LOCKDOWN IDEAS TO KEEP YOU CONNECTED TO THE CANOPY
FOR KIDS & FAMILIES
Although we can’t be outside playing with our friends at the moment, there are so many fun things we can do with our time! From reading books to loads of art and making things, exploring in our gardens, planting in our gardens or window boxes, as well as learning and playing! Here are a few lockdown ideas to keep you and your family connected to the canopy!
BOOKS
Here are some book ideas, new and old for you all to enjoy!
The Magic Faraway Tree – Enid Blighton
The Man Who Planted Trees – Jean Giono, you can also listen to the book along with this beautifully animated short film: The Man who Planted Trees
I Can Name 50 Trees Today – Bonnie Worth and illustrations by Aristides Ruiz and Joe Mathieu. This is one of the Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library series.
AUDIOBOOKS
The Call of the Wild – Jack London, the tale of one dog’s unbreakable spirit and survival in the Alaskan Klondike. This story on BBC Sounds is read by Joseph Ayre and produced by Martha Littlehailes.
How to Train Your Dragon – Cressida Cowell, Cressida reads a chapter a day on her YouTube channel, and also some of her other books!
There are also so many great podcasts out there! The Woodland Trust also have a series of podcasts which are really worth checking out. Woodland Trust
FILMS
There are lots of freely accessible films and programmes out there, we love this compilation from The Glasgow Short Film Festival (GSFF)! GSFF have shared a selection of children’s animations, which have mostly been screened in their Family Shorts programme. They will share more each week, so keep a look out on their site!
GSFF Online: Family Shorts Week 1
GSFF Online: Family Shorts Week 2
GSFF Online: Family Shorts Week 3
GSFF Online: Family Shorts Week 4
ACTIVITIES
This is where it gets really fun! One fantastic thing about technology is the vast amount of information and resources which can be found online. It can get a little overwhelming so we have collated just a few quality links and ideas!
MAKING THINGS
This is a fantastic opportunity to get creative and make things!
Make a paper tree! From pines to palms this WikiHow has a super easy to follow, step-by-step guide! 4 Ways to Make a Paper Tree for Kids
The RSPB have loads of fun activities for all ages on their website! Including doing a wildlife survey from your home and garden, building bird boxes and we love this simple step-by-step guide of how to make your own bird feeder from recycled materials.
And if you have more materials in your house make some Puppets with things lying around the home, join Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre for Puppet Snippets!
Rewild Yourselves with Trees for Life’s list of fun activities and tips to keep positive and connected at these times!
Cool Earth is a fantastic charity tackling deforestation in the world’s rainforests, with people that call it home. They have collated some fab activities from downloadable colouring-in sheets to educational quizzes! Cool Earth, Rainforest activities for kids.
DRAWING
The Draw Bot website has so many helpful drawing pages! Here are a few that we have enjoyed!
The Art for Kids Hub YouTube channel have lots of cool step-by-step drawing and creating guides, for lots of ages! Here are a few of our favourites!
PLANT SOMETHING
If you have a garden or not, you can plant something! Plant, grow and eat fruit and veggies, learn about where your food comes from and feed your parents! Here are ten fruits and veg which are easy to plant and grow! 10 Fruits and Veg to Plant
KEEP YOUR BODY ACTIVE
Check out our blog Keep Fit AND Stay at Home for some general workout videos, some for the keen climber out there as well as a bit of surf paddle fitness, in case you plan to hit the waves after lockdown!
Keep active and learning with these fun PE classes on YouTube!
The National Trust have created 50 things to do before you’re 11¾ as a way to encourage kids to spend time playing outdoors. Although not all of the activities are possible at the moment, the National Trust have compiled a list of the activities possible in your back garden! And if you don’t have a garden, perhaps incorporate activities into your daily walk, bike, or run! Things to do in your back garden!
On one of these good weather days, why not pitch a tent in the garden (or in the living room!) and have a stay-at-home camping trip!
KEEP YOUR MIND ACTIVE
Keeping an active body and mind are both important (and fun) and there are so many educational resources out there to keep you learning!
We love the Earth Live Lessons with Lizzy Daly with lots of inspiring scientists, conservationists and wildlife film makers, speaking live for 20 mins daily! Including a fascinating talk from Dr Harry Fonseca Williams, a conservationist, and snake bite and venom specialist. Harry Fonseca Williams: Venoms – Awe-inspiring or awful?
A blog from us on Tree climbing in the learning zone!
The Edinburgh Science Festival have some really cool learning activities for all ages in their KIDS LAB. They have also compiled a huge range of fun activities from exploring space to the cells in our own body, and having a lot of fun while learning! Check out their Activities for Children page and their Recommendations for Children and Families page.
SEFARI have published a soils and Crofting Resources: Diversity is Key to Life, all about why soil is so important. All resources are free to access and focus on the soils of crofts. There are also some very cool posters to download!
We absolutely love the fun resource on Wildlife Kate’s website, including the AlfrescoWild Challenges which include Challenges like:
Wildlife Kate also has some live camera traps in her garden… we have added a link in the next section!
KEEP CONNECTED
We always enjoy watching animals in those hard to reach places. The Wildlife Trust have cameras across the British Isles, you can tune in to lots of animal lives, from barn owls in Dorset to badgers in Essex! Wildlife Trust – British Isles Webcams
The Scottish Wildlife Trust have webcams installed on several of their Scottish reserves too, Watch Wildlife Online. Check out our special favourite, the ospreys at Loch Arkaig who are maintaining their nest in preparation for laying! To find out more about the osprey nest and how that beautiful footage is captured so well, take a look at the Arkaig ospreys – Behind the scenes of a nest camera in the Scottish Highlands. And for more osprey fun, this is a great blog outlining how to identify the differences between males and female ospreys: How to tell male and female ospreys apart.
Wildlife Kate has some camera traps out in her garden and she is capturing some wonderful wildlife moments! Take a look through her live cams!
As well as tuning in to some of the animals around Britain, we can also keep connected and learn more about the plants around us! The Woodland Trust have some awesome fruits and nuts, tree, twig, blossom and catkin identification guides to help you along the way! Identification for Kids
There are so many ideas to keep us all connected and happy in these strange times, please share with us anything else you think of and we will add to the list of lockdown ideas to keep you connected to the canopy!
*Please be aware that all the content that has been shared here is from sources which are out-with our website and therefore out-with our control.*
Wild Tree Adventures
Wild Tree Adventures