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 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.
Session and animals covered:
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.
7th of June; Mapping, welcome to site and creating your own map of the site and where we will be going to explore throughout the coming weeks.
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; 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.
5th 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!
12th of July; 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!
19th 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!
26th of July; Bird week, bring your binoculars and your best ears! We will be meeting at Keston Park for this week to have a look at the feathered friends on site, including ducks, geese and all the fledglings learning how to survive with their parents.
2nd 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!
9th of August; mine craft trail, have a look at the real life and inspiration for animals, trees and flowers from minecraft! Including bees, birch trees and creepers!
16th of August; Dinosaur Week, Join us on an epic dinosaur hunt throughout our forest school and prepare to get muddy building some dinosaur bogs!
23rd 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!
30th of August; 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!
6th 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!
13th 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!
20th 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!
27th of September; Obstacle Course Building; Using natural tree stumps and wooden planks, see what obstacle course you can create and put your course to the test!
4th of October; Den Building; Using both tarpaulins and natural wood try and build your own dens and see if you can survive the rainstorm of a big bucket being thrown over your new den!
11th 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!
18th 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!
25th of October; 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!
1st of November; Mammal week, Join us to check our small mammals traps and hedgehog tunnel before re inking the trap to see if we have any more visitors before the next week!
8th of November; Bird week, We will be placing out our mist nets in the hope of catching some feathered friends for you to have a close look at and we will then have a walk looking for winter visitors including fieldfare and redwings!
15th 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.
22nd of November; Dead Hedge building week two, continuing to finish our dead hedgerow to build a nice big stable fence and habitat for wildlife.
26th of November; 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 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
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.
