If your children are among the majority better at identifying Daleks than owls, don’t be disheartened. The next generation probably won’t sleepwalk into the future with behavioural problems and nature deficit disorder, because while social media is a tempting distraction on a cloudy day, there are plenty of ways to turn your kids’ attention away from WhatsApp towards the great outdoors.
And as well as the promise of conker fights, splashing in puddles and skidding into great big piles of leaves, the Woodland Trust has given children an extra incentive to get outside – by challenging kids throughout the UK to become Autumn Spotters (pdf).
Just download these handy guides and let your children loose to see what autumn trees and birds they can identify. The Autumn Leaves guide (pdf) features photographs of different types of common native trees – including oak, maple and hazel – all in their seasonal red and yellow finery, so they’re easy to spot.
Kids can tick off the ones they find, collecting the leaves as they go along, drawing them or doing some old-fashioned leaf rubbings. Whatever they decide to do, it’s great to know they’re exploring nature – getting their hands dirty and learning at the same time.
It’s also a great time of year to spot our feathered friends on tables, bushes and branches, so there are also two guides to British birds. One lists all the usual visitors to our parks and back gardens (pdf) – great for rainy days when you’d rather keep your children within sight – and another lists our winged woodland inhabitants (pdf), so there is plenty to keep your little nature detectives amused.
Simply download the guides, arm the children with wellies and pencils, and send them outside to learn to tell their wood pigeons from their cuckoos. Now you’re free to go and find that master conker …
