By Kate Hodges
17th October 2019
EVENT and DO Animal Snappers
The Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition opens today. The images are always sensational – this year, we fell in love with the raccoon in an abandoned car’s windscreen, a blissful seal, a zombie weevil and a curious grey whale – all highly commended. If you can’t get to the show, or it’s just too expensive, it’s worth sitting with your family for a flick through these sensational images. You’ll also find some sensational snaps at Sussex’s Bodiam Castle this winter, as the picturesque property hosts the British Wildlife Photography Awards. Why not take inspiration and take an autumn walk to try some wildlife photography of your own? We love the tips from professional shooters Josh Guyan here and UK urban wildlife snapper Sam Hobson here. Perhaps in 2020 you may even enter the Junior Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition?
EVENT and DO Rebel Rebel
Extinction Rebellion hold their final week of action in this round of protests in London this weekend. Find out more about the movement here. Going on marches with kids is tough, but rewarding. Find tips for easier protesting here, and read why our columnist Lucy Aitken Read chose to join XR here. If you would like to join in, but can’t take the day off, or live a distance from the action, there are some tips for helping here Want to find out more about other family-oriented XR events across the country? Head to the Extinction Rebellion Families Facebook page.
EVENT Forest’s Cool
It’s the last few months of Waltham Forest’s tenure as the London Borough of Culture, but there’s no let up in the pace or scale. Gigantic, immersive theatre production Giant is based loosely on Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant, and a features a chorus of children, guest soloists and choirs who will climb high into the trees of Chingford Plain in order to sing to these giants of the forest. The oaks will be transformed as their branches become the stage for this extraordinary event. October 18 and 19. £5. More here
MAKE Don’t Stop Beleafin’
Free, plentiful and beautiful, leaves make fantastic craft inspiration – if you can find any that are dry, that is! Grab a few non-soggy red, orange and yellow ones and use them to create animals (we are in love with the hedgehog drawings). Or try something a little more sophisticated with older children; decorate their rooms with a leaf mandala, a beautiful leaf garland or make dramatic leaf stained-glass windows. Our all-all-time favourite autumnal art project is something a little less subtle – Leaf Zombies – where Halloween and season-change collide!
EVENT Science Faction
The programme at IF Oxford – a festival of science and ideas – is always inventive and inspiring. Try an audio walk though the university city, learn how to make 3D photos, meet researchers at the cutting-edge of science, jump in an illusion booth, program battling robots, try a conservation escape room, puzzle with Ada Lovelace, find out about African and Caribbean herbalism or watch a banquet taking place inside an iguanadon. It’s a wildly entertaining, sideways approach to the discipline, that will fire synapses and kindle an interest in physics, chemistry or biology in even the most laboratory-shy child. Many events are run on a pay-what-you-can basis. October 18–28 programme here
