In this post you will find some suggestions for some tiny signs of Spring you may spot when out in nature this April, the best places to find them and some playful suggestions for free activities to help you and the little people in your life feel closer to the green spaces around you.
What might you spot in April?
We are now in the middle of the Spring season, and signs of new life and colour are all around us. When out and about with your little ones, here are some of the April treasures you might be able to spot together.
As the nation’s favourite wildflower, bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) are a popular native species. Usually appearing in woodlands around the first half of April, around half of the world’s population of bluebells are resident to the UK! The vibrant blue of these flowers along with their distinctive and delicate ‘bell’ shaped petals and sweet scent make bluebells one of the most loved Spring spectacles that nature offers us. There are many examples of local and regional folklore centred around bluebells; commonly believed to be used by the fairy folk as tiny bells to call fairy gatherings, take care to listen extra carefully when in a bluebell wood! To see these magical flowers for yourself, head down to Burton Bushes in Beverley Westwood. Please remember that, as a protected species, it is illegal to pick Bluebells.
Generally considered a weed, the common dandelion (Taraxacum Officinale) is a powerhouse for Spring pollinators and increasing biodiversity in urban environments. Dandelions flower across the whole year, but peak flowering occurs from April to June. You should be noticing these distinctive spots of sunny yellow popping up on grass verges, in parks and, of course, in your back garden! Whilst lots of effort is spent on trying to kill these plants using pesticides, dandelions are an excellent source of nutrition for humans too, with the whole plant (roots, petals and leaves) being deliciously edible and high in vitamins. Please note that, due to the amount of pesticides used on them, it is best to forage for these plants in your own back garden, a friend’s
Go for a short walk to any grassy patch close to you, you will find plenty of dandelions! Collect some of the dandelion heads in a bag or basket, remember to leave some for the bees!
Use your pestle and mortar (or a rock and a chopping board will also work), to grind the petals into a smooth paste – you may need to help any little ones to apply enough pressure to do this!
Add a teaspoon or two of hot water to your petal paste before continuing mixing and crushing the mixture.
Once you have achieved the consistency and colour you’re looking for, leave the mixture to settle for about 20 minutes. This will allow your colour to deepen.
Have fun creating with your home-made dandelion paint!
PGP Hull Diary: What’s happening next?
Spring Event:
On the 25th of April, we will be hosting our Springtime event down at the Botanic gardens. Please join us with your children for a day filled with nature crafts, storytelling and creative play! You can find more information here: Upcoming Events
Earth Day celebration:
On the 22nd April we will be celebrating the Earth’s birthday down at the Botanics, joined by children and their teachers we will be learning all about plants and the small creatures who live in the garden.
London Marathon mini:
On the 30th of April we will be hosting the launch of the Hull Mini Marathon event. We will inviting local settings and schools to join us with their children and learn how to get involved.
Welcome back to the PGP blog. This post details our Summer family feast and the launch of our new tree trail. Continue reading to find out more about all the fun we had and see some photos from the event which was a resounding success.
Tree Trail
During the event we launched our new Tree Trail. Visitors to the gardens can now use our map to navigate a path around the site and learn facts both whimsical, historical and scientific about some of our beautiful trees.
Keen observers may also spot some hidden creatures who have taken up residence in their branches so look carefully! Grown-ups and little ones alike loved exploring the site on the day and using the map to make sure they ticked off all the trees.
Family Feast
Families who attended helped to prepare some delicious food, (much of it homegrown by our star grower Cathy!) and to cook it over our firepit with many of the children using fire lighting flints to get the fire going.
Plenty of marshmallows were toasted for afters and made into delicious smores – our youngest attendees were particularly enthusiastic about taking part in this activity!
Highlights
Here at Playful Green Hull we are particularly lucky to have a fantastic forest water run on site which inspired an impromptu family water fight! Luckily the weather was on our side and everyone dried off quickly.
Families also enjoyed using our bug and minibeast hunting resources to find small creatures who have formed habitats across our site. And it wouldn’t be a Playful Green Planet get together without some very impressive tree climbing!
Save the date!
On the 25th of October we will be hosting our official launch event at the Botanic Gardens. This PGP launch event will provide opportunities to set intentions for the Autumn and Winter seasons ahead, with a little help from the local fairies! Families will have opportunities to create magical seasonal crafts, enjoy some cosy Autumnal refreshments and celebrate all that Autumn has to offer through the power of storytelling, song and nature. Come and join us, (spooky) fancy dress encouraged!
We are still finalising the details for this event so watch this space to find out more and book your place!
Welcome to the PGP blog. This is the first of what will be a regular series of posts, exploring ideas close to the project and providing you with any updates on what’s going on onsite!
Who are we?
We are a small team of academics from the School of Education at the University of Hull who are passionate about connecting children and people from across the local community with nature. We are based in the Botanic Gardens at Thwaite Hall, where we have historically trained many professionals across the education community to become Forest School practitioners. For this project, we are working closely with the Royal Society of Arts, in close collaboration with The Eden Project and Bath Spa University.
What is PGP?
Playful Green Planet is a National landmark project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. Currently in the pilot phase, Hull is lucky enough to have been included in the project, alongside Dundee, as one of the first two sites nationally.
The PGP project aims to connect children with nature, using community driven approaches combined with creative play in the great outdoors. The project seeks to support the transformation of previously underutilised green spaces locally, to maximise the benefit of project sites for both children and the environment.
Many terms have been used to describe humanity’s need to be close to the natural world. ‘Biophilia’ refers to the innate desire of all humans to be surrounded by biological and natural life (Gunnarsson and Hedblom, 2023). The concept of ‘awe’ suggests that humans have a greater capacity for feeling wonder and marvel when observing natural spectacles, both big and small, than in other areas of life (Ballew and Omoto, 2018).
Evidence suggests that spending time in the great outdoors can have positive impacts on our wellbeing and mental health, as well as the physical benefits of being more active in the fresh air (Roberts et al, 2020). Research findings demonstrate that people may even experience less boredom in natural spaces (always a win for parents!) (O’Dea et al., 2025). However, humans spending time in nature can have a positive impact on green spaces too. The closer we feel to the natural world and the greater our understanding of it, the more we want to protect and preserve it.
Despite the positive implications for both nature and people, findings suggest that overall, we are spending less time outside than ever, with numbers having dropped after a temporary peak during the Covid-19 pandemic (Office for Natural Statistics, 2023). Children from families with lower household incomes are particularly impacted, with almost three quarters of children whose annual household income totals less than £17,000 spending less time outdoors, despite 8 in 10 children stating that time in nature makes them very happy (Natural England, 2021).
At a time when climate change poses a major threat to both the human and natural world, it has never been more significant that we seek to heal our relationship with nature (Forest Stewardship Council, 2024). The PGP project team here at Hull believe that it is crucial that children are offered opportunities to develop positive relationships with nature through what they know best – play!
By offering children from across Hull a space to have playful interactions with the natural world, the PGP project can support them to harness positive benefits such as an increased capacity for exercising agency, including increased critical thinking skills and self-reflection (Gjelvik et al., 2024). A wide range of research findings also suggest that time spent playing in green spaces allows children to develop improved creativity, owing to factors such as more time spent alone, disconnection from technologies and the relaxing and inspirational qualities provided by natural spaces (Vella-Brodrick et al., 2024).
What’s happening next?
PGP Hull are on a mission to support as many children from across our city as possible to spend time in our beautiful green space at Thwaite Gardens. We are in the early stages of running regular sessions with local schools and private settings. If you and your setting or community group would like to participate in the project, please drop us a message as we would love to connect with you!
We are lucky enough to have the support and wisdom of some of the most inspiring partners from across Hull in the form of our co-design council. If you are an organisation or group working in the Hull area with a focus on the arts, nature or childhood and would be interested in joining the council, please reach out for further discussion.
Events
On the 19th of August from 4:30-6:30 pm, we will be hosting a Family Feast event and Tree Trail. During the event, we will be doing some campfire cooking – making a healthy, plant-based meal of veggie skewers over our firepit. With toasted marshmallows for dessert! Families from across the community are welcome to join us and spend time playing across our whole site and completing our tree trail. Please email us at ForestSchoolHull@hull.ac.uk to let us know if you will be coming and make us aware of any dietary requirements.
We are currently in the process of planning our launch event which will take place at the Botanic Gardens on the 25th of October. The event will see us collaborate with our partners to bring you a fun-filled day of seasonal, nature-based crafts, play and entertainment.
Watch this space for more information!
References:
Ballew, M.T. and Omoto, A.M., 2018. Absorption: How nature experiences promote awe and other positive emotions. Ecopsychology, 10(1), pp. 26-35. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2017.0039 [Accessed 25 July 2025].
Forest Stewardship Council, 2024. Why is sustainability important? [online] FSC. Available at: https://fsc.org/en/blog/why-is-sustainability-important#Why%20is%20sustainability%20important? [Accessed 25 July 2024].
Gjelvik, I. G., Hauge, Å. L., Lindheim, M. Ø., Johansen, E. H., & Johnsen, S. Å. K., 2024. Affordances for agency in a nature-based outdoor activity program: a qualitative study of ‘Nature school’ for childhood critical illness survivors and next of kin. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, pp. 1–22. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2024.2386342 [Accessed 25 July 2025].
Gunnarsson, B. and Hedblom, M., 2023. Biophilia revisited: nature versus nurture. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 38(9), pp. 792-794. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.06.002 [Accessed 25 July 2025]
O’Dea, M.K., Militaru, I.E., Igou, E.R., Rentfrow, P.J., Barrett, I. and van Tilburg, W.A.P., 2025. Nature adds color to life: Less boredom in natural versus artificial environments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 154(8), pp. 2220–2240. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001764 [Accessed 25 July 2025].
Roberts, A., Hinds, J. and Camic, P.M., 2019. Nature activities and wellbeing in children and young people: a systematic literature review. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 20(4), pp. 298–318. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2019.1660195 [Accessed 25 July 2025]
Vella-Brodrick, D.A., Lewis, K.J. & Gilowska, K., 2024. Exploring the nature-creativity connection across different settings: A scoping review. Educational Psychology Review, 36, pp. 134. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09964-0 [Accessed 25 July 2025].
