Go Wild for Wildlife Family Day

Join us at Harcourt Arboretum and find out what plants and animals are doing in summer.

There will be natural crafts, sensory activities and messy play, all themed around mini beasts and our wildflower meadow – a beautiful but also rare UK habitat. Crafts will include colour changing butterflies, meadow seed bombs and pinecone bugs.

Come and meet members of the Upper Thames Branch of Butterfly Conservation. Founded in 1982, the Upper Thames Branch aims to protect butterflies, moths and their habitats in the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. We will have a small Butterfly Identification challenge that adults and children can have a go at!

Louis Lofthouse will have some museum insect specimens to look at and handle, as well as microscopes to take a close look at their amazing features. Louis has worked closely with the British Insect Collection at Oxford University Museum of Natural History, which consists of over one million specimens, collected over a period of about 300 years.

Tours will include an introduction to plant identification and native wildflower meadows and also a guided walk looking for butterflies and day-flying moths, led by Butterfly Conservation.

All activities take place outside so we recommend that you dress for the weather, with long sleeves and trousers for exploring the meadow. Bring your picnic blanket and lunch along too!

Find out more about What's On at Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum.