On Sunday May 26th,  perfect day weatherwise, the 2013 Kids’ day at the Cottage was again a most enjoyable day for all involved.

 

Each presenter had an activity for young people that engaged, entertained and informed on some aspect of our biodiversity. The adults with them also found out more about the Cottage, the MCCG and its activities.

• Martin Fingland managed to refer to MCCG activities and value to the environment as he entertained the enthusiastic crowd with his wonderful wildlife show.
• John Stanisic -The Snail Whisperer- had children sorting snail shells as if they were scientists.
• Geoff Monteith had live stick insects camouflaged on a branch for children to find -and a giant burrowing cockroach for them to hold – as well as look at his display cases of interesting invertebrates.
• Anne Kemp in the Lungfish tent was kept busy doing a creative craft activity with the help of her Grandson.
• Jan Blok had kids using a simple leaf key to ID leaves of native plants she had brought which showed the relevant features. (We gave copies of Fragments of Green to 6 children who showed great interest and ability in this activity- potential for the next generation of environmentally interested native plant enthusiasts.)
• Andrew Wilson had many budding native plant enthusiasts potting seedlings and finding out about Callicarpa for example.
• Tony Goodrich had a working hive of Native Bees that interested children and adults alike.
• Naturesound’s Sheena Gilman could let kids hear Bird calls on an ipad and gave booklets on bird spotting to kids interested in Bird ID.
• As usual, a very popular activity was Jewellery Making with Deborah Craig using Marjorie Welch’s handmade, kiln fired clay native leaves. This supply is now used up, but Deborah will be happy to improvise some other way of creating environmentally themed jewellery or craft