5 fun and educational pond-themed activities for children
It may be the summer holidays but we're still super keen to help keep the kids entertained and learning - the perfect combination - so here's our fifth special eatsleepdoodle fun and educational package of helpful indoor learning resources (as we all know how changeable our weather can be!)
Fun activity #5 - Pond Dipping
This week we're exploring the great outdoors, studying freshwater habitats and releasing our inner natural scientist... all from the comfort of home with these fun, creative and educational pond-dipping activities!
1. Grab your fishing net and go virtual pond dipping with BBC bitesize - packed full of interesting facts and info to catch the interest of young natural scientists, then test what you've learnt with BBC bitesize games (underneath the video) and this online 'seek and find' game.
Take a virtual trip to the pond with BBC Bitesize
2. Join Jess on a fascinating Minibeast Adventure and discover all those that live in and around the pond. Learn all about water boatmen, water skaters and damselflies as well as the life cycles of frogs and dragonflies in this YouTube video.
3. Get crafting and make your own dragonflies, frogs on a lily pad, and fish from everyday household supplies. Or if you are lucky enough to have your own garden then discover how to create your own mini wildlife pond with an old bucket and some rocks.
Everyone can have a mini pond in their garden thanks to this helpful instruction sheet from Wildlife Watch.
4. Explore nature through your taste buds and make your own edible pond using jelly, food colouring and gummy sweets. Super easy for even little children to help make and a fantastic way to learn about the different depths of the pond and their inhabitants.
5. And finally, if the weather's good (fingers crossed it will be this summer) why not take a trip to your local pond or nature reserve (list here) and have fun identifying the various creatures and plants surrounding it? Wildlife Watch have a fantastic child-friendly pond life spotter sheet here which you can print and take with you.
Beautiful dragonfly seen at Upton Heath Country Park nature reserve in Dorset. To find out what wildlife you can find near you, visit the Wildlife Trust website.
And check out our pond life resource page on the eatsleepdoodle website! It's packed full of fun facts and statistics about pond inhabitants and their life cycles! Find it here.