Splendid Seeds – Family Friendly Afternoon at Harcourt Arboretum

It was our last family friendly afternoon for this summer at Harcourt Arboretum on Tuesday and we were all about seeds! The Splendid Seeds event was a great way to end our summer family friendlies themed to parts of a plant because at this time of year the Arboretum has many splendid seeds on display. We have seeds that look like alligators, some that look like tiny cucumbers, smooth seeds and spikey seeds, seeds that are out but somehow hidden…if you would like to see what I am describing then come along to the Arboretum and follow our Splendid Seeds trail that will run until Monday 1^st September. Don’t miss your chance to see some wonderfully weird seeds chosen by yours truly! The good news is if you can’t make it until after Monday, most of our splendid seeds at the Arboretum will be visible well into autumn.

 

Our Splendid Seeds trail was of course accompanied by three craft activities for families that used a variety of seeds. Families could make a grass head monster, cone wind chime/mobile, and popcorn rain sticks. 

Despite having rain for the entire event there were families who braved the weather to spend the afternoon with us. We have one table outside that is covered by a shelter and even though we didn’t have high numbers, there were always people making crafts under the shelter throughout the entire event. It was great that families were able to stay around a bit longer because it gave the children time to really get into all three crafts and allowed us to get to know our visitors better.

“The craft activities are fab: seed related, accessible, good helpers.”

“We had lots of fun – loved making the rain maker – loved filling up + making my grass head monster.”

“Thank you! I love the grass seed monsters!”

“My favourite were the redwood cones on the trail.” – 7 year old participant

“Two wonderful activities. Thanks very much to everyone for their cheerful help.”

“Brilliant.” – 6 year old participant

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers this week who kept smiling and helping despite the weather conditions. Also, thank you to all the families who came along to our events this August. It was great getting to meet many new people and helping them explore the Arboretum in different ways.

Corie Edwards.