Nature is as beautiful at night as it is in the daytime yet it’s all too easy to miss it. Here are a few ways to make the most of nature at night.
- Watch the sun set.
- Drink home-made elderberry port.
- Go moth-spotting.
- Go camping.
- Cook over a fire – or just tell stories around one.
- Go to a night time nature event: there are more around than you might think.
- Stargaze – and learn the constellations one by one (and learn how to identify planets).
- Bat watch.
- Photograph flowers – they look much more Gothic by night.
- Go on a ‘wild date’ with a partner: don’t forget to take candles (and a lantern to protect the flame: pocket chess board or Scrabble optional).
- Create a night time nature scavenger hunt.
- Sleep in a treehouse.
- Make shadow puppet animals on the wall.
- Go on a wild sleepout.
- Feed the hedgehogs.
- Water your plants (they prefer being watered at night).
- Go on a torchlit mini-beast safari.
- Set up an infared webcab to watch wildlife.
- See how many wildlife calls you can identify.
- Try orienteering using a compass and the stars (with a friend!)
- Have a midnight picnic outdoors. Take a fire bucket if it’s cold (but only have fires in places a spark won’t cause nature any problems.)
- Admire the reflections in the water.
- Take a moonlit stroll with a loved one.
- Learn the phases of the moon, and work out what stage it is at.
- Listen to the dawn chorus.
- Lie on the ground in the early hours, while the dew still beads the grass.
- Watch sunrise.
- Read a nature book in bed.
- Listen to a nature CD as you drift off to sleep.
- Dream of your favourite nature spot.
For more ideas, buy my book Go Wild: Over 200 Ways to Connect With Nature. It includes money-saving tips and research on the health benefits of nature, along with fun ways to make the most of the world around you. I am donating all June profits from the book to the Wildlife Trusts. You can make your own donation to The Wildlife Trusts here.
