Avon Wildlife Safari Day 12 - Book onto a Forest Farm School, go geo-caching or visit the lake

If you're looking for something fun and interesting to do for your 8-11 year old then why not book them onto The Community farm's Farm Forest school. Set on 22 acres in the Chew Valley between Bristol and Bath, The Community Farm grows organic vegetables and hold activities, courses, volunteer days and special events to promote awareness of growing organically and being in touch with the food we eat.

photo: http://www.thecommunityfarm.co.uk/

Situated near Chew Valley lake, a visit to the farm provides a great chance to also explore this beautiful and valuable resource. Not only is is a great habitat for fish, birds and a wide variety of invertebrates but it also provides water for the people of Bristol. With nature trails through the woods and along the lakeside, starting just across the road from the farm, this is definitely worth a stroll around whilst the children enjoy getting back to nature at the farm.

photo:http://farmforestschool.eventbrite.co.uk/

The Forest Farm School provides the opportunity for children to work together on outdoor projects, learning new skills, connecting with nature around them, making new friends and harvesting produce directly from the fields to prepare food to cook over a camp-fire. Sessions will be held every Thursday throughout the school holidays and you can book on all of them or just a few (minimum of 2 sessions). They are based on forest school principles which can be a very powerful tool for gaining confidence and independence.

While your waiting to start your Forest farm school on Thursday why not get into the mood with a visit to some of our urban farms? There's a great choice in Bristol, choose between Windmill Hill City Farm, St Werburghs City farm or Lawrence Weston City farm, all of which have lots of things to see and do with summer camps, family fun, music making activites and opportunities to 'meet the animals'.If you live nearer Bath then a trip to Bath City farm is well worth a visit with 37 acres of fields and woodlands to explore.

Meanwhile, if you live near Weston Super Mare you could book onto the Somerset Countryside National Trust events at Brean Down . Starting with a geo-caching event on 31 July, 11.00am - 2pm and running every Wednesday for just £2 per child it's a brilliant way to have fun on the coast. For more information contact Carole Elliott, 01643 862452,
somerset.countryside@nationaltrust.org.uk

Avon Wildlife Safari Day 6 - Go on a dog hunt

photo: http://www.gromitunleashed.org.uk

80 Gromits, 10 weeks, 1 city! It's the Gromit Unleashed trail and it's on all summer so get out and discover parts of Bristol you never knew existed. Download your trail map and explore the city of Bristol whilst looking for giant dogs that have been painted by artists, celebrities and local people - what could be more fun! Get the app and use your smartphone to guide you around some of the best heritage sites of the city and listen to audio content about some of the most famous landmarks. You can collect a passport and get it stamped at various locations, buy merchandise and all money raised goes to Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal, The Bristol Children's Hospital Charity so you can have a great day out whilst also helping others.


The Gromits are situated all over the city and surrounding area from Cheddar Gorge to Windmill HIll City Farm and the National Trust's Tyntefield to the beautiful Hawkesbury Upton in South Gloucestershire so this could be a challenge for the whole summer which takes in some of the best places the South West has to offer.

photo:Tyntesfield House http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/tyntesfield/

In October all the Gromit sculptures will be auctioned to raise money for the appeal so if you have a favourite and want to bid fill out a form here to register your interest.