Wild family fun whatever the weather this summer!
Get back to nature and join us for wild family fun at WWT Washington Wetland Centre this summer - whatever the weather!
With a mixture of indoor and outdoor facilities - plus space under-cover to host special events and waterproof wildlife that doesn’t mind the rain - we’re the perfect place to spend a sunny or soggy afternoon!
From Saturday 21 July and throughout the school holidays, visitors can take part in various activities including mini-beast hunts, den-building in the woods and pond dipping in our new interactive Pond zone; as well as one-off special events such as Animal Antics (Saturday 25 August), bushcraft campfire cooking (Saturdays 11 and 18 August) and Sustainable Sounds recycled music workshops (Sunday 19 August).
Our visitor centre is home to Waterside Cafe, which has stunning views of our majestic Eurasian cranes; once extinct as a breeding species in the UK but now strutting across beautiful stream habitat beneath the cafe windows.
Barnacle geese, wigeon and goldeneye can also be spotted alongside families of moorhen, mallard and coot. Relax and watch them as you enjoy a home-made cookie and cuppa or tuck into a tasty lunch.
The indoor Discovery Centre is a large family-friendly space, where children can climb inside a giant egg, play games, read books from an extensive library and watch a film about WWT’s intrepid international mission to save the Madagascar pochard, starring our very own aviculture manager Owen Joiner! Plus, take part in a variety of craft activities every afternoon from 1.30-3.30pm (small costs apply).
And if the sun is shining or even if the heavens do open, the wildlife is still out there in our wetlands, woodlands and nature reserve.
Our Insect Garden and wildflower meadows are now in bloom, with stunning bee orchids, yellow rattle and northern marsh orchids being particular highlights.
We have four bird hides at Wader Lake, where you can sit and observe grey herons, common tern, regionally-rare avocets and lapwing.
Over at Hawthorn Wood, our family-friendly, accessible hide has incredible close-up views of colourful woodland birds, which aren’t put off by a few drops of rain if it arrives and still flock to the feeding station in abundance.
And up at the duckery, rare ducklings, goslings and cygnets are still hatching; while Close Encounters is home to young families of bar-headed and Ross’ geese.
Cheeky otters Rod and Musa are fed every day at 11am and 3pm (their furry coats are waterproof, even if the wardens do end up needing an umbrella!) and flamingo talks take place at 2pm. Find out how our beautiful Chilean flamingos keep their feathers pink and why their knees bend backwards.
Come rain or shine, the award-winning WWT Washington Wetland Centre is the perfect place to connect with the wild world.
For further details about summer holiday activities, please visit http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/washington/dont-miss/
