The 30th November marked Tree Charter Day when the Woodland Trust called upon one million people across the UK to plant a tree, so I thought it would be a good time to teach the children about the importance of trees, along with winter birds (https://campaigns.woodlandtrust.org.uk/page/46713/data/1?locale=en-GB). Mrs Casey had helped the kids create bird feeders […]
Through the early morning mist at this time of year, you’d be hard pushed not to see a glistening spider’s web somewhere near your front or back door as you leave your house for your day’s adventures, and even in the cities our little eight legged friends are always hiding somewhere. To be quite frank, […]
As the children become more and more interested in learning to draw with me, during the last month the kids at Mad Hatter’s covered various conservation subjects, but the workshop on plastic pollution was one of the most memorable. Whilst he was drawing, I asked a little boy what happens when plastic goes into the […]
In early September at the beginning of the new school year, I was greeted warmly by a new group of pre-school children wondering why I’d come to visit them. I explained that we’d be having lots of fun drawing together; an idea they seemed to like. These small children are just three year olds and […]
The end of the school year is just around the corner and summer is upon us, so I thought I’d reflect on the conservation areas of concern that the children and I have worked on from the beginning of this academic year, 2018 to 2019. Since September, I’ve been leading conservation art workshops that have […]
Last week the children and I were celebrating giraffes for World Giraffe Day on 21st June, along with their black and white stripy friends, grevy’s zebras. These two species are often found side by side in the African savanna where giraffes are known as ‘browsers’ because they eat the leaves from trees and bushes, whilst […]
4th June 2019 Palm oil and the detrimental effects palm oil plantations are having on forests around the world including Indonesia, Malaysia, South America and Africa, but most importantly; how these plantations are impacting climate change, along with the animals that live in those forests, is quite a hefty subject and one that’s very complicated. […]
Bees were a big deal in Mad Hatters Nursery the week commencing 20th May, World Bee Day. The children had been making finger puppets, honeycomb biscuits and planting bee friendly herbs and flowers in the garden before I’d arrived that week. They’d also taken part in a children’s bee and bug yoga class, so naturally […]
On 16th May the children and I began growing fungi. I know; it sounds a bit ‘out there’ but, fungi are one of the earth’s unsung heroes and can help solve many of the world’s problems, so together with Mad Hatters Nursery and courtesy of the www.growwilduk.com at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the little ones […]
The revered naturalist and pioneer in conservation, Sir David Attenborough, has inspired millions by bringing nature into our homes with his desire to explore and enlighten us on the beauty of the natural world. To celebrate his 93rd Birthday on Wednesday 8th May, as well as marking Plastic Free Day in schools, my Wednesday workshop […]
