Go wild at a local nature reserve
School holidays are a great opportunity for wild time! Get your little ones engaged in the outdoors and visit a nature reserve that you have never explored before; let them run free and experience the wonder of nature for themselves. It’s time well spent.
Here are some of our favourites…
It’s worth the 40 minute drive from Oxford to this stunning nature reserve in the Chiltern Hills near Henley-on-Thames, and you can easily lose yourself here for a day as there is so much for the whole family. Pick up a backpack from the Interpretation Centre, full of activity and spotter sheets, and follow the Nature Detectives Trail through woods and glades, or track the badger way markers for the Wildlife Walk - only 1 mile so perfect for little people. An absolute favourite of ours and a jewel in the crown for the Wildlife Trusts.
Want to visit this nature reserve with somebody who has limited mobility? Limited mobility needn’t mean missing out on nature, Warburg Nature Reserve has Trampers (an electric, four-wheeled scooter designed to transport physically disabled persons over sealed and unsealed surfaces) available to borrow free of charge. Book in advance.
What’s on? Winter Wildlife Wonders: Join for wintery self-led activities on Thursday 20th February where children can explore the reserve! Wrap up warm as many of the games will be outside! Activities are aimed at 4–11 years. Younger and older siblings are welcome to accompany. Children must be accompanied at all times. Book here. £4 per child.
A little known nature reserve in Risinghurst once belonging to C.S Lewis and the inspiration for ‘Narnia’. This beautifully quiet spot has a pond, perfect for pond dipping and full of toads in the spring, as well as steeply rising woodland which adventurous little ones will love scrambling up. Download the Children’s Discovery Trail before you go and follow the map to complete the quest! Oh, and did we mention that we left some of our fairy doors there from our trail? Magical!
Small, yet perfectly formed. Previously described as one of the richest habitats in middle England, this gem of a nature reserve is only 3.5 miles out of Oxford and supports a hugely diverse array of wildlife. Lizards can be spotted lounging on log piles in the summer and grass snakes are sometimes spied slithering through the green (EEEEK!) The ¾ mile wildlife walk (follow the badger way markers) is the ideal opportunity for little ones to explore under logs and collect leaf treasures or pick a posy of wonderful wildflowers.
We stumbled across this nature reserve on their Springwatch open day and were astounded to discover this patch of wilderness in suburban North Oxford was once a rubbish tip, it felt like a secret and tranquil sanctuary. We wandered up the boardwalk and spent an exciting afternoon pond dipping, exploring and playing games — lots of hide and seek opportunities among the trees. You may be lucky enough to spot a swan and her cygnets, a muntjac deer, a buzzard or some fairy doors we left here from our trail last year…enjoy!
You may have ridden your bike through Bernwood Forest (if not then we recommend!) without straying into the meadows, but this is not to be missed in the summer months when the wildflowers are in full bloom and butterflies are aplenty. The Forestry Commission’s Butterfly Trail runs past the end of the reserve, pick it up and follow the two mile route through woodlands and fields. Bernwood Forest is an all -year-round adventure though; whizz down the hill on your bike, throw stones in the shallow or explore the ready made dens, don;t forget to print out some spotter sheets from Nature Detectives before you go!
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