dragged outside” come “rain or shine”.
“It encourages creativity, confidence and even a short amount of time – 10-15 minutes outside – makes a huge difference to physical well-being [and] mental well-being,” she says, in discussion with Lindsey Russell, the presenter.
In the seven-and-a-half minute segment of the show, the Duchess takes part in three outdoor activities, including planting flowers in “upcycled” containers and building dens using sticks and foliage. Joined by a small group of schoolchildren at Westminster City Council’s Paddington Recreation Ground, she also helps with a spot of pond-dipping and is shown a figureof-eight method for catching wildlife in a net.
“I didn’t realise there’s an actual technique,” she says, before asking her young friends what they have caught before. Told about their favourite tadpoles, she asks: “Do you know what tadpoles eventually turn into? Have you ever seen any froggies?”
When one girl picks up a newt for a closer look, the Duchess praises her bravery with an admiring “wow”.
The episode will be broadcast on CBBC at 5.30pm today.
Last night, the Duchess spoke of the effect of trauma in childhood on the scourge of drug and alcohol addiction, as she called for help to break the intergenerational cycle.
“Sadly, for many who are suffering with addiction, they just don’t receive the help they need early enough,” she told guests at a gala dinner for Action on Addiction.
She added: “What we experience during our earliest years, even while we’re still in the womb, shapes the developing brain.
“It is therefore vital that we support everyone who cares for children in those formative years.”