If you were lucky enough to grow up with a garden backing onto your house, you will know that many important childhood activities take place within them.
With a little imagination, a garden can be instantly transformed into fairy grottos, dragon mazes, agility courses for the family dog, or places to make witchy potions from the petals that have fallen (or stealthily plucked) from mum’s favourite geraniums. Gardens are a magical place!
Children’s National Gardening Week tries to help children and adults across the UK harness this magic, and give people ideas regarding what to do in the garden to spark fun play. Taking place at the end of May, which is, in theory, the warmest week this month, means that seeds can be thrown about with reckless abandon without fear of water or frost damage.
The main premise of the scheme is to get families outdoors, nurturing both their own wellbeing and also providing oases of green spaces for our wonderful wildlife.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Creating habitats
- Bog garden
- Hibernaculum
- Log piles
- Compost heaps
- Making a mini-pond: planter style and bucket style
- Making a lined pond
- Use our Wildlife Pond Visualiser App to plan out what you want your pond to look like
Enticing wildlife
- Bird feeders
- Bug bell
- Bug box
- Bug stick bundle
- Hanging basket
- Hiding places for amphibians
- Insect hotel
- Pond seed bomb
- Toad abode
Find out more about National Children’s Gardening Week here.