Jul 6, 2017 - In order to encourage units outside we've created a ... parks, gardens, fields, woodland. Spotter sheet, c
Winter RSPB Growing Up Wild activities Winter is here so it will be dark at your unit meetings but how about planning a day out to your local green space to do some of these activities. With lots of easy downloadable activity sheets to make getting outdoors with your girls a doddle! Get your RSPB Growing Up Wild Paw Print! The RSPB and Girlguiding LaSER are working together to get hundreds of girls and their leaders outdoors exploring, having fun and learning about the natural world. In order to encourage units outside we’ve created a special Growing Up Wild RSPB Paw Print! In order to get this Paw Print the RSPB have put six seasonal activities together of which you will need to complete three activities outdoors and complete the evaluation form to receive your badges. Complete the requirements and receive an RSPB Growing Up Wild Paw Print. You and your unit MUST complete the activities first then follow the link to the evaluation form and instructions for ordering your badge. What you need to do:
Ask your unit to choose 3 activities from the list below
Click on the chosen link to download the unique RSPB PDF’s to print off and use
Complete the activities – remember to be outdoors!
Spend a minimum of 30 minutes doing each activity
Paw Prints cost 80p each
Follow the link to complete a Google form evaluation and directions for ordering the badges
https://goo.gl/forms/mPxkfVlaJVHl60xC2
Badges will be administered through the Girlguiding LaSER Regional Office
Badges will be sent out once the completed evaluation form and payment has been received
Please note girls and leaders will be able to earn the same RSPB Growing Up Wild Paw Print if they attend an RSPB/Girlguiding LaSER event at an RSPB reserve, unless a unique bade for the event is otherwise promoted. Please contact the Girlguiding LaSER office if you would like a PDF any of the other seasonal activities and we can send this to you as a PDF.
[email protected]
Activity 1- Bird and mammal spotting Great for: Rainbows, Brownies and Guides
Suggested ideas
2-Pinecone Bird feeder Apple bird feeder Great for: Rainbows and Brownies 3-Tracks and signs Great for: Rainbows, Brownies and Guides
4-Spot animal tracks Great for: Rainbows, Brownies and Guides 5-Make an animal tracker Make an animal track cast
Plan a winter walk at the weekend, take out the spotter guide and some binoculars Work in groups to spot different species Make a note, drawing or photo of birds you can’t identify. Each group can then look up in a bird guide book or using an app and share with the group Get practicing for this year’s Big Garden Bird Watch Start the activity by going out on a winter walk to hunt for pinecones Hang up at your unit meeting space or at home and keep a record of what birds have come to visit Use the above spot sheet to see who comes to visit These are a great way to see birds up close and can help you out when completing the Big Garden Bird Watch in January Become brilliant nature detectives; use the sheet to explore high and low for signs of birds and mammals.
Where can I do this?
Equipment
Towns, cities, parks, gardens, fields, woodland
Spotter sheet, camera, pencils, paper, binoculars
Inside or outside. Hang on a tree, sturdy shrub, a balcony or shed roof away from cats. If possible somewhere you can watch from a distance!
Listed on instruction sheet
Keep the seeds topped up, if you start to feed the birds continue throughout the winter.
Parks, gardens, woods and hedgerows
Spot sheet, pencils and paper
Tune into your senses before you go and practice looking high and low.
Remind the girls to ‘tread carefully!’ to avoid walking over interesting prints
Rainbows- Leaders find a selection of items from the sheet to show the girls before you go out, encourage them to pick them up and look closely, feel the textures, look at the colours.
Brownies and Guides - Take torches and make it into a night time hunt!
Didn’t find signs of some animals? Find ways here to encourage more birds, insects and mammals into the area.
In the wet or even the snow animal and bird tracks can be seen more easily Use the guide to spot what lives near you Look for prints in soft mud near a pond or lake, after rain, or in the frost and snow during winter
Parks, gardens, muddy paths, near a pond, lakes, rivers and woods
Spot sheet, magnify glasses optional
Follow the instructions to capture animal and bird prints at your unit meeting place – you might be surprise who visits! Plan a longer walk taking the plaster of Paris with you to take prints whilst you are out
Anywhere outside town, city or countryside
Follow instructions
In groups use the spot sheet to identify trees and shrubs without their leaves
Spot sheet, pencils, paper and a camera
Rainbows - play a game by all
Anywhere outside, town, city, gardens, parks,
Remember! You don’t need to know anything about birds or mammals just tune into your senses before you go. The quieter you are the more you will see. Practice ‘deer ears’ to hear bird calls by cupping your hands around your ears.
Great for: Rainbows, Brownies and Guides 6- Branch bingo Great for:
Remember not to break off any branches
Rainbows, Brownies and Guides
identifying two or three tree species, shout out the name of the tree and the girls have to race to the tree!
hedgerows, countryside
Brownies and Guides - Look closely, can you come up with unique ways to remember the differences?
Activities for any season: 1. Mini beast hunt Great for: Rainbows and Brownies
2. Colours in nature
3. Build a bug hotel Great for: all sections
3. Hug a tree Great for: Brownies and Guides
Use small pots to collect mini beasts, use paint brushes or teaspoons to carefully collect the mini beasts Look closely at mini beasts with no legs, 5, 8 and more
Use the spot sheet to spot and tick off natural colours Go on a scavenger hunt to collect different coloured natural objects Try this out in different seasons Follow the instructions, they can build a mini bug hotel individually or make a big one altogether Mini ones to take home for a balcony, garden, big space
This is all about sensing nature in different ways. Before you start this activity, sit or stand outside in a circle Ask the girls to close their eyes Ask the girls to listen out to any noises, each time they hear a different noise with their fists out, count each noise on each finger After 1-3 minutes ask the girls to open their eyes. What did they hear? What natural sounds did they hear?
Anywhere outdoors. In leaf litter or in soil around plants, on plants and trees, around outside of buildings Anywhere outdoors
Spot sheet, pots, paint brushes to put bugs in pots, magnify glasses
Be really careful when collecting mini beasts Always put mini beasts back where you found them
Spot sheets, pencil,
Only pick up objects from the ground do not pick any plants, leaves or flowers
Balcony, garden, big space, small space outside your unit meeting place, ask at a local park/communi ty garden or a Leaders garden Anywhere there are trees
Follow the link to building a bug hotel, use plastic bottles, toilet rolls or tetra pack cartons hung up, stuffed with the same filling. Blindfold
Keep checking over the weeks and months to see who has moved in!
Leaders to be vigilant supervising this activity to prevent girls from walking into trees or tripping over