When it’s cold outside, local wildlife needs more energy to stay warm. You can make bird feeders from a variety of containers or objects you might have around at Christmastime.
When it comes to the mixture you can use unsalted nuts, dried fruits, and seeds - fat is important too, as birds need the energy during Winter. Room temperature lard or vegetable fat is great!
You can also add leftovers such as apple slices, mild hard cheese, or plain cooked pasta – you can find more ideas here. Not only does this reduce food waste, but it’s a great way to teach children the concept of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’.
Weighing up and adding the ingredients and following a recipe will also support mathematical skills and can encourage lots of conversation about different ways we can look after our local wildlife!
We use larger tuff trays here at Red Bus so lots of children can get stuck in - but you can use serving trays, or plastic tubs to keep everything contained!
Ice play
You can create ice using trays or fill up tupperware containers – you could even scope out reselling sites or charity shops for funky moulds to create interesting shapes. To add further interest, add small world sea creatures or paint or food colouring to the water before freezing. You could also try freezing items into the ice for your child to free, using warm water or toy hammers!
Winter Wonderland
Use existing small world toy animals, people, vehicles and houses. A sprinkle of flour creates a snowy landscape where children can explore imaginative play. A floury surface can also encourage finger marking, developing early handwriting skills!
Sights, Sounds and Smells
Resources that utilise all our senses allow children to explore in lots of different ways. In this Festive season, consider using…
During the busy festive period, nature can help us recharge and provide a calming influence. It’s proven that just two weeks of intentionally noticing the nature that’s already in our lives can lead to increased positive emotions, motivation, and resilience!
Being able to spot small, beautiful moments (even when times are hard) strengthens children's emotional resilience and can help them see the awe and wonder of the world. Doing this in Winter, when nature is less obvious, requires even more attention and can strengthen our tendency to do this automatically when times are tough.
For inspiration, check out The Best Walks in and around Bristol or sign up for The Wildlife Trust's 12 Days Wild!
Scavenger Hunt
We often think of Winter as brown, dull and boring. But if we look a little closer, we might find lots to discover! A festive Scavenger Hunt encourages children to pause, observe, and develop their vocabulary and communication skills. Providing a check list for children to tick off also provides a sense of achievement!
Can you find something…
That’s Not My Christmas Tree!
Give clean cardboard a new use by cutting out festive shapes! You can then explore your environment to see what patterns and textures you can create. “I wonder what your Christmas tree will look like? Will it be pebbles, sand or even grass?” This is great activity for engaging children with their outdoor environment, developing their communication and language skills, and gives cardboard a new use before the recycle bin!
We’re slowly on our way to Spring, sunshine and longer days. However the dark winter nights are still around for a few more months! Rather than seeing it as restrictive, the dark can provide new opportunities and experiences that aren’t possible during the summer.
Light and dark can inspire awe and wonder, as well as an element of risk, challenge and potential worry. It is an opportunity to talk to children about daily cycles, day and night, light and dark. Discuss the places we find light - the sun, a candle, a lamp - and that darkness is what happens when there is no light. Can you find a dark place in your home to investigate? If not, create your own with blankets!
The book ‘The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark’ by Jill Tomlinson explores the idea of finding comfort in the dark, and can be useful for children who are nervous.
Enjoy the Sunset
Source something insulating to sit on, snuggle into a sleeping bag or blanket, grab a hot chocolate and watch the colours change. Look up in to the sky for passing planes, twinkling stars – or maybe even flying reindeer...?
Sunset is also a great time to explore silhouettes and shadows. Notice the outlines of the landscape and how they move, or spot your own shadows on the floor – can you make them jump, hop or wave? Can you make them bigger, or smaller?
Go on a Twilight Christmas walk
You can use this map to find places local to you with Christmas displays. Wrap up warm, bring a thermos of hot chocolate or warm apple juice and get some steps in!
Christmas lights can inspire lots of learning opportunities. You can discuss the different colours and shapes, or see if you can spot a pattern in their flashing.
With older children, you can talk about the difference between Christmas lights and the ones we use all year round. Highlight different examples of lights, and how they use energy – are there any ways we can save energy? When you get home, take a look at your electric or smart meter and discuss the numbers you can see.
Before recycling the Christmas tree, snip off some branches! You can use the greenery as a paintbrush, creating amazing splattery artworks.
Older children can have a go at cutting out objects from this year’s Christmas cards. These can be used next year as gift labels, or use a hole punch and thread to create bunting! Always supervise children whilst using scissors.
Large pieces of wrapping paper can be cut into strips and used to create next year's paper chain decorations.
Old newspaper or brown paper can be re-decorated into eco-friendly gift wrap using crayons, stamps, or potato printing!
Take part in some family cooking using leftovers from Christmas lunch! Love Food, Hate Waste has lots of great ideas.
Empty tubes, packets, boxes and bottle tops can be set up for some junk modelling!
We are closed from 1pm on December 24th 2025, and reopen on Friday 2nd January 2026. We wish all of our families a wonderful Christmas break.