Six year old POD has always been interested in nature. Of course it helps living in Surrey, I’m not sure her sense of curiosity would be the same if we were still in London. In addition to the garden, we’re surrounded by green space whether it be woodland, parks or National Trust sites which we have in abundance. POD may seem like a girly girl but in actual fact she loves the great outdoors and will always be the first up a tree.
The Flights of Fancy All About Bugs set (RRP £12.99) from The Green Board Game Company is a superb way for children aged 6+ to discover nature. The collection includes a range of different sets that are suitable for different environments and interests. Like pond dipping, bird watching or wildflowers. We’d love to try the seashore set too if we lived nearer to the coast – one for the summer holidays I suspect.
The All About Bugs set consists of 24 bug identification cards which are great for those “what is that Mummy?” moments. There are all kinds of bugs illustrated on these cards plus insects and spiders feature too. There are over 160 bugs on the identification cards so more than enough creepy crawlies to go hunting for. There’s also a jar for collecting critters which has a magnified lid so you can get a closer look. The set also comes with a field notes pad, a pencil, a cloth net and a tracking guide. The set is mostly made from recycled materials and is ideal for family walks and holidays in the UK.
The All About Bugs set is easy to follow and POD got stuck in straight away. We discovered a number of woodlouse in a wet area and although hesitant at first, POD was keen to catch some. We had two different varieties (one the usual dark grey colour and another a pale brown) along with some smaller ones. Little did we know how speedy they were or that they’d cotton onto the fact we were trying to catch them. That said it didn’t take long. The magnified collection jar was brilliant for taking a closer look at each of the woodlouse before carefully letting them go free. POD absolutely loves this set as it means she can look at insects really closely and with the identification cards learn a little more about each of them. Our garden has been a perfect starting point but we have caterpillars arriving next week and a huge forest to explore soon too. We cannot wait to show you what else we find.
Disclaimer: We received About Bugs kit (RRP £12) from Green Board Games for the purpose of this review.
