February half term family activities at Welney Wetland Centre
Families can discover the UK’s greatest winter wildlife like never before this February half term by joining WWT Welney’s The Big Hideout.
Families can discover the UK’s greatest winter wildlife like never before this February half term by joining WWT Welney’s The Big Hideout. As a treat for making it though the darkest days of winter, when mixed weather can dampen your enthusiasm, a day out at Welney is exactly what you need. Recharge yourself with inspirational scenes of winter wildlife, and activities for the whole family to enjoy whilst creating memories together.
The enthusiastic team at Welney will be on hand to help you discover the joy of birdwatching, spotting birds from hides and viewpoints, taking inspiration from the birds you see for creative activities and having fun making things to look after your birds at home.
Families with young children can collect an explorer backpack complete with binoculars, winter birds spotter sheet and id chart to introduce the hobby of birdwatching. Parents, adults and older children can collect a winter bird spotter sheet which has more detail on the species, and hire binoculars from the gift shop.
Within the visitor centre as well as collecting your birdwatching kit there are an array of activities to be found in the pond room. Our guide has a scope set up on our bird feeders so you can enjoy watching and spotting some of our smaller birds and get your bird list off to a flying start. Make your own bird feeder to take home for the birds in your garden, plant a sunflower seed to provide food for birds later in the year…after you have enjoyed watching how tall it can grow. Show your love for birds with some face painting and get creative with some swan arts & crafts. The make and take activities are available throughout the day so you can mix it up with exploring the reserve or make the most of this space if the weather turns wet.
Set off on an adventure across the footbridge to the reserve and start with the main hide where you can continue bird spotting with a guide, enjoy commentated swan feeds and find out about the journeys our winter birds make to arrive at WWT Welney each year. From here you can take a walk along the footpaths to viewing areas and further hides to see if you can pick up some birds from your spotter sheet.
In addition to the daily Big Hideout activities we have some special days available. Join our reserve guide for truck tours on Monday 13 to explore our wetlands on wheels (limited spaces, tour lasts 30 minutes). With a guide decorate a pre-built bird box on Tuesday 14 and find out how best to place your personalised box in your garden once you get home (limited numbers, £5 donation for bird box). Help our reserve team build their weekly bird log on Wednesday 15 by recording the species you see and reporting to the team in the main hide, find out about how they care for the wetlands and all the birds and animals that live here. Enjoy storytelling sessions with author Rachel Lawston on Sat 18, copies of Rachel’s book Mia makes a Meadow and Finn’s garden friends are available to buy and can be signed by Rachel on the day.
The team of staff and volunteers are ready to welcome you to Welney and are looking forward to sharing the joy of birdwatching with you this February Half Term as part of The Big Hideout.
