Check out these great activities, resources and guides for adults and families to raise awareness of biodiversity and appreciation of our natural heritage, with huge thanks to National Parks and Wildlife Service for sharing them.
Seal Rescue Ireland have put together a brilliant virtual education series, including videos & activity workbooks filled with fun conservation actions for kids to carry out at home and in their local wild spaces, such as Biodiversity Bingo, safe wildlife watching, litter picks and more!
The Natural History Museum Dublin
Explore the wonders of the Natural History Museum in Dublin with this virtual 3 D Tour of the Natural History Museum
Find loads of interesting resources at the Natural History Museum’s website. Examine Ireland’s animal life here.
Investigate the beach after the tide goes out. With this guide, you are going to find out what kinds of rocks, animals and plants are found on the coast.
Discover the rocky history of the Copper Coast on a walk through the Geological Garden in Bunmahon. This walk brings you through 4.6 billion years of earth history along a path laid approximately in proportion to time.
Geological Field Trip to Kilfarrasy Beach
Explore billions of years of geological history on a trip to Kilfarrasy Beach: The rocks which form Kilfarrasy cove are the result of a time when this part of Ireland was the site of ancient undersea volcanic eruptions.
Fenor Bog: A Climate Change Champion
Bogs can take thousands of years to develop. Take this guide and discover Fenor Bog on the Copper Coast: a fascinating freshwater wetland where peat has accumulated
Family Nature Activities with Glenveagh National Park. The sea creatures in this poster love to hide in rockpools when the tide is out! This poster will help you identify creatures while safely exploring your local seashore.
Bats are difficult to identify because they come out after dusk and they flit around so fast. This poster from the National Parks and Wildlife service tells you about the 9 species of bats in Ireland and how to protect them.
Pine martens are a shy and elusive Irish mammal. Like many animals around the world they share a habitat with humans and may take game birds and fowl. This leaflet from the Vincent Wildlife Trust and published by the National Parks and Wildlife Service gives more information on this creature.
If you are interested in how to protect your fowl from pine martens, take a look at this guide too.
The sight of trees and hedgerows in flower is a joy to see, and a wonderful nectar source for pollinators. The fruit that follow the flowers are food for birds (and people). Use this wonderful guide to identify 7 common Irish flowering trees from the National Parks and Wildlife Service
Trees and shrubs are beautiful living organisms. They provide homes and food for many creatures and most importantly for humans, without them we would have no oxygen to breathe. Check out this worksheet from the National Parks and Wildlife Service all about shrubs and trees.
If you are interested in how to protect your fowl from pine martens, take a look at this guide too.
Did you know that bees are highly mathematical? They build their honeycombs in perfect hexagons, the most space efficient shape when stacking objects. They also perform a dance called the waggle dance to inform each other of promising sources of nectar. The waggle dance is aligned to the sun and the source of food to show the direction and indicates the distance between the hive and the source. Recently it was also found that bees even understand the concept of zero – something that mankind was struggling with for a long time!
Ireland has 21 species of bumblebees. Out of these, 15 are true bumblebees and six are cuckoo bees. Here are the most common species that you are likely to meet in your garden.
This simple chart shows 9 of our most common butterflies. It is part of the excellent Family Nature Activity guides from Glenveagh National Park.
A guide to butterflies from the Burren National Park, showing 27 different buttery species and when to find them.
This lovely poster from Wicklow Mountains National Park will help you identify 20 Irish Birds including many common garden birds.
This guide from National Parks and Wildlife Service in Glenveagh National Park in Donegal will help you identify Irish garden birds, birds of prey & seabirds.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service in Glenveagh National Park in Donegal has produced this brochure to show you birds that inhabit the park.
Learn to identify some Irish spring wild flowers with this guide from National Parks and Wildlife Service in Glenveagh National Park in Donegal.
Have a look at the wildlife that lives on our mountains in this poster from the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Discover pond insects and have a look in a pond to see if you can find any of the creatures from the poster.
A butterfly feeder brings colour and joy to your garden. Use a bottle cap and simple household materials to make a colourful butterfly feeder filled with sugar water that attracts many beautiful pollinators.
Insect hotels encourage biodiversity in the garden and’ll you have a good chance of beneficial insects naturally visiting your garden. Here is a simple way to make a bug hotel using a plastic bottle and natural materials
Find out how many different plants and insects there are in your garden or in an area close by. Researchers all across the world use a method called quadrat sampling to survey the number and kind of species living in different places. You can do the same at home. This is also a good way to practice maths and learn about biodiversity ecosystems and many species of plants and animals.
Bird survey
A bird survey is a fantastic way to become aware of the many species of birds around us. You can do this at home, on your own or with your family, a group of friends or a whole class at school.
Make a bird feeder
Make a bird feeder from an orange skin. Attract more birds to your garden with a bird feeder filled with bird seed or sunflower seeds. There are many different ways of making bird feeders – this one is from Glenveagh National Park
Make a bird feeder
Make a bird feeder from a plastic bottle. Attract more birds to your garden with a bird feeder filled with bird seed or sunflower seeds. There are many different ways of making bird feeders – this one is from Kilkenny Education Centre.
With instructions from the JFK Arboretum: a great family activity. A mandala is a circular structure with a design that radiates out symmetrically from the centre. You can find mandalas in flowers, tree rings, spider webs, seashells and more – and you can use materials from nature to make a beautiful nature mandala.
Make a bird bath
Birds enjoy taking a bath and it is also quite enjoyable to watch them. See how you can make a simple bird bath at home using this activity from Kilkenny Education Centre.
In spring, flowers appear in the garden, in parks and everywhere around us. One after the other, many different flower buds open up and beautiful petals unfold. Make your own paper bud at home and watch it unfold into a beautiful flower.
Not every day is day to go outside and explore biodiversity. But you can create your own floating paintings of biodiversity right at home. All you need is water, a plate and couple of dry erase markers.
We are all easily baffled by optical illusions. They are fun to explore – and they are also fun to create. Here is an easy way to make an optical illusions at home, based on flowers, trees and a goldfish bowl – that’s biodiversity!
Once your seeds have grown into small plants in your greenhouse, it’s time to bring them outside. Snails and slugs, however, are just waiting for that – a delicious meal. You can upcycle another plastic bottle into a snail proof barrier.
Build a Mini Greenhouse at home. Greenhouses are used to grow plants, in particular plants that need a lot of warmth and those that are not usually growing in the climate that we have here in Ireland. Here is a way to make your own greenhouse at home from a plastic bottle.
How to do a Bug Hunt Bugs are everywhere, in the garden, on trees, on flowers and sometimes they also come visiting us inside the house. So why not go on a bug hunt, see how many creepy crawlies you can catch and how many of those you can identify? Make sure you don’t hurt them and release them back into nature afterwards.
