Nature revealed in schools across the country as part of Hidden Nature Week
From 14-20 October, education settings uncovered hidden nature across England by taking part in Hidden Nature Week.
From Exeter to Newcastle, children and young people submitted over 4,300 hidden nature observations to the Hidden Nature Challenge online map, following prompts such as identifying ‘nature in an unexpected place’ and ‘repeated patterns in nature’, among others. Observations included a range of colourful mushrooms, brown leaves, slugs and snails due to the wet, autumn weather across the week!
As part of Hidden Nature Week, an annual event from the National Education Nature Park, Nature Park registered schools were entered into a giveaway draw with the chance to win Nature Park prize bundles.
Getting to know your site is a really important first step in the Nature Park cycle, that allows children and young people to connect to nature in their school's outdoor space and start to think about how they can improve it for both wildlife and the school community. We're excited to see the plans that these schools put in place!
Thank you to everybody who took part in Hidden Nature Week!
It’s not too late!
Schools can continue to get involved with the Hidden Nature Challenge, one of the many activities in our growing library of free resources. The Hidden Nature Challenge is a great way to get outdoors and embrace nature-based discovery. It can also help to start your Nature Park journey, supporting with the 'Getting to know your site' stage of the process and the skills needed for Mapping your site.
Share what you have been up to #EducationNaturePark
Have your images displayed at RHS gardens or the Natural History Museum
In the Hidden Nature Challenge activity, children and young people can take photos of their findings. Throughout this year, a selection of images will be chosen to be displayed in RHS Gardens and the Natural History Museum in London for our visitors to see during summer 2025. Just simply have a go at the activity, and we’ll be in touch if your images are chosen to go on display!