Family-friendly fun at Nature Camp

As part of NatureFest this year, Karen the farmer welcomed nearly 50 people onto her farm for Nature Camp.

Karen said, “It was great to welcome so many kids onto the farm and lovely to see them enjoy so many different activities. Nature Camp is an event that helps children and families get closer to nature and find out more about farming.”

This is the second time that Nature Camp has taken place, and it continues to be a success, helping children and families to explore the natural world and learn more about the North Pennines.

During the weekend families enjoyed discovering different types of moths and finding out why they are important. Kids enjoyed seeing moths that were all different shapes and sizes and some even got to have moths land on their hands.

River dipping was another activity that people of all ages enjoyed. A wide range of river creatures were discovered and talked about, especially the American signal crayfish, leading to discussions about creatures that aren’t native to these waters and how this can cause damage to the balance of the ecosystem.

Children also enjoyed the cooking marshmallows on the campfire, and having the freedom to enjoy being in the landscape and outdoors.

What families said

“River dipping, finding all the things in the river, I enjoyed the moths this morning, and didn’t realise there were so many different types. We will now pay more attention when we go to the river and turn over some more rocks”

“I really enjoyed the poplar hawk moth and the nocturnal bats. I liked walking around, seeing the crayfish in the river and the globeflowers down by the Tees. We’ve learnt to observe more, sometimes you just walk past things, and it’s made me more aware. I would like to improve the provision in our garden for insects, I’ve taken the gardening for bumblebees North Pennines leaflet away with us, you also need to look after moths as well as bumblebees!”

“It’s a nice place to go camping, there is a moth that looks exactly like a stick, I wasn’t expecting that”

“My favourite part of the weekend was the marshmallow roasting and the river dipping. I learnt where birds go and where they live”

“I liked it when we went to the river and we searched for animals living underwater, and we found a crayfish’s skeleton, we saw a fish in the river too. We live near the River Tyne and we hope to go looking in there soon too, to see what we can find.”

“Loved the bird walk and listening to the birds, loved the bat detector and hearing the noctule, and loved using a hand lens and looking at the flowers – she has already bought Indi a hand lens, and they are saving up for a bat detector!”

“The kids loved it and would love to come next year”

“The kids had the best time ever. [Child] has not stopped talking about it at school and the teachers have all approached me absolutely shocked how much they have talked about it and loved it. So that speaks volumes. Thank you for the amazing experience”