On Saturday (12 August) it’s International Youth Day! This year’s theme is all about growing green skills for young people to help create a more sustainable world. To mark the occasion, we’ve picked out some of the top ways young people can get closer to our natural world through the RSPB, which may help inspire the next generation of nature savers.
Wild Challenge is THE place to find family friendly, fun and free ways to connect with nature this summer. Each of the different challenges gets you up close and personal with the wild on your doorstep, whether that’s finding new ways to experience its magic or activities which give wildlife a helping hand. You can complete the challenges at your own pace, and every one completed is a step closer to being awarded your Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.
Take me to Wild Challenge
Want to meet likeminded nature lovers? Our RSPB Youth Groups take place all over the UK and are a great way to make friends and try loads of different nature themed activities. There’re three different age groups, all led by vetted, trained and skilled youth leaders.
Young Wildlife Explorers is for five-to seven-year-olds, with monthly sessions taking place outside to help build knowledge, confidence and skills, while exploring the wonder of nature.
Next up is Wildlife Explorers for eight-to-12-year-olds, with sessions taking place on nature reserves, community hubs and green spaces nearby. There’s lots of nature experiences to try and activities to help our natural world.
Phoenix groups are for 13-to-18-year-olds and offer teenagers the chance to work together and lead their own nature saving activities in their local community.
Age is no barrier for joining the 12,000 people who get hands-on to help nature as an RSPB volunteer. Currently the youngest volunteer with the RSPB is eight years old and the oldest is more than 100!
There are lots of different opportunities depending on what you fancy, from helping to raise vital funds, to getting stuck into conservation work at a reserve to signing up to our Twitch channel to have a go at being a wildlife TV presenter (see Twitch below).
Another way to ignite curiosity is by signing up for a Youth membership. From £27 a year young people can visit our 170 nature reserves to spot some of the UK’s most impressive wildlife in incredible wild places. They’ll also get a Wild Welcome Pack to give them the lowdown on what to spot at home and in their local area too. There’s also loads of makes, bakes and creature crafts to have a go at!
One of the best parts of becoming a youth member are the magazines that land through your letter box throughout the year. Written by our team of wildlife experts and tailored to different age groups, they’re jam-packed with cool stuff to keep inspiring and entertaining our next generation of wildlife lovers.
These range from colourfully illustrated stories for little ones, fascinating facts for older ones and careers advice for teenagers.
Find out more about RSPB Youth membership or if you fancy joining as a family, check out our RSPB Family membership details.
RSPB’s Twitch channel is where some brilliant young minds come together to create, produce and host nature inspired video content for you to enjoy. You can tune in to live streams from our nature reserves at any time, and twice a week there are entertaining, interactive two-hour live shows which discuss different wildlife wonders and give viewers the chance to get involved with the chat as the show unfolds.
You can watch RSPB Twitch or if you fancy getting involved with RSPB Twitch, click here.
