Activity: Making a hedgehog home
This is the time of year when hedgehogs start to hibernate. Hedgehogs are sadly in decline in the UK with less than a million left due to a decline in their habitats. Making a home or shelter for hedgehogs will help them by providing them with a secure place to shelter, hibernate, or even raise little hoglets safely.
Hedgehogs go house-hunting in the autumn and so this is the ideal time of year to set one up. To make a really simple hedgehog home, all you need is a large cardboard box. Cut two side vents into the two walls of the box and a large entrance for the hedgehog to walk in. Next, find a place suitable to put the hedgehog home. A quiet part of your garden under thick vegetation is best. Somewhere behind a shed if you have one would be perfect! Place the box south-facing if you can. Finally, tear up some newspaper and place it inside to make a cosy and dry floor. Add some straw on top if you have it. If you box is not under vegetation, you might want to cover it with a plastic bag (leaving the vents and entrance open) and then place leaves and deadwood on top.
Hedgehogs go house-hunting in the autumn and so this is the ideal time of year to set one up. To make a really simple hedgehog home, all you need is a large cardboard box. Cut two side vents into the two walls of the box and a large entrance for the hedgehog to walk in. Next, find a place suitable to put the hedgehog home. A quiet part of your garden under thick vegetation is best. Somewhere behind a shed if you have one would be perfect! Place the box south-facing if you can. Finally, tear up some newspaper and place it inside to make a cosy and dry floor. Add some straw on top if you have it. If you box is not under vegetation, you might want to cover it with a plastic bag (leaving the vents and entrance open) and then place leaves and deadwood on top.
You can also make a hedgehog house out of a more sturdy plastic container or even pieces of wood if you have them. Click here to read instructions from the Wildlife Trusts.
Linking gardens together is also a great way of making areas more hedgehog friendly. Did you know that hedgehogs can travel up to one mile every night?! Ensure that you have small holes at the bottom of your fence that are free of leaves and twigs for hedgehogs to pass through. See if you can get your whole street on board to help make a hedgehog highway! Click here to find out more from the Hedgehog Street campaign.
Activity: What to sow in September
As we slowly crawl towards the end of the summer we may feel sad as the flowers start to fade and the crisp sun-dried leaves begin to fall to the ground. It's a good time to cut back any dead-heads, dried grasses and faded blooms, but we can also begin to think about what wonderful fruit and vegetables we may want for the year ahead!
Here are some ideas for what to sow in September:
🌽 Leafy veg - sowing seeds for things like cabbages and spinach is best done in September though they may need some protection over winter
🌽 Broad beans and peas - these are hardy plants that will establish over winter and be ready to harvest next spring
🌽 Radishes - these can be sown and grow quickly ready for a crop in a few weeks!
🌽 Onions and garlic - isn't it great to grow your own so that they're right there for when you need them?... planting in autumn means you will have a crop ready to harvest from early next year
🌽 Herbs - things like coriander, parsley and rocket grow well and are hardy to the colder temperatures
Did you know that September is also the month for growing food organically? This means growing food without toxic pesticides that are harmful to wildlife and require a lot of energy to manufacture. Growing your own veg is the perfect way to stay organic and avoid buying into the large-scale farmed supermarket produce.
To find out more about what to grow, visit the Gardener's World website.
To read more about Organic September, visit the Soil Association website.
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Activity: Rainy days at home
When it's raining non-stop (like it is at the moment!) it can be hard to get outside for any length of time. Although it might be fun to go for a short walk, anything longer than that can just feel miserable if it's cold and raining really heavily. There are however, lots of things you can do inside that can still help you connect with nature and feel like you're bringing a bit of the outside to the inside....
☔ Make a toy raft or boat
After the rain has gone, there will be heaps of puddles left on the ground. Make a boat out of paper or a raft out of twigs or straws. Think about how to ensure it will float! Once the rain has cleared away, head outside and see which one floats best!
☔ Collect rainwater
Rainwater is brilliant for the garden as it contains lots of different minerals and seeds which help our ecosystems flourish. Watering the garden with tap water is ok, but there will still be traces of chemicals such as chlorine in it which over time may not be great for our plants. Rainwater is best, so when its is tipping down quickly dash out and put some buckets and watering cans in the garden and see how much you collect!
☔ Indoor gardening
Gardening in the rain is a bit exhausting and you don't want your tools to get damaged or the ground to get churned up as it softens with the water. Have a go at some indoor gardening instead! Plant out some seeds into little pots (they can be old yoghurt pots) or see if you can get them to sprout on damp tissue or cotton wool. You can also try placing the left over stems of celery or spring onions into a jam jar of water. You'll be surprised at how much they can grow just in water!
☔ Write a poem
Many famous writers and poets were inspired by the weather around them. Grab a notebook and a pencil and look out at the rain for inspiration. Listen to the sounds of the rain and see if you can include any onomatopoeia (sound words) such as pitter-patter, spit-spot....
☔ Make a biosphere
A biosphere is an enclosed ecosystem that regulates its own oxygen, carbon dioxide and water levels. Planet Earth is actually a biosphere! You can make your own mini biosphere using just a jam jar. Clean your jam jar and then place some sand or gravel in the bottom. Add a layer of good draining soil and then a few features such as pieces of bark or rocks. Add some moss and a few small slow-growing plants. You can even add a beetle or worm of you can find one! Finally, water your biosphere, put the lid on, and place it somewhere where it has sunlight but not too direct as this will make it too hot.
☔ Raindrop race
Find a window that has rain drops running down it! You might need to open the window to make a bit of an angle for the raindrops to fall on. Find someone else to race against, and then each pick a raindrop and see whose is the first to reach the bottom!
☔ Indoor bird watching
Set up an indoor area where you can look out and watch for wildlife. Use some binoculars if you have any and watch for any birds that come to visit! See if you can identify different types of birds. If you're not sure, try counting them instead and see how many pass through in time frame like 15 minutes or half an hour. Look for how their behaviour changes too. Do birds behave differently if there is a cat nearby? How many like using a bird feeder or a bird bath?
☔ Watch a nature documentary
There are so many different nature documentaries available on platforms such as BBC iplayer. If you don't feel like going outside, now is the time to pick a documentary and learn something about animals and wildlife elsewhere in the UK or in a completely different part of the world!
☔ Cloud gazing
There are so many different types of clouds that bring different types of rain and weather. Look up at the sky and see what the clouds are doing. Can you identify different types? Are they dark grey rain clouds or towering storm clouds? Is the cloud high up or does it feel like its low down like fog or mist?Are the clouds moving quickly in the wind or staying in one place? Make observations every 15 minutes of what is happening.
☔ Make a bird feeder
Birds are always grateful for extra food supply, especially going into autumn and winter when food sources might become a bit more scarce. Get some seeds such as sunflower seeds or mixed bird seed, and some chopped nuts such as peanuts. Mix together with some breadcrumbs, crumbled cheese and soft dried fruit. Add some softened lard and mix together to form a paste. Get a yoghurt port and make a hole in the bottom. Push some string through and tie a knot on the inside of the pot so it hangs upside down like a bell. Fill the pot with your bird food mixture and leave in the fridge for a few hours. When it has solidified, hang upside down outside and wait for the birds to visit!
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Activity: Build a pond
Freshwater species rely on having access to fresh, clean water sources throughout the year. They can usually find this in rural and wooded areas where there may be rivers and streams nearby, but we can also encourage aquatic wildlife into our gardens by providing them with a fresh water source.
Making a pond might sound like a big undertaking but it can be really easy! If you haven't already got a pond in your garden or Forest School area then think about creating one yourself, or perhaps working as a team and making a project out of building one together. You can then monitor it and see what wildlife starts to use it and live on or around the water!
1. Choose an area that receives some sunlight but not all day.
2. Find a container to make your pond (it can be as small as a tupperware container or as large as a big crate!) Dig a whole in the ground and place your container inside. If your container isn't watertight, line it with a piece of pond liner.
3. Add a layer of stones and rocks into the pond to create different levels. You might also need to put some rocks outside your pond so that creatures can climb in and out.
4. Fill your pond with water (rainwater is best as it doesn't contain nasty chemicals).
5. Choose some species such as a miniature waterlily, lesser spearwort, starwort, or flowering rush to place inside your pond.
6. Watch and see what starts to arrive!
Click here for more info and pictures for how to make your pond
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Activity: Flower pressing
Use any flowers from your garden or balcony or window box, and make them into a pretty little display that you could either frame or turn into a hand-crafted note card for someone.
1. Select the flowers you wish to press and make sure they are dry and free of soil
2. Place your flowers in an arrangement that you like onto a sheet of blotting paper or poster paper
3. Cover over with another piece of blotting paper or poster paper and then place between two flat, heavy objects such as two large hardback books
4. Move your press to a dry, warm place such as an airing cupboard or above a radiator
5. Check your press every 12-24 hours until you are happy that it is dried out
6. Mount your press in a frame or fix to a card with PVA which will dry colourless
Click here to read more about how to press flowers from the RHS 🌸
