From July through to September the London Wetlands Centre in Barnes is offering young visitors the chance to become a real Wildlife Ranger with Dusty the Duck, a perfect summer activity to keep the kids out of mischief
As a parent it can be hard thinking up holiday activities to keep your little bundle of mischief out of, well, mischief. Ideally you want something that's both fun and educational for your kid(s), not too expensive, hopefully interesting to you as an adult as well, and it's certainly an added bonus if the activity in question is tiring enough to guarantee there will be no arguments come bed time! Fortunately for the besieged mums and dads of Surrey & SW London, the WWT London Wetland Centre in Barnes is offering up some family friendly fun that ticks all of these boxes and then some.
From July 22 to September 2, young visitors will have an opportunity to spend a day in the shoes of the Wetland Centre's very own Wildlife Rangers. Teaming up with the centre's new mascot Dusty the Duck, your budding ecologist will be given their very own log book to make notes in as they collect stickers for each exciting activity they complete.
Adventures your little one can look forward to include:
Pond dipping – what fascinating denizens of the deep will be caught in your nipper's net?
Ranger training – join the centre's rangers to find out what it takes to become a real Wildlife Ranger. The rangers will demonstrate how to identify reptiles, recognise animal tracks and other general bushcraft.
Wildlife recording – explore the reserve and record what you find. Can your fledgling cartographer mark where it is on a map?
Wild play – the WWT team will lead a number of crafty sessions aimed at teaching participants all about nature through outdoor arts and crafts.
Spotlight talks – find out more about your favourite wetland animals. Whether it’s eiders, otters, cranes or screamers that intrigue your youngster, the knowledgable staff will be able to tell them oodles of interesting information about their favourite animal's behaviour and habitat.
Match nature’s colours – search the site to discover nature’s astonishing summer colours.
Rangers in training will be encouraged to record their findings and experiences in their log books – like a real life ranger – as a permanent reminder of their wild day out. And now for a little bit more information, here's Dusty the Duck himself...
Fun fact: as a male duck, Dusty is called a Drake, and in case you were wondering why his rather handsome mug seems familiar, it's because he was created by Aardman Animations, the same folk that make the fab Wallace and Gromit. He lives in a wetland and he’s called Dusty because when he was a little duckling his own watery home was drained and became a ‘dust bowl’ so he made his new home at the WWT. He wants all his water-loving animal pals to be able to live happily in fantastic wetlands and thinks children are the best people to help make this happen.
And it's not just Dusty who's excited about the new ranger programme, Scott Petrek, one of WWT’s real life Wildlife Rangers had this to say:
“I love being a Wildlife Ranger for WWT and helping to care for and protect our amazing wetland animals. We thought families would welcome the chance to experience what it’s like to be a ranger through a series of fun-packed, mini adventures, including activities that I do as part of my day to day job. Hopefully, we’ll also inspire some of our younger visitors to become the wildlife rangers of the future, helping to create a world where healthy wetland nature thrives and enriches lives.”
Sounds like quacking good fun to me!
- You can enjoy a 10% discount on entry to the London Wetlands Centre (Kids: £6.08, Adults: £11.03) when you book online. Visit: wwt.digitickets.co.uk)
Looking for another great piece on families and education? You can check out our Kids/Schools Section by clicking here
You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates on all our latest articles
Sign up to our Weekly Newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and stories
Looking to advertise your business in Surrey or SW London? Check out our 11 different lifestyle magazines with a combined monthly distribution of over 210,000 AB1 homes
