From April 19th 2013, The Woodland Trust is teaming up with Poppy Cat, launching an outdoor campaign for pre-schoolers. On the Woodland Trust website there’ll be some special Poppy Cat Mystery Trail Adventures to download and try – we’ve had a sneak peek and there’s some great things to do, which are similar to things we already do (so that’s a good thing!) – looking for certain colours, or things while you’re out in the woods (in our case usually stones, sticks and feathers with occasional pinecones thrown in).

VisitWoods.org.uk hosts information on over 11,000 UK woods that are open to the public – take a look and you’ll probably find woodland near you that you never realised existed (or that you constantly forget about – like us and the nature reserve down the road) then a car ride away is Banstead Woods, another favourite and great for wandering around. In fact, this time of year is great for bluebells.

To celebrate the launch of Poppy Cat with the Woodland Trust, Nick Jr will be broadcasting some nature-themed Poppy Cat episodes from the 18th April at 7.15pm. You can also find additional support materials at visitwoods.org.uk, nickjr.co.uk and poppycat.com – and don’t worry if you’re a bit older – there’s more age appropriate activites at the Woodland Trust’s Nature Detectives initiative over at naturedetective.org.uk

Simone Ashley-Norman of the Woodland Trust says, “You are never too young to visit a wood and our partnership with Poppy Cat will enable families across the country to get outdoors this spring and make the most of our beautiful native woodlands. Visitwoods.org.uk makes finding and visiting woods as straightforward as possible, for all ages and abilities, so there’s no excuse to stay indoors!” Michael Dee, Director of Content at Coolabi the producers of Poppy Cat adds “Poppy Cat is an adventurer who is often embarking on journeys to the woods with her friends. This provides a natural link to VisitWoods and we are pleased to partner with the Woodland Trust to provide exciting content for children and families to make their everyday adventures extraordinary!”

Me personally, I’m craving getting out of the house after the wet and cold start to the year – and can’t wait to try a nature trail or two. Head over to the sites above for more information and downloads!

We were sent some a Poppy Cat goody bag for our help promoting this, all opinions are our own.