Welcome to the Bumper Blog of Nature – my weekly round-up of things you can do as a family or with any children you know. I’ll be updating the blog every week, so that you have plenty of different opportunities to keep children entertained and in touch with nature during the Easter holidays – and beyond!

Now that spring is officially here, the first week of April is a great time to get outdoors and look for signs of the new season. One of my favourite pastimes at this time of year is to take a walk through my local wood and look for spring flowers.

Of course some early flowers like the snowdrop and crocus have already come and gone. But there should be plenty to find: from pinkish-white wood anemones to wild daffodils, glowing yellow in the sunshine. One of my favourites is ramsons – otherwise known as wild garlic – which not only looks good, and smells incredible, but can also be used in salads, or even to make wild garlic bread!

I love the way that even before most of the migrant birds are back from Africa, many of the woodland flowers are at their very best. They bloom so early because by the end of this month the leaves in the tree canopy will begin to close, shutting off much of the sunlight to the forest floor. By getting blooming sooner rather than later these spring flowers make the most of the opportunity to trap the sun’s light as energy.

And don’t be afraid to pick a small bunch of flowers to take home to remind you of your walk in the woods – but never dig up a plant by its roots or pick too many flowers.

TOP TIP
Remember that spring comes at different times to different parts of the country, gradually moving north and eastwards, so depending where you live the flowers may bloom at different times.

FUN FACT
The name of one of the earliest spring flowers to appear, Primrose, derives from the Latin ‘prima rosa’ – meaning first rose or first flower.