Hi there! I’m Kathryn, the Wildchild Officer for Transforming the Trent Valley.

Thank you for joining me for another blog post.

On Wednesday 26th August our Wildfamilies session once again returned to the Washlands and it was a glorious day!

Last time we explored the Washlands the weather was wild, this week we had blue skies, and sunshine. Not exactly what was expected, so always be ready to swap the hood for shades. This Wednesday we were joined by our Wildfamilies, each had their own colourful nest and equipment.

We created clay creatures such as this lovely caterpillar.

We found a couple of Smooth Newts under a tree!

And went on a mini beast hunt where we found caterpillars and snails.

We had great fun as…

• Flags were decorated with blackberries
• Scavenger hunts and egg box challenges were completed
• Mini beasts were discovered
• Crowns were covered in natural materials, or for one wild king made from woven willow branches which was very impressive!
• Clay creatures were formed
• We walked, ran and explored near and far

… and we even found a couple of Smooth Newts under a tree!

Then at the end of the session when my colleague Susan and I were cleaning and packing away equipment, we were circled by large dragonflies. It was nice and a little distracting ha-ha!

At both sessions we found something new and interesting. I have shared our finds with the Staffordshire Ecological Records who helped identify and record their locations. You can also help contribute to our wildlife records, see how on the Staffordshire Ecological Records website.

To join us for more Wildchild events, keep an eye on our events page or follow us on social media.

Have fun!

Kathryn

• WildChild Blog: It’s Good to be Back!
• Make a seasonal Robin Lantern