Calling Liverpool’s young naturalists - win an educational experience for your school

Calling Liverpool’s young naturalists - win an educational experience for your school

This summer, from 1 June - 30 June, young naturalists across Liverpool City are being asked to put their wildlife spotting skills to the test.

Baltic Bingo is our new youth wildlife recording competition. The aim is to encourage children to connect with nature and learn more about Liverpool’s local wildlife in their gardens, in the city centre or from their windows during June.

There are 25 different types of wildlife to discover, all listed on the Baltic Bingo worksheet. Competitors then have all of June to find the different species and upload what they see on iNaturalist!

A person's hand holding a leopard slug

Leopard slug by Felicity Wehrle

The Baltic Bingo competition is open to children in Years 4-6 across Liverpool City Region. Children must have their parents or guardian’s permission to enter.

There are different prizes to be won for individuals and schools. Every child that submits a completed Baltic Bingo worksheet will receive a printable certificate of achievement. The school with the most completed entries will win an educational experience package from the Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve team and will be featured alongside the runner-up schools on our website.

A man and a young boy looking out of a window with binoculars

Paul Harris/2020VISION

Spotting wildlife is one of the many ways that young people can learn more about the nature all around them. Whether they take photographs of bugs and beetles or draw pictures of pigeons, recording wildlife is a great way for children to explore the natural world.

The Baltic Bingo wildlife competition encourages young naturalists to find 25 species that are commonly spotted in the region and to visit Liverpool City Centre as part of their wildlife treasure hunt. Wapping Dock, Parr Street and the Baltic Green Urban Park are three locations that competitors are encouraged to visit as they are focus sites for Liverpool’s Urban GreenUP project, which aims to bring nature back to the city as well as tackle the impact of climate change and pollution. The Urban GreenUP project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.

Recording wildlife using iNaturalist

More than 12,000 plants and flowers have been installed in Parr Street’s Living Green Wall as part of the Urban GreenUP project, making it a beautiful place for young naturalists to practice photographing nature using iNaturalist. Wapping Dock – where competitors have three types of wildlife to find – is now home to an impressive floating ecosystem. The Baltic Triangle has also been transformed with the recent installation of a nature-inspired art trail, Heavy Gardening, where sculptures double as potential habitats for certain species. All of these green interventions will play a role in mitigating climate change, as well as in improving the air and water quality of our city.

Baltic Bingo is a fun way for children to learn more about wildlife and to appreciate the green spaces across the city. We'll be posting tips and tricks for spotting wildlife on social media throughout June as part of 30 Days Wild (the UK’s biggest nature challenge) so take a look to help you complete your Baltic Bingo worksheet.

The closing dates for entries is 23:59 on 30 June 2021.

Take part in Baltic Bingo