Led by St Edmund’s Church Toddler Group and supported with training and resources from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Nature Tots is a playgroup with a difference. Designed to connect pre-school children with nature, encouraging learning, play and fun outdoors.  

Nature Tots offers hands-on outdoor sensory activities, role-play games, natural crafts, and wildlife-themed stories. It’s also a chance for first encounters with wildlife close up, from spotting frogs and newts in a pond to looking at mini-beasts with a magnifying glass. 

The sessions will take place under a new pop up woodland canopy – a simple parachute shelter between the trees – to provide weather protection while children enjoy the woodland space. 

Lisa Witham, Executive Director of Communities & Connection at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said: 

“Nature Tots is a brilliant way to get little ones outdoors, exploring, learning and enjoying nature, come rain or shine. We support Nature Tots across Derbyshire and we're excited to bring these sessions to Allestree Park. We’re grateful to now have the pop-up woodland canopy, which gives us a flexible, welcoming space to run activities as we work towards creating a more permanent outdoor shelter.” 

Nature Tots Allestree is part of the Allestree Park Community Rewilding Project, a partnership between Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Derby City Council and the University of Derby. As the UK’s largest urban rewilding scheme, the project is helping to create a wilder, healthier, more welcoming green space for local people and wildlife. 

Councillor Ndukwe Onuoha, Derby City Council Cabinet Member for Streetpride, Parks and Leisure, said:

“We want everyone to enjoy Allestree Park as the community rewilding project progresses, and it’s great to see a Nature Tots group starting up. Getting children involved at such a young age means they’ll be able to watch how the park develops as they grow up.” 

Throughout the life of the project, the partners have been having conversations with a wealth of local people and organisations, with plans for a natural outdoor engagement space to support activities for children and families a key element part of the original vision. 

Discussions are underway to develop a permanent outdoor learning shelter and pond dipping area, which together with the pop-up canopies, will form an engaging outdoor engagement hub for schools, community groups, and youth nature programmes like Junior Rangers (for ages 11–18). The partners have been working with local groups and schools to shape the design and are in the early stages of creating plans for this project.

Findings from the University of Derby’s Connectedness Research Group makes clear how the natural world can boost wellbeing and creativity. For more information about joining Nature Tots at Allestree Park, visit www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-tots.

For any questions about the Allestree Park Rewilding Project and how to get involved, please contact: allestreepark@derbyshirewt.co.uk.