With the summer school holidays here, Landcare Australia’s Junior Landcare program has added a brand new resource to its online Learning Centre, a digital platform packed with activities and ideas to help children build knowledge of and connections to their local environment.

With the help of the Junior Landcare characters – Suyin, Amir, Beth and Jarrah – the Junior Landcare School Holiday Journal encourages children to explore the four key areas of Junior Landcare – biodiversity, food production, waste management and recycling, and First Nations perspectives – through a series of fun activity sheets and easy-to-do ideas to try these holidays.

From nature sketching to an animal crossword and garden find-a-word, veggie scrap propagation to how to build a bee hotel, the journal activities have been designed for children of all ages to do on their own, or together with friends and family over the December-January school break.

“For children to want to protect the environment, they must first be able to appreciate and understand it,” said Dr Shane Norrish, Landcare Australia CEO.

“The Junior Landcare Learning Centre has been designed to do just that, with this latest resource part of Junior Landcare’s vision to inspire young Australians to be aware, empowered and active in caring for their local environment.”

The Junior Landcare School Holiday Journal is based on learning activities in the Junior Landcare Learning Centre, supported by Woolworths. The Learning Centre activities have been developed by environmental educators to support hands-on learning in the classroom, at home or within the community, and are supported by educational videos, checklists, activity sheets and fun facts.

Earlier this year, 10 new First Nations learning activities were introduced to the Learning Centre. Developed by Landcare Australia together with First Nations educator, Wiradjuri man Adam Shipp, they include discovering First Nations weather, creating an Indigenous plant use garden, and exploring First Nations people’s languages map, which can also be accessed via the school holiday journal.

“We are always delighted to get behind resources that inspire curious young minds and support children to learn more about the active role they can play to ensure the safe future of the environment,” said Loretta Arrastia, Community Programs Manager, Woolworths Supermarkets.

“With children at home for several weeks over the school holidays, this is the ideal time to introduce them to ideas that will help to grow the next generation of environmental champions.”

To download the Junior Landcare School Holiday Journal, go to: www.juniorlandcare.org.au/just-for-kids

About Junior Landcare: Junior Landcare provides children the opportunity to play an active role in ensuring the safe future of their environment. Activities help young Australians to develop skills, share knowledge, create experiences and foster connections with place and community. Junior Landcare encourages continuous participation from childhood to adulthood so that the children of today become the Landcarers of the future.