Description
Join us every Saturday to develop your junior rangers as the follow-on kids club from Bug Club, to learn and develop their skills! From developing their outdoor survival skills by den building and foraging and learn all about wildlife by pond dipping or bug hunting! Get your own book to write about your adventures! Join as many or as little as you like but you must book in advance!
Activities will also include bird watching, flower identification, tree identification, bug house building, dead hedge laying etc.
Ages from 5-12yrs.
Adult supervision required
Session Time
13:30-14:30
Please be aware we may have to change weeks around due to weather.
For ease of booking, we will advertise one month at a time.
14th of June; Sweep netting, Heading over to our meadows we will be sweep netting to find the grasshoppers, crickets and other wonders hiding amongst the grass!
21st of June; Pond Dipping, Going down to our pond with our ranger, have a go at pond dipping and seeing the newts, dragonflies and other creatures awaiting to be seen under the surface!
28th of June; Beater Netting, Down to our fields by the fallen tree we will beating the trees to find all the little animals that our hiding amongst the leaves, including spiders, ladybirds and shield bugs!
5th of July; Flower ID, Join our ranger to complete a flower scavenger hunt, learn all about the gorgeous flowers found at High Elms and how some can be used to help heal you.
12th of July; Moth Trapping, As the weather is at its hottest all the big night time moths appear including the big hawkmoths. Learn how we tell which moth is which and join us in opening our moth trap and looking for intruders such as craneflies and beetles!
19th of July; Mapping, welcome to site and creating your own map of the site and where we will be going to explore throughout the coming weeks. THIS WEEK IS CANCELLED DUE TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS.
26th of July; Reptile Week, checking our refugees across site to look our for the amphibians and reptiles awaiting to be discovered and meeting some special scaly guests!
2nd of August; cancelled due to staff sickness
9th of August; Bug Week, join us on a scavenger hunt to find all the big beautiful bugs, see if you can find all the answers to earn your own bug hunting badge!
16th of August; Minecraft Trail, have a look at the real life and inspiration for animals, trees and flowers from minecraft! Including bees, birch trees and creepers!
23rd of August; Dinosaur Week, Join us on an epic dinosaur hunt throughout our forest school and prepare to get muddy building some dinosaur bogs!
30th of August; Harry Potter Week, Join us in the forest to find the animals and inspiration of many Harry Potter magic monsters before heading back to take a close look at some owl pellets and see if you can find your own bones and skulls!
6th of September; Foraging Week; As autumn begins to creep, the leaves fall and the berries begin to appear have a close look at what we can and cannot eat!
13th of September; Tree ID Week; Following on from foraging week, out your tree knowledge to the test and have a go at making your own leaf rubbings to figure out which tree is which!
20th of September; Mini-beauty hunting; Jon our ranger to head up into our forest school, looking under logs and in the trees to find the coolest bugs and have a go at completing bug bingo!
27th of September; Bat Walk; A night time special, join us after dark, have a go with your own bat detectors to look and listen for the only flying mammal in the world!
4th of October; CANCELLED DUE TO STRONG WINDS
11th of October; Den Building week; Join Irena to build a den in the woods! Using tarpaulins, string and creating your own stakes!
18th of October; Fungi ID week; Join our ranger to learn about all the weird and wonderful fungus that thrives in the cool wet autumn weather!
25th of October; Halloween Decorations; Preparing for one of our favourite events of the year, have a go at building your own Halloween decorations from natural sustainable materials!
1st of November; Dead hedge building week one, as winter takes hold we can build habitats for animals by building dead hedgerows. We will also be helping our rangers to manage and push back invasive species in our woodland including snow berry and cherry laurel.
8th of November; Dead Hedge building week two, continuing to finish our dead hedgerow to build a nice big stable fence and habitat for wildlife
15th of November; Campfire; Learn how we build and safely manage a big campfire, from collecting materials and practicing making sparks with your own flint and steel! Then getting the chance to make your own smoores!
22nd of November; Bird week, watching the wonderful bird life in the frosty air, including winter visitors like redwings and robins.
29th of November; Christmas decorations and creations, we will be creating eco friendly Christmas cards and leaf littered decorations.
6th of December; Wreath Making, our final week we will prepare for the arrival of Christmas by building natural and eco friendly wreaths for you to take home, but do not worry in January bug club and junior rangers will begin again!
Please be aware we may have to change weeks around due to weather.
Directions, Parking and Transport
Meeting point:
BEECHE visitor centre (next to Green Roof cafe)
High Elms Country Park, Shire Lane, Orpington BR6 7JH
What to Wear
These sessions will be a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities, please ensure you bring appropriate outdoor clothes and footwear. No open toe shoes can be worn for health and safety purposes.
