Youngsters from across Leicestershire had the opportunity to create their own ancient fossils and bug hotels, as part of a recent Geopark-supported event near Loughborough.
On Thursday 21st August, our new Heritage Education Officer, Hayley Rock, along with support from our wonderful Finance and Administration Officer, Helen Smith and fantastic volunteer Dina, ran sessions at Beaumanor Hall as part of Leicestershire County Council’s Summer Scheme for looked-after children. The young people were an absolute joy to work with and had a fantastic day, making bug hotels and models of Charnwood Forest fossils from recycled materials. It was a great opportunity to learn more about the history and fossils of Charnwood Forest and to discuss the variety and importance of the current insect residents of the local area.
There were some wonderfully unique and imaginative creations, including several Bug Palaces, an aluminium foil reconstruction of Charnia, and Auroralumina reimagined with toilet rolls and tissue paper. Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust kindly provided additional minibeast spotter sheets, colouring in activities and stickers, which were an absolute hit and prompted many happy faces.
Worksheets and teacher notes for the ‘How to make a Bug Hotel’ and ‘Recreating the Fossils of Charnwood Forest’ activities are now available for schools and educational groups to use – for further details of these, or any of our resources, please contact hrock@nationalforest.org.