Guest Blog by Bethan Casseldine - Community Engagement Voluntary Intern for Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff Having recently joined the Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff team on a six month internship, I’m lucky enough to work on a range of different tasks on daily basis; all of which allow me to enjoy the great outdoors while helping to save our wildlife - from family events and school sessions, to working with community groups and volunteers. As part of the project we actively encourage children and families to take an interest in the bugs and birds that live on their doorstep or in their local park, and in May we held two special events specifically designed for Cardiff’s younger generation. By encouraging toddlers to spend more time having fun in the wild, we decided to work with one of Cardiff’s most popular visitors - worms!
The children enjoying playing with the worms - image RSPB Cymru
The events were held at Techniquest in Cardiff Bay and Parc Play in the city centre, where children were able to hunt for some lovely minibeasts and catch some slithering worms. As well as getting the opportunity to get up close with some real life worms, families were in for a treat as they took part in a special storytelling session of ‘Superworm’ by Julia Donaldson. They discovered all there is to know about the adventures of the wiggly, squiggly worms they met, and how worms too have a special heroic part to play in nature. Some children were keener than others when it came to holding our wriggling worms, but even the most cautious of toddlers were getting stuck in my the end of the day.
It was so nice to see the children enjoying themselves and watching their faces light up as they played with the worms, and as they told us all about the nature they’d found in their own gardens. For some children however, this was their first ever interaction with wildlife and it was fantastic to see them getting close with nature at such a young age, hopefully creating some fond memories which will stay with them as they grow older. It’s therefore safe to say the events were a success and the children certainly now see worms as their new nature heroes! If you would like to come along to any of our events this summer, please email the team at cymru@rspb.org.uk or follow us twitter @RSPBCymru or Facebook at RSPB Cymru.Reading 'Superworm' by Julia Donaldson - image RSPB Cymru