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.
We are excited to share that local company Claughtons has provided a generous donation to Playful Green Hull. As part of the development of their new Trudy Outdoor Range, Claughtons have supplied us with a sample from their new range of outdoor furniture. We are thrilled to be the first site to get hands on this beautiful new range – and you can see why! We just know this will be a hit addition to our Botanical Gardens site.
Story time in the woods
Children enjoying storytime in a natural setting, seated on charming outdoor furniture designed for storytelling.
What is this?
The Once upon a time chair
With a stunning storyteller throne and some additional chairs for the little ones, these seats are a perfect addition to any outdoor space. The throne will be the perfect seat for our storyteller and is sure to feature at many of our future events.
What we love about this
The throne absolutely captures the imagination – the PGP Team is already fighting over who gets to use this first, though Kerrie looks confident she will make it first. (That said, we all might lose out to our resident storyteller Alan Raw, who deserves the honour!).
The learning connection
Storytelling in the early years builds essential literacy and emotional intelligence by sparking a child’s imagination and helping them navigate complex concepts through narrative. A storyteller throne enhances this experience by creating a dedicated, “magical” physical space that signals the transition into a focused learning environment, instantly commanding attention and increasing engagement.
Feeling risky?
What is this?
1 step, 2 steps, 3 steps… balancing beam
These low balance beams are a perfect way to build confidence and manage risk-taking. The portable beams are very stable, but also easy to rearrange to build a new challenge.
What we love about this
Just the right height for early years, these balance beams will look great in our wooded environment. Our resident imagineer, Izzy, is already dreaming up woodland balance games. Watch out for these at our next event!
The learning connection
Developing balance in the early years is fundamental for physical autonomy, as it strengthens core stability and refines the vestibular system necessary for all complex motor skills. A low balance beam provides a safe, accessible challenge that encourages children to practice weight shifting and spatial awareness, all while boosting their confidence.
Children enjoying outdoor play on low balance beams, perfect for developing motor skills and confidence.
What’s cookin’?
Children enjoying imaginative play with the new outdoor mud kitchen, fostering creativity and messy play.
What is this?
Mud kitchen
Who doesn’t love a mud kitchen? An essential component of any forest school, mud kitchens are a great place to let the imagination run wild. Add in some messy play and stunning build quality, and we are sure this will bring joy to children visiting our site for years to come.
What we love about this
As part of our Playful Green Planet network, we’ve been connecting with researchers with expertise in messy play. Mud is a great way to build a resilient microbiome, and we’re thrilled to be able to facilitate this with our shiny new mud kitchen. Lee is a massive fan of getting his hands dirty and is sure to help make lots of mud cakes with this. He might even share it with the kids…
The learning connection
Messy play in a mud kitchen is a powerhouse for supporting schemas—those repetitive patterns of behaviour, such as transporting, transforming, and positioning. These actions allow children to explore and master complex physical and cognitive concepts. By providing a tactile space where mud can change from solid to liquid or be moved from pot to pan, the mud kitchen allows children to physically act out these internal mental models, turning abstract thoughts into concrete understanding through sensory experimentation.
What shall we grow first?
What is this?
Planter bench
Two stunning planters joined by a bench provide the perfect environment to sit and smell the lavender. From planting up a sensory garden through to some veggies, there is endless potential for these planters on our site.
What we love about this
Given the bench, this is a perfect opportunity for something sensory – or edible (or both!). We’re pretty sure Jo and Cathy are already drawing up planting plans. We could even make it a competition and give them one each, heh.
The learning connection
Growing plants in the early years fosters a deep connection to the natural world while teaching children about life cycles, patience, and the responsibility of nurturing a living thing. This is pretty much EVERYTHING Playful Green Hull is about! Planters paired with a bench create an accessible “living laboratory” where children can sit comfortably to observe minute changes, supporting positioning and orientation schemas as they carefully arrange seeds and tools at eye level.
Children interacting with plush bears at a wooden outdoor bench surrounded by decorated planters, encouraging imaginative play.
Could Trudy help transform your outdoor learning opportunities?
We hope you have enjoyed reading about our plans for the new Trudy Outdoors range.
If you are interested in exploring the range more, check out the official flyer here:
Happy 2026 and welcome back to the PGP blog. Spring is here, and the Earth is starting to wake up. In this blogpost you will find some suggestions for some tiny signs of Spring you may spot when out in nature this month, 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 March?
After the long, cold nights of the Winter months, March signals the start of the Spring season. When out and about with your little ones, here are some of the signs of Spring you might be able to spot together.
With their early blooming season, wood anemones (Anemonoides Nemorosa) are a seasonal star (small and bright white, their petals really do make them look like a shower of fallen stars!), usually appearing before the leaf canopy has closed overhead. Wood anemones are known to be very slow-growing, only spreading around 6 feet per century, making them a sign that you are in very old woodland. In parts of Derbyshire, wood anemone is traditionally nicknamed ‘moggie nightgown’, with moggie being a pet name for mice. Can you imagine a tiny mouse wearing pyjamas made of anemone petals? To see these special spring flowers for yourself, why not take a stroll through Hull General Cemetery? You can find more information on the cemetery and the wide variety of wildlife you can find there on their website: The Friends Of Hull General Cemetery
At this time of year, nature also brings us a foraging feast in the form of wild garlic, or ramsons (Allium ursinum). This tasty plant likes to carpet shady wooded areas and is distinctive for its strong garlic-like smell. As an early spring flower (ramsons are best tasting before the appearance of their small white flowers), wild garlic is an important plant for pollinators and its presence is a sign that we may be in ancient woodland. You can find plenty of wild garlic (in addition to other early spring wildflowers) lining this circular woodland walk in Cottingham: Explore Jilly Wood circular (AllTrails).
Easy Wild Garlic Pesto recipe
(Recipe adapted from ‘foraging with kids’ by Adele Nozedar)
Ingredients
100 grams Wild Garlic leaves (washed and patted dry)
50 grams strong cheese (Parmesan or Cheddar will do nicely)
50 grams toasted pine nuts or cashews (optional)
1tbsp olive oil (optional)
Season to taste
Method
Add all ingredients (except the olive oil) to a blender and whizz to desired consistency.
Add to pasta, cheese toasties or spread over pizza as an alternative to tomato! If wanting to store for later, transfer to a sterilised and airtight container and pour the tbsp of oil over the top where it should keep for a week.
A note on foraging for ramsons:
Whilst there are some similar-looking, non-edible plants which could be mistaken for wild garlic, they do not share the distinct garlicky aroma that this plant emits! If in doubt, follow your nose.
Take only what you need, leave plenty for fellow foragers.
Use scissors or a pen knife to cut the leaves 1-2 inches above the ground.
Something to secure your finds to the stick (elastic bands, hairbands, a piece of string).
Go on a walk! This could be around your local estate, a park close to where you live or on a day trip somewhere further away. This activity is great for exploring and noticing how nature shows up in urban, rural and coastal areas.
As you explore, collect any loose natural specimens you notice around you and secure them to your stick. You might find feathers, leaves or flowers. Once your wand or your walk is complete, take a close look at your wand. What kinds of things have you collected over the course of your journey? Can you tell the story of your wand?
PGP Hull Diary: What’s happening next?
Spring Event: The PGP Hull team are in the process of planning our Spring event, which will take place in the Botanic Gardens on the 25th of April. After the success of our Autumn event, we are looking forward to welcoming you all back for more nature-based storytelling, craft and play in our beautiful green space.
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 invite local settings and schools to join us with their children and learn how to get involved.
Maternal Mental Health Week Picnic:We will be hosting a picnic for Maternal Mental Health Week beginning on the 9th May in collaboration with Together in Nature. Keep your eye on our website for more information.
References:
Nozedar, A. and Harper, L. (2018). Foraging with kids: 52 wild and free edibles to enjoy with your children. London: Nourish, an imprint of Watkins Media Limited.
The team accepted the honour on 23 January at the ECSDN Awards Ceremony hosted by the University of Northampton. This award isn’t just a trophy; it is a powerful recognition of the Playful Green Hull initiative and its unwavering dedication to supporting marginalised families across our city.
At its heart, this project is about equity and joy. By breaking down social, economic, and environmental barriers, the team empowers families to rediscover their local green spaces. Our project is focused around the beautiful University Botanic Gardens – the focus of our project and its events. Through creative play and nature-rich experiences, we are helping children, caregivers and early years practitioners build deep, confident connections with the natural world.
Why This Matters:
Real Impact: We are opening doors for families to access and enjoy green spaces they might otherwise feel excluded from.
Wellbeing: We are using creative play to strengthen family bonds, mental health, and champion environmental belonging.
Future: We are inspiring a lifelong relationship with nature for the next generation of children and early years practitioners.
With thanks to our community and funders
The Playful Green Hull Team would like to extend thanks to all of the local children, families, partners and University of Hull students who have helped to make this happen. Special thanks go to Alan Raw FRSA the RSA Fellowship Councillor for the North. Playful Green Hull is a Playful Green Planet (PGP) Hull initiative. PGP is a movement co-created with local communities, delivered in partnership with the RSA, Eden Project and Bath Spa University, and funded by the National Lottery Community Fund (Climate Action Fund).
Congratulations to the Team:
A massive well done to Dr Lee Fallin, Dr Cathy Kilburn, Dr Jo Traunter, Dr Isobel Reagan, and Kerrie Lee (left-to-right), for representing Playful Green Hull and the University of Hull, bringing this award home!
This recognition highlights exactly what makes this project special: collaborative strength and a genuine commitment to social inclusion.
We are thrilled to announce that we have been shortlisted for Social Impact of the YearAward at the inaugural Awards of the Early Childhood Studies Degrees Network.
The Awards are dedicated to honouring the exceptional contributions of students, professional practitioners, and institutional settings within the Early Childhood sector.
The full list of shortlisted nominees will be available on the ECSDN website soon.
The inaugural ECSDN awards ceremony takes place on Friday 23rd January 2026 at the University of Northampton.
Wish us the very best of luck and we’ll let you know if we’re successful in the new year.
Playful Green Planet is RSA’s first big fellows-led initiative. It is made possible through the work of RSA Fellows like Lee. If you’re interested in being part of the change, perhaps RSA Fellowship is for you?
Passionate about making a positive change where you live?
Discover what the RSA Fellowship can do for your community and you:
Following many successful small events in our beautiful Botanical Gardens, on 25th of October we we thrilled to host our first big launch event for Playful Green Hull. For this blog update, we’re excited to share a video update on this fantastic event. A HUGE thank you to all of our partners and volunteers that made the day special.
We’re looking forward to updating you further when we complete evaluation and analysis of our initial findings.
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].
Today we were thrilled to host representatives from across the city for our first Co-Design Council Meeting. Our Co-Design Council is our core stakeholder group. They are our coalition of local partners with the expertise, resources and connections to drive the success of PGP in Hull. Attendees included the Friends of Thwaite Gardens, University Estates, THRIVE Cooperative Trust, The Hull & East Yorkshire Children’s University, Hull City Council, Pan Galactic, Rewilding Youth and more!
Our first meeting focused on developing outdoor learning opportunities for children in Hull, particularly through the use of green spaces like the Botanic Gardens. The aim is to foster confidence in both children and adults, promote safe exploration, and ensure inclusive access to nature.
Key Themes and Discussions
1. Access and Inclusion
Many families feel disconnected from green spaces due to cost, distance, or perception.
The project seeks to reframe nature as a shared, accessible resource.
Emphasis on working with children with additional needs in safe, enclosed environments.
2. Safety and Site Management
Importance of clear communication about site features (e.g., maps, photos).
Importance of risk assessments, especially regarding chemicals and poisonous plants.
Interest in creating child-friendly zones with edible and non-edible plantings.
3. Educational and Creative Opportunities
Integration of science (e.g., biodiversity monitoring, bio blitzes) with creative storytelling (e.g., fairy trails, child lore).
Potential for interdisciplinary student projects (e.g., biology and education).
Use of artistic approaches to make science more accessible and engaging.
4. Community and Collaboration
Strong desire to involve local communities, schools, and creative practitioners.
Discussion of intergenerational learning and community-led development.
Interest in linking with existing initiatives like the Children’s University and Eco Fest.
