12 year old ds loves wildlife/nature/zoos

[SalaciousCrumb]

I posted this on science club but haven't received many replies...hopefully more traffic here!

Anyway....my ds (year 8 from September) is passionate about wildlife conservation and says he would like to make a friend with another child his own age who shares his interest.

We take him to Marwell zoo every month for a club and we have put his name of the waiting list for the RSPB young explorers club. We also take him birdwatching - he says he would rather have a really good pair of binoculars than an x-box, although like most other 12 year olds he can be obsessed by Minecraft!

Does anybody have any other suggestions?

Check out the Wildlife Trusts. There are different regions all around the country.

They hold activities, talks, wildlife walks, pond dipping etc and can often be fairly local to you.

Steve Backshall is the president of the Berks Bucks and Oxon branch.

Agree about Wildlife Trusts, they provide opportunities for getting involved regularly too. One near us has work parties at weekends that include (or did a couple of years ago) young people (an adult has to be with them if they're under ... 18?) - either doing it because they wanted to or for Scout-type badges, and I think also DofE.

Totally agree with ^^. We've taken DS along & they do butterfly surveys, water voles survey (capture & release), put up owl boxes, visited a heronry, cleared paths, dissected owl pellets etc. It's all very hands on & the adult leaders are extremely knowledgeable.

my ds whos 13 loves this sort of stuff too, so im watching this thread for suggestions

Definitely look at wildlife trusts, ours organises loads of courses and also a conservation work day one day a week in the holidays for 12-16 year olds. My DD has met other like-minded people this way. The RSPB also has the Phoenix group that is for teenagers - they have a good Facebook group.

Has he tried scouts?

My daughter is 16 and just the same. She's a member of a FB group for 13-25 year olds called Next Generation Birders (NGB) if he wants to link up with other bird watchers. We're in NE Hampshire and she's out birding all the time. If you're near us, my daughter is a bird ringer if he would like to see that being done. If he's keen on a career in conservation, he could volunteer with the local countryside rangers (would need an adult with him). There's an organisation called A Focus on Nature (AFON) that aim to help and can offer mentoring, advice, trips etc. They have a website. Have a look at the blog "Wilde About Birds" for linking up with someone the same age. I'm friends with him and his parents. NGB and AFON are on twitter as well. Good luck and keep encouraging him!!