Sustainable activities and crafts to do with kids in the school holidays

This summer holiday, unleash your creativity and curiosity with the kids and enjoy hours of fun taking part in animal-friendly, sustainable activities. 

A very special adventure is coming to Whipsnade Zoo this summer; twelve magical trolls are visiting and need YOU to join their team of field researchers and nature lovers. If you’ve joined our adventure at the Zoo, taking part in Trolls: A Field Study, here are some ways you can carry on your connection with nature throughout the holidays: 

Making animal habitats

At Whipsnade Zoo we pride ourselves for being a refuge for UK wildlife as well as animals from all over the world. Learn how you can help the animals that live near you by making your very own animal habitats with natural and recycled materials:

How to make a frog house

Hop to it with this amphibian-friendly home which can provide shelter to frogs and toads alike. Two of the UK’s four native frog and toad species, the natterjack toad and the pool frog, are very rare due to habitat loss. In fact, the pool frog became extinct in the wild in the 1990’s but conservation projects, including efforts from ZSL, reintroduced pool frogs back into areas in Norfolk. 

Follow the steps below to create a wild refuge for frogs and toads in your garden. A perfect activity to do over the summer holidays for kids who want to create spaces for wildlife.

You will need: 

• a trowel
• a 20cm diameter pot
• natural materials like leaves or moss

Step 1

Both frogs and toads love shady, damp areas to rest, so find a quiet, shady place in your garden that’s tucked away from busy areas, so it can remain undisturbed.

Step 2

Dig a hole between 5-10cm deep and as long as your pot. Try to make sure you dig your hole so the toad abode faces south, this will keep the inside the perfect temperature for our amphibian friends. 

Step 3

Slot the pot into the hole, on its side, with half of the pot in the hole, and half sticking above ground. Remember to make sure the pot is facing south if you can.

Step 4

Fill the inside of the pot with soil and the other natural materials you collected including lots of leaves. This provides the perfect habitat for your new friends. Hopefully you’ll have frogs and toads hopping to their new home in no time!

Bonus Step

Create the perfect habitat for toads and frogs by adding a pond nearby. Frogs and toads need ponds to breed, and adding a pond to your garden, even a micro-pond, can make a huge difference to these species.

Feeding wild birds

Recently, the numbers of once-common birds have dropped dramatically. But garden birds have a lifeline. There are over 16 million gardens across the UK, so by making our gardens a bird haven, we create the largest wildlife refuge that’s bigger than all the nature reserves in the UK put together! Bring birds to your garden using this fun, simple and sustainable activity. By using recycled and natural materials, you can provide much needed food to garden birds:

Recycled bottle feeder

Making a plastic bottle feeder is a fantastic way of upcycling single use plastic whilst encouraging birds to your garden, bringing nature to your doorstep. Different types of feed and feeders will attract different types of birds to your garden. 

Our conservation charity, ZSL, co-launched a collaborative project called the Garden Wildlife Health Project, which has produced Best Practise Guidelines on feeding garden birds, including what types of feed to put out and how best to clean your bird feeders.

You will need: 

• clean plastic bottle
• twigs
• pin
• scissors
• string
• sand paper
• bird feed 

Before you begin

This activity does involve using sharp objects, so little ones will need to be supervised. Take care when cutting into the plastic bottle. Sharp plastic edges of the holes could hurt you and the birds using the feeder, so make sure to smooth out the holes as much as possible to prevent bird feathers from snagging on any jagged edges.

Step 1

To make the perches, use the pin to punch two level holes opposite each other towards the base of the bottle. Use scissors to widen these holes to the width your stick perches.

Step 2

Push your stick through these holes making sure there is at least 5cm of stick either side of the bottle. This creates the perch for the birds to land on.
 

Step 3

Slightly above these perches, use the pin and scissors to make feeding holes for the birds. These should roughly be around 5p in size. Make sure not to make these too big otherwise the seeds will just fall out. 

Step 4

Repeat steps 1-3 to make a second perch. Make sure this new perch is at 90* angle from your first perch. It should look like a cross or an X if you were to look down on your feeder from above.

Step 5 

Use a pin to make two level holes opposite each other at the neck of the bottle. Carefully widen these with scissors, wide enough to thread you string through.

Step 6 

Thread the string through the holes in the bottle neck. 

Step 7

Remove the lid, fill the bottle with your selected feed (you can use a funnel here to make it easier) and put the lid back on.

Step 8

Find a sheltered location to hang your bird feeder. Tip – it’s best to hang your feeder within a short distance of trees and shelter, but away from shadowy areas where cats may lurk.

Step 9

Observe from a distance/indoors which birds come to your feeder. This may take a few days. Keep your bird feeder clean and replenished. 

Bonus Step

Provide a supply of clean drinking water for birds. Using shallow containers, such as a plant saucer, you can provide valuable drinking water to birds. Make sure to clean them regularly.

Things to make with bits from the garden

Creating art from natural materials is a fun way of getting kids (and grown-ups) to connect with nature. You can explore the world around you and forage for resources, before getting in touch with your creative side and making marvellous masterpieces. 

Using foraged natural materials in your summer activities and crafts can be a wonderful way to support your kids’ creativity as well as observational skills. You can explore the different shapes, textures, and colours of natural materials like leaves, flowers, or seeds, and they can use these when making their arts and crafts. 

Not only is it a wonderful sensory activity, but it can also open the opportunity to talk about what each material is and its role in nature.

Leaf Animals

Whether wandering round Whipsnade Zoo, going on adventures with Trolls, playing in your garden, or going on a family nature walk, you can explore the incredible biodiversity of the natural world. By simply collecting a few fallen leaves and sticks, you can create a menagerie of different animals.

You will need: 

• a trowel
• a 20cm diameter pot
• natural materials like leaves or moss

Before you begin

This activity involves using scissors and glue. 

Step 1

Go outside and collect a variety of leaves in different colours, shapes, and sizes. 

Step 2

Visualise what animal or scene you can create with all your different leaves. You can slightly sketch the animal on paper first to help you with your creation.

Step 3

Arrange the leaves on the paper to form your animal. Playing around with the different colours to find what fits best. You can use scissors to cut the leaves to make more detailed shapes of your animals.

Step 4

Use glue to attach your leaves securely to the paper.

Step 5

Display your creation proudly!

Perfect family day out this summer holiday

If you haven’t already done so, you can unleash your creativity and curiosity for nature by joining twelve magical trolls at Whipsnade Zoo this summer. The Trolls have set up activity stations along their trail with various nature-based activities so that they can get a really good look at how humans interact with their natural surroundings. You can have a go at building a den, making leaf and tree rubbings and crafting a butterfly feeder out of recycled materials.

Where: Trolls Trail
Time: Daily 10.30am-5.30pm

We also have more fun activities, games, and crafts at our Animal Celebration events throughout the year. From somersaulting bats and waddling penguins, to sleeping lions and soaring parrots, each celebration day will highlight their animal in its own unique way, with fun for all the family.

So, whether you're looking for a fun family day out or a whole summer of wild adventures, make Whipsnade Zoo your summer holiday highlight. 

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If you’ve enjoyed finding the Trolls and exploring Whipsnade Zoo, get a whole year of wildlife by taking out a Whipsnade Zoo membership. You can deduct the cost of your visit from an annual membership if you act quickly:

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