The Great Outdoors

With the sun shining and the temperatures rising, yesterday was the perfect day for heading off to the beautiful town of Ellesmere for a walk around the mere.  It's a beautiful area, rich with wildlife and nature.  It was wonderful to enjoy and explore the great outdoors together as a family, having fun and making magical memories.

Climbing trees to reach the sky.

Enjoying the sunshine and expressing ourselves, creating shadow pictures on the ground.

Nesting birds with their gorgeous babies make us stop to gaze.

Trees that have fallen provide a haven for wildlife and make a beautiful natural sculpture.

Exploring our surroundings, discovering exciting things and learning about nature.

 Riding high on Daddy's shoulders so you can reach the leaves on the trees.

Perfectly pretty flowers adding splashes of colour to the landscape. (11 year old Kizzy took this photo, which I think is an excellent shot capturing the beauty of a simple buttercup!)

Adventures await as we discover play areas where you can jump, climb, balance and swing.

Role Playing as Harry Potter armed with a stick wand, casting spells as you go.

Coming together as a family, spending quality time with those you love.

Swans gracefully swim alongside us as we make our way home.

This post has been inspired by the Center Parcs May Challenge and the tip to create a photographic scavenger hunt.  We have come up with a photo to represent each of the letters to spell out CENTER PARCS whilst capturing family moments and the wildlife around us!

‘This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots100 May challenge. If I’m chosen, I would like to visit Whinfell.’

Help Your Kids Engage with Nature this Spring

Do you know your Ash from your Elm?  Or your Sparrow from your Starling?  If the answer is no, then you are not alone.  According to a survey conducted by CBeebies show Tree Fu Tom many parents are stumped when their little ones ask them questions about nature.  When they see a flower in bloom or hear a bird singing in the tree, many parents are unable to identify what they are.

Help is at hand!  We can all brush up our knowledge ready to tell our children about the wonder and excitement of nature, as we explore the plants and wildlife in our parks, gardens or woodland.

Join in with a live WebTV show here tomorrow (Thursday 20th March) at 2pm, where Zoologist and nature writer Jules Howard will reveal some interesting facts about nature in Britain and guide us through what to look out for this spring when we are in the great outdoors.  Polishing up our own knowledge can help us to open our children's eyes to the wonders of nature this springtime.

Show date:  Thursday 20th March
Show time:   2pm

Go Wild With Pom-Bears

Pom Bear have gone wild!  Not only have they launched a brand new Pizza Flavour variety, they have teamed up with Michaela Strachan to teach kids more about animals and the world we live in!   In addition to this, they are giving you the chance to win 100's of really wild prizes online at Pom-Bear.co.uk. Multi-packs also contain an instant win code that you can enter online and you can also download a "kids go free" voucher at participating zoos (with a full paying adult).

We were sent some Pizza flavoured Pom-Bears to try out Inside the Wendy House.  We've reviewed Pom-Bears before and the kids do love the Teddy Bear Shaped snacks!   Freddy and Kizzy were keen testers of the new flavour.

Kizzy said "They actually taste like pizza.  It's like eating pizza but I'm not!!  They are delicious."  They do have an authentic tomatoey, herby, cheesy taste which they loved!

Yummy!

We entered our multi-pack code online for our free child's zoo ticket but unfortunately didn't win one of the cuddly toys or annual zoo passes up for grabs.  But we've got our fingers crossed for good luck in the free prize draw!

Wildlife Facts For Kids

Michaela Strachan is delighted to be involved with the Pom Bear "Let's Go Wild" campaign and believes that encouraging kids to get interested in wildlife will enrich their lives. Whether they get involved by seeing animals in the wild, in nature reserves, good zoos or watching wildlife TV programmes, having a love of animals reminds us of the wonders of nature.   She has come up with some fascinating wildlife facts to whet our appetites.

DID YOU KNOW....

• A group of jellyfish is called a smack!
• At birth a polar bear is smaller than a mouse!
• Rats breed so quickly that in just 18 months a pair of rats could produce one million relatives!
• More people are killed by toasters than sharks!
• Elephants can't jump.Cockroaches can live for a week without a head!
• The sloth sleeps for 20 hours a day!
• The tiny golden frog from Columbia has enough toxins in its skin to kill 100 people!