Bird, Bee & Bug Houses shows children how to support garden wildlife by making sustainable bird, bee and bug houses, as well as how to create habitats through small, achievable projects.
Perfect for young naturalists, this beautifully illustrated, accessible book is packed with practical activities and information about the wildlife found in our gardens and beyond. The content is designed to inspire a curiosity encourages children to have a go and do their bit in supporting and protecting creatures both big and small. From building nest boxes and beetle banks to bee homes and butterfly feeders, children will also learn why supporting our backyard creatures is so important to the success of local ecosystems and the biodiversity of the world. Each project includes easy-to-follow illustrated step-by-step instructions along with detailed material and tool lists.
Activities include: Mini Wildlife Garden, Bug Hotel, Beetle Bank, Bat House, Nest Boxes, Bird and Butterfly Feeders and more.
- Introduction 6
- Homes and habitats 8
- Make a bird box 10
- Owl homes 14
- Awesome owls 16
- Bird architects 18
- Build a bird bath 20
- No-bake bird cake 22
- Make a butterfly garden 24
- Beautiful butterflies 26
- Build a bat house 28
- Fantastic bats 30
- Make a bee home 32
- Inside the hive 34
- Build a bug hotel 34
- Build a beetle bank 38
- Termite towers 40
- Make a mini pond 42
- Amazing amphibians 44
- Pond dipping 46
- Make a mini meadow 48
- Become a wildlife detective 50
- Glossary 52
- Useful conservation websites 54
Susie Behar is a book editor and writer, with more than 25 years experience of editing children's non-fiction and fiction. She lives in rural West Sussex, UK, surrounded by farmland, open countryside and lots of birds, bees and bugs. She has written books on a number of subjects, including mental health, well-being, the countryside and the natural world.
Esther Coombs is the illustrator of the award-winning Kids Can series including Kids Can Cook Vegetarian, Kids Can Cook and Kids Can Bake, and three children's activity books, The New York Activity Book, The London Activity Book and Plant, Sow, Make & Grow (all published by Button Books). She is a professional illustrator probably best known for drawing buildings; however, she also works with domestic objects and more organic 'natural' subjects such as animals, plants and people. Recent clients include Hampshire Cultural Trust, Kyle Books UK, The Watts Gallery and commercial developers. Coombs lives in Canterbury, England.