Great outdoor fun for the under 5s in Crawley and Henfield with ‘Nature Tots'

The groups get up to all sorts of exciting things, including: using sweep nets to find crickets and grasshoppers, collecting seeds to make mini-meadows at home, making wooden bird feeders to take home, and using watering cans to make mud pies.

Nature Tots is a forest school programme providing a wonderful opportunity for children to experience and learn from nature.

Hands-on outdoor activities are themed around wildlife and the changing seasons.

Tots are encouraged to tackle woodland craft skills for themselves, and gain a sense of achievement from successfully completing tasks such as using a bow saw or building a den. The sessions encourage independent learning and team work, which will help to boost communication skills, problem-solving, physical development and creativity.

A spokesman from Sussex Wildlife Trust said: “We go outside, come rain or shine, so be ready to get wet and muddy!”

The Sussex Wildlife Trust provides environmental education and teacher training to encourage the enjoyment and understanding of wildlife through life-long learning. The charity’s activities and games are designed to support aspects of the national curriculum, but we also want participants to be inspired to protect the natural world around them.

The trust offers environmental activities at its education centres at Woods Mill near Henfield, Seven Sisters Country Park near Seaford and Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. We also work within school grounds and run forest schools, wild beach and Nature Tots programmes.

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Book a place for your under 5s here: sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/environmental-education/nature-tots/