Children encouraged to ‘go wild’ in lockdown

Devon Wildlife Trust’s education team has launched online learning resources, reports Charlie Elder

ALEADING local wildlife charity has launched a new set of resources aimed at helping children and their families ‘go wild’ during lockdown.

Under normal circumstances Devon Wildlife Trust’s education team reaches 6,000 young people each year through hundreds of school visits and running outdoor events. However, the lockdown and social distancing restrictions have put a temporary halt to such outreach work.

Far from being deterred, the team has moved its lessons in nature online, where they are now free to access by everyone. The new approach to Devon Wildlife Trust’s education work with young people has been made possible with the support of the People’s Postcode Lottery.

By establishing a new online portal called Wild Learning at Home on the Devon Wildlife Trust website (www.devonwildlifetrust.org), the team now hopes to bring a daily dose of nature into thousands of families’ lives.

Devon Wildlife Trust Education Officer, Emily Bacon, said: “Our new Wild Learning at Home web page not only aims to support children’s learning during this tricky time but will also make sure nature remains part of their lives. Nature can have positive impacts on everyone’s wellbeing, especially the active minds of children, so access to it is particularly important during these strange times.”

The new online resources contain plans to create a nature journal, a guide to back window bird spotting and quizzes to test nature knowledge, among many more ideas on how to inspire children to enjoy and learn in back gardens and the great outdoors.

Emily added: “We realise not everybody is lucky enough to have a garden, or much green space so we have tried to create a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities, whilst also encouraging families to look a little closer at things whilst out on the family walks.

“Learning with nature is a fun and engaging way to learn about science, often without children even realising it.

Nature is a fun and

engaging way to learn about science, often without children

even realising it

“Our website contains lots of ideas for easy activities including spotting and recognising the animals which live on your doorstep, exploring the world of insects and other minibeasts, and if you are lucky to live near the sea, learning about seaweed by conducting some wacky experiments.”

Much of the web content is linked to the primary school curriculum, providing educational benefits, while also encouraging activities that benefit wildlife.