Things to do at home…

If you enjoy Acorn Club activities you will probably enjoy joining a similar group nearer home. The Wildlife Trusts have local Wildlife Watch groups and the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) have Wildlife Explorer groups. Find out more on these web sites…

  Wildlife Watch

 RSPB wildlife explorers

  

Egg carton minibeasts What you need:                                               Poster paint & brush Black and white pipe cleaners (you could paint them) Scissors Glue (PVA) Googly eyes (optional) Cut out the cups of the egg carton.  Decide which minibeasts you want to make and paint the design onto the cups, you may need to leave it to dry between different colours. Use these pictures or any you can find in books to help you. You can either paint on the eyes or stick on googly eyes. Once the paint has dried add the legs and wings using the pipecleaners. Push them through the sides of the cups and fasten in place by bending the pipecleaner inside the cup. Finally, if you are making an ant or caterpillar use some PVA glue to stick the body parts together. You could make a home for you minibeasts, perhaps in an old shoe box or cereal box. Find out where the minibeasts like to live, use books or the internet or go bug hunting and see where you find them. Paint a background inside the box. You could collect some sticks and leaves from the garden or park to make them feel right at home!

 

Make an edible nest Ingredients 100g Plain chocolate (broken into pieces) 50g butter 1 tablespoon golden syrup 125g cornflakes or rice crispies or crumbled shredded wheat About 15 paper cake cases About 30 sugar coated mini chocolate eggs  Method Get an adult to help melt the chocolate, butter and syrup in a pan over a very low heat, stirring constantly. Once melted stir in the cornflakes / rice crispies / shredded wheat. Spoon into the paper cake cases and mold into nest shapes.  Add one, two or three mini eggs to each nest. Place in the fridge to cool.

 

Make a Wormery Put alternate layers of sand and soil in the container. Put some leaves and grass on top.  Find about 6 to 10 earthworms. If you dig around in the garden I’m sure you will find some! It might help to wet the ground first. Put them on top with the leaves.  Cover the sides with black paper so the worms think they are underground. Keep it damp but not too wet.  Check it everyday for a week or two. What happens to the layers of sand and soil? Are there any leaves left on top?  After a couple of weeks put them back out in the garden to help the plants grow!Find a large clear plastic bottle & cut the top off, or a jar will do.

 

Really Wild Pictures    In your garden or out on your walk collect some leaves, try to find as many different types as you can but don’t take too many. Also take some paper and wax crayons with you to make some bark rubbings. Hold the paper up to the tree trunk and rub the side of the crayon over it lightly. You could make leaf rubbings of the leaves you found in the same way by laying the leaves on a flat surface upside down (veins sticking up). When you get home you can set about making your collage using the leaves and bark rubbings. You could make a picture of something you saw on your walk or make a pattern out of the things you found. I think this is a great way to make a really different birthday card.

 

Make an Adder What you need: Card (ideally green, brown or grey) String Scissors Sticky tape Either colouring pens/crayons or black paint and a potato!
Cut a circle of card, about 20cm across. You could draw round a plate for this but it doesn’t matter if it’s not perfectly round. Draw a spiral within the circle, about 3cm wide starting at the edge. Cut along this line. Add a forked tongue using some the left over card and sticky tape.
	Now decorate your adder, they have a diamond pattern along their back. Get an adult to help you make the potato print. Cut the potato in half and carve out a diamond shape on the cut side. Use black paint to make the print all along the body. Add some eyes and hang it up by attaching string to the head.