Blogger: Charlotte Pledger, Youth, Education and Families Officer
So my journey around the region investigating family events continues. This week I have visited Titchwell and Frampton – different activities and very different weather conditions, but both engaging with loads of families.
I’ll start with my visit to Titchwell Marsh on Wednesday.... When I arrived everything was already set up by yet another fantastic team of volunteers and staff. With free entry to the family area and its array activities, this proved a tempting offer to many holiday makers in the area, several of them repeat visitors (one had been the week before and had come back for more). On arrival families were greeted with a friendly smile and invited to have a go on the tombola. They were then offered a whole range of activities including art and craft, a mini beast hunt, badge making and one of my favourites, owl pellet dissection which kept the whole family from toddlers to grandparents occupied.
Families were also given booklets to take round the reserve with them and encouraged to answer the questions about Titchwell and its wonderful wildlife. This really encouraged people to explore more than just the family area.
Titchwell’s family events are on every day over the holidays, so if you’re up in the North Norfolk area, why not pay them a visit? For more information have a look here: The RSPB: Titchwell Marsh: Events.
Of course my day at Titchwell was not complete without an incredibly tasty bacon bap!
Thursday was spent at a rather soggy Frampton Marsh. I thought the damp weather would deter people form coming and I thought this might be the case when we had one family in at 11am. However, within half an hour the visitor centre was packed with families with children ranging in age from 7 weeks (aww) to teenagers. Whilst parents were happy to sit down with a cuppa, the children were occupied with face painting (very popular), mask making and colouring, making apple feeders and using the telescopes to look out at the beautiful little egrets.
Most of the families were from the local area, several of which had not visited the reserve before but had seen the event advertised. Although families were not keen to explore the reserve in the rain, I know of at least one family who are coming back for the pond dipping event next week. If you fancy giving this, or one of the other events a go whilst you’re in Lincolnshire, take your pick from here: The RSPB: Frampton Marsh: Events.
I’d also like to tale this opportunity to thank the staff and especially the volunteers who have put in an incredible amount of time and effort to make these family events such an enjoyable and informative occasion for families.