Summer fun for all the family

By Alice Oakley

Volunteer Coordinator at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

Over the summer holidays Rye Harbour Nature Reserve hosted several nature-inspired activities for families. They were a great opportunity to support and encourage children and their parents, caregivers and grandparents to engage with nature by learning more about the nature reserve and the wildlife that can be found here. We had a great turnout of 128 participants in total, who came from near and far. Our furthest visitors were from New York and Dubai and our nearest were from the Rye Bay Holiday Park, next door to the nature reserve. 

We had moth trap opening sessions, giving participants an opportunity to get up close and personal with many different species of moths; identifying, recording and releasing them. There are over 5000 different species of moth in the UK, and on average we found 24 different species in each session. We discovered how moths use their antennae to smell, and that male moths can smell a female from up to eight miles away! There was even time to get creative, as the kids made their own moth puppets.

Our Beach Clean sessions attracted a diverse range of ages who shared in wanting to take action for nature. By helping to collect litter from our beach, it makes our shores safer for wildlife and humans, reducing the risk that sea life or birds might get entangled or ingest it. Among the rubbish, we found six flip flops (no matching pairs), four beach balls and one inflatable lilo. We also completed a scavenger hunt to search for shells and rewarded everyone's hard work with a well-earned piece of cake.

We were very lucky with the weather, enjoying kite making and flying, pebble pictures and giant bubble blowing during our Beach School sessions. We found out lots about the different shells on our beach and the creatures that lived inside them. We also identified other marine wildlife living in our seas, finding cuttle fish bones, ray egg cases and crab shells. 

Our Guided Play Trails were a sell-out; with lots of families learning more about the history of the nature reserve and the species that can be found here. As we headed on our walk, we had a pebble tower building contest, searched for faces in the stones and completed a scavenger hunt.

The summer holidays might be over, but there’s still time to get involved in our family activities in September. If you need any more convincing, here's what some of the families said they enjoyed the most:

"All the activities, especially kite making and litter picking”

“Finding out more about our local beaches and the shells and seaweed that wash up on our beach”

“Alice's boundless enthusiasm for her subject”

“Time spent outside with my children, learning some new things and craft time!”

“The interaction with the children and range of activities on offer with factual information" 

“I enjoyed capturing and taking photos /identifying the moths and making moth finger puppets.”