Holiday fun to reach a new group of Landcarers
Holiday fun to reach a new group of Landcarers
Simple outdoor activities can keep the kids entertained, provide an easy holiday solution for parents, and introduce the whole family to Landcare
Community Participation -
NSWLP-011-R043
The issue
By the end of the school holidays, many parents are struggling for ideas to entertain their kids, and desperate for simple solutions which can get the kids out of the house – and off their screens! Research shows that children today spend far more time indoors on screens than in previous generations, which not only affects their health but can also have flow-on impacts in terms of children’s connection to nature and motivation to protect it.
At the same time, many Landcare groups are grappling to attract new members, especially from the younger generation.
Could there be a solution that gets children outdoors, connects them with nature, provides an affordable and fun school holiday activity, AND attracts younger people to Landcare? Surely not?!
The solution
The solution is simple – adapt our Landcare workshops to a younger audience! For the most recent school holidays, we helped each child to build their own frog hotel to take home. We did the sawing prior to the workshop (thus avoiding the need to do a risk assessment on giving a five year old a saw), and instead gave the kids more time to decorate their hotels with signs and pebbles.
A round-robin structure always works well for these days, so we called on our members to help and were lucky enough to get volunteers offering to run a seedball making session, and our friends at Wagga Council running a water bug session.
The impact
With each activity, we discussed the native species we were looking at, whether they be frogs, bugs or plants. Throughout the activities we talked about their habitat, why they’re important and threats they face, helping to include an educational aspect to the day.
The fact that the children were all able to take home with them a frog hotel, some handmade seed balls, and a poster showing the water bugs they’d found, meant that they would have reminders of the day at home, helping to retain - and hopefully extend – their learnings into the future.
Key facts
- 20 children attended
- Many more on a waiting list
- Bookings filled within 1 day
- Top feedback from parents and children alike