Clues and activities
Choose your wildlife treasures!
You can pick and choose what's best for your family (as some of the treasures are harder than others) but your Wildlife Treasure Hunt needs to finish with the butterfly!
Most are suitable for beginner wild explorers. You may want to choose the wildlife around your home, or you could use our treasures as a wildlife spotting checklist during lockdown!
For littler ones, why not just hide the treasures in and around the house in easy spaces to spot? You can do the activity when you find it, sometime this weekend, or even next week. Our wildlife treasures are here to enjoy when and how you want!
We've given a few suggestions for each follow-on activity so that you can use whatever you have available at home. Click this link to download the wildlife illustrations, and click on the wildlife names below to reveal the clues and activities!
Hedgehog
Clue
I only come out at night, so you’ll find me nestled somewhere dark and warm and quiet. I am spiky, but very sweet!
Activities
To do now: Do you know what a baby hedgehog is called? (answer: a hoglet!)
To do later: Start leaving food and water out for hedgehogs so they become regular visitors to your garden! Find out more about attracting hedgehogs to your garden.
Bumblebee
Clue
I love brightly coloured flowers, you’ll find me near them going buzzy. I’m black and yellow, and pretty mellow, and my outfit’s kind of fuzzy.
Activities
To do now: Can you buzz like a bee?
To do later: Plant flowers in your garden, yard or window box! Discover what to plant to attract bumblebees to your garden.
Frog
Clue
I love to be in water, in fact it’s quite a habit. And even though I’m far from furry you’ll hear me saying ‘rabbit’!
Activities
To do now: Can you jump around like a frog?
To do later: Can you make a pond and attract a froggy friend?
Worm
Clue
Some people say I’m slimy, some people think I’m gross, but I help all our food to grow - even the jam that’s on your toast!
Activities
To do now: Can you wriggle on the floor like a worm?
To do later: Make your own wormery or pot some plants! Remember to use peat-free compost!
Blackbird
Clue
My coat may be dark as night, but I have the sweetest song… Look for me by tree or hedge as you walk along. Extra clue: my beak is the same colour as a carrot!
Activities
To do now: Go to the window, can you see a blackbird from your house? They like to sit and sing from the tops of trees!
To do later: Make a note in your diary to plant a native bush or tree this autumn that produces berries, such as rowan, guilder rose or hawthorn. They'll provide a delicious feast for blackbirds and other birds during the autumn and winter.
Pipistrelle bat
Clue
I’m not a bird, I’m not a plane but, boy, I love to fly! On warm, dusky evenings, you might see me when you look up to the sky...
Activities
To do: See if you can catch a glimpse of one at dusk tonight! Look up to spot bats flying around at roof height. They flap their wings very fast and are easily mistaken for small birds. If you have very good hearing, you might even be able to hear their high pitched calls.
To do later: Make a bat box and learn all about the magical and mysterious world of bats...
House sparrow
Clue
I am a friendly little bird, a really happy fellow. You’ll often see me round about and my name rhymes with marrow.
Activities
To do now: Go to the window, how many sparrows can you count in one minute?
To do later: Make a birdfeeder to attract sparrows and other garden birds to your garden, yard or window sill!
Seven-spot ladybird
Clue
I am a tiny red and black insect with a spotty, dotty coat. I’m popular with gardeners as I like eating little flies the most...
Activities
To do now: Draw, or colour in, a ladybird!
To do later: Plant some insect-friendly wildflowers
Ground beetle
Clue
I live in nooks and crannies and I like dark places to hide. You probably think I’m a ‘creepy crawly’, but if you disturb me when I'm sleeping I’ll be the one who’s terrified!
Activities
To do now: Crawl around like a beetle and find somewhere dark to hide!
To do later: Beetles and bugs are so cool! Make a bug hotel and see who moves in…
Great tit
Clue
I am from a family of small, sweet birds who all share the same one word in our name. I’m not blue, or long-tailed, but I am the best… who am I?
Activities
To do now: Can you learn to sing like a great tit? They have a really recogniseable song - “Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!”. Listen out for it when the window's open or you're outside in your garden.
To do later: Make a birdfeeder to attract great tits and other garden birds to your garden, yard or window sill!
Herald moth
Clue
I’m soft and often furry and like being out at night. And although it’s hard to see me, I come flying when I see bright lights...
Activities
To do now: Try and remember when and where you last saw a moth?
To do later: Not seen any moths recently? Make your own moth trap (it doesn't hurt them) to see who visits your garden or backyard while you're asleep...
House martin
Clue
Just like you and your family, I like to live in a house! Under the eaves is where I make my bed, and no, I’m not a mouse… Extra clue: I’m a bird who is similar to a swallow...
Activities
To do now: Hop online or grab a bird book, and learn the difference between house martins, swallows and swifts!
To do later: Look out for house martins building their mud nest under your house eaves in late April and May. If you do get a ‘guest of summer’ make sure you look after them until they have finished nesting
Butterfly
Clue:
I have coats of many colours and make everybody smile. And although I’m small and delicate, I can fly for many miles… Extra clue: I used to be a caterpillar!
Activities
To do now: Colour me in and stick me in your front window! Can you learn to identify five different butterflies this month?
To do later: Leave a small patch of nettles in a quiet corner of your garden as many species of butterfly lay their eggs on them.
Your guide to the wildlife!
If you want to transform our treasure hunt into your very own wildlife-spotting checklist, or double-check what each species looks like to help with the colouring in, then simply download this little guide!