Amid everyday chaos, beneath the soothing canopy of trees, my family and I stumbled upon something more meaningful than just a break from routine – nature. Free from the hustle and bustle of the city, work, and life's gentle stresses, we're able to feel the wonder of laughter resonating through a forest, the sparkle in our little boy's eyes as he spots mushrooms, berries, or birds.

These moments spent amidst trees and forest symphonies inspire endless questions, awe, and tranquillity. Followed by the wonderment of our son’s eagerness to know and imagine, a chorus of:

“What’s this?”

“Look, a bumblebee!”

“This leaf is like a star,”

and me, fumbling around for the pocket guide to be able to tell him more about this star-shaped leaf or the beautiful buzzing bumblebee he spotted frolicking over the flora.

The Wildlife Watch pack we get with your family membership is full of ideas and activities that we can take with us into the wilderness. Our favourite was learning to whistle with a blade of grass! (I have to admit that my toddler beat me at that one, hands down).

As well as being a brilliant guide for the outdoors, it encourages us and our little explorer to have the joy of a day spent surrounded by the sounds and sights of nature. An activity we recently enjoyed was using leaves to make leaf rubbings of all our favourite leaves we found on a walk, and using them to create a little hedgehog family!

Sitting down together and flipping through the Wildlife Watch Magazine as a family is always a treat. Looking through the reader photos and seeing the submissions from young people all around the country inspires us to go out and look for our own mice, cinnabar moths, and frogs! It's an adventure for every age, from our little adventurer's gleeful wonder at learning new things to our own expressions of “I never knew that,” we discover something new and exciting each time we read.

A family membership also allows us to talk about the glory of nature around us and inspires our little one to understand the importance of nature, so that it can continue to be protected for generations to come. The Wildlife Watch pack transcends just its material value—a family membership for Staffordshire Wildlife Trust allows us not only to reap the brilliant rewards of the countless activities, knowledge, and (super cool) sticker pack, but also allows us to know that we’re making a difference with our purchase. For example, just £5 a month contributes towards bringing back habitats for wild frogs.