Little Explorers Nature Club

Our Clubs are a fun way to introduce children to the joys of playing and exploring in nature.  Our sessions take place in various locations across South East London, including a hidden nature reserve and a secret wildlife garden.

​

We’re very passionate about encouraging children to spend time outdoors, learning through play by exploring their natural world.  Each week we explore a different topic and link these in with our activities.  Our sessions start with an arts and crafts activity and finish with a story, with lots of free play in between.

 

We’re always looking for wildlife: bug hunting for worms, beetles and snails; listening for birds and looking for signs of the animals we share our spaces with. Our sessions are child-led, and informal, we like the children to explore at their own pace and their own way.  We have trowels and pots for making mud pies,, sensory toys, magnifying glasses and binoculars for spotting, and identification sheets and books for those who want to investigate on their own.

​

Parents and children should be prepared for outdoor play, and wellies are always a good idea if you think it’s going to be muddy.

​

Our Sites:

1st New Cross Scout Hut, 25 Breakspears Rd, Tack Mews, London SE4 1XW

A lovely site for us to explore.  There’s a little woodland, a mud kitchen, trucks to carry mud around the site, and lots of areas for bug hunting. There’s a scout hut to hide in if it’s raining, a kitchen for hot drinks for parents, and an added bonus of a fire pit for the odd club campfire.

​

Dacres Wood Nature Reserve, (SE23) 

This is a magnificent hidden nature reserve in Forest Hill. It has a woodland area with a wonderful variety of trees and flowers, a small open meadow and a huge pond teaming with wildlife.  It’s a great space to spot different birds, amphibians, bugs and, if you’re lucky, a family of foxes. Here we can pond dip, hide in the huge holes in the trees, spot different birds, roll around in the meadow and run around enjoying being outdoors.  There’s also a heated building on site with a toilet and classrooms for our crafting if it’s raining outside.​

​

What to Bring:

We run in all weather, as long as it’s safe to, so please make sure both you and your child are dressed appropriately.  Wellies are great for rainy play and mud suits are worth investing in as it means the children can enjoy their time in the rain.

​

​

​​