Seasons Greetings
Activities for all over the Christmas holidays
Some ideas for nature-themed things to do in or near the villages or at home during the Christmas holidays from the Abbey Fields team.
Outdoors
Ponds
Help us map all the ponds in Histon and Impington
We are trying to find out more about ponds here in the villages and you can help us right now!
This is the first step in a search for pond life. We would like to get an idea of the breeding success of frogs here. It is often noted how valuable garden ponds are to our amphibians – all struggling populations.
To start this off we want to put your pond on a new village map! You can see our current village maps of mistletoe and nest boxes. On our map we can use different symbols to show wildlife ponds, formal ponds, large ponds, mini ponds and then show ponds with frog spawn. Hopefully all your information will help us to say that frogs are doing OK here.
Every pond is different but they all draw us in – it is hard not to go over to a pond and peer into the water to see what wildlife might be there..
Submit your pond information here
Try Moon gazing
There is a new moon on Sunday 1st December. One lunar cycle lasts almost (but not quite) 30 days so over the Christmas and New Year holidays, if the nights are clear, you will have the chance to observe almost a full cycle.
Sunday 8th December is a ‘quarter’ day starting the second quarter (or phase) of a lunar cycle – so 8th December is exactly half way between the new moon and the next full moon - which means that the moon is waxing or getting fatter for the next quarter.
The full moon will be on Sunday 15th December.
Sunday 22nd December is the ‘quarter’ day starting the third quarter (or phase) of this lunar cycle – so 22nd December is exactly half way between the full moon and the next new moon – a period when the moon is waining or getting thinner.
Monday 30th December is the next new moon. As a new moon occurs twice in December 2024 this second new moon is called a ‘black moon’.
You can find out much more from this website.
Do a mini sculpture trail in our green spaces
Start at Homefield Park and spend an hour enjoying the green spaces as you follow this short walk where you can see the work of three artists on permanent display. Two of the artists were specially commissioned to prepare public art in keeping with the place where it is now displayed. The three works by Tony Hillier were all moved from his garden on the Cottenham Road and placed on public display.
Homefield Park entrance gates: artist Tim Ward of Circling the Square worked with the community and local schools on the design which has a nature theme.
Homefield Park: Tony Hillier’s ‘Man with dog’ is now displayed just behind the gate under magnificent plane trees.
Clay Close Pocket Park: Tony Hillier’s ‘Andy Capp’ is now the central feature of this small green space.
Merrington Place: The developer commissioned Matthew Lane Sanderson to provide art and street furniture linked to the historical use of the site as Unwin’s seed trial grounds. All the works relate to seeds such as the hollyhock seed at the junction with New Road are thus linked to Unwins.
The Green: Tony Hillier’s ‘Spider’ used to grace his chimney but now is clambering up one of the large horse chestnuts beside the bridge over the brook.
Go to RSPB Fen Drayton Lakes
How about going to this fascinating nature reserve by public transport or bike (and save yourself a parking charge). The Cambridge Busway passes right through the centre of the reserve and there is a request bus stop. And of course, it is a traffic free route for cycling all the way.
Get all the details about the reserve and what you can expect to see here.
In summer this is a really good place to see dragonflies and damselflies.
In the winter months this is a top spot to watch ducks all in their breeding season plumage and already starting to pair up.
Visit the Cambridge University Botanic Garden
The Botanic Garden is a great place for families to spend time together and explore. Learn about the importance of plants and plant science, horticulture and the joy of gardening. The Botanic Garden is easily reached with public transport or a bike.
Check out their website for details of opening times, ticket prices, site map and events.
Play our Top Trumps game
Fun facts about native trees and hedge plants. Our game is based on information prepared by The Tree Council.
We have 24 cards representing different trees and hedge species. Each card tells you three stats about this species; the categories are:
Maximum height – how tall can this species grow in metres
Biodiversity boost – how valuable is this species to wildlife
Maximum age – how long might this species live?
To play you will need to download the set of cards and cut them out. The full set is downloadable as a PDF document here. The cards are laid out 12 to a page as Sheet 1 and Sheet 2. Each sheet has a front (a) and a back (b) page. If possible you should print the PDF double sided. If printing single-sided you can save paper by printing only pages 2 and 4 - this will give you all the information essential to play the game.
How to play
Mix the cards up (with care if you have thin paper ‘cards’) and deal them out so each player has the same number of cards.
Each player picks up their pile of cards and looks at their TOP card only.
To start the player to the right of the dealer looks at their top card and picks the best stat on that card and tells everyone.
The other players check their TOP card for that category to see if they can beat the stat for that category.
The player with the highest stat wins that round and collects all the top cards played in that round.
They then look at their next TOP card and choose their best stat and tell everyone and the process repeats for more rounds until one player has all the cards.
Tied score: Two players might have stats that are equal—in this case, everyone stacks their TOP cards face up in the centre of the playing area. At this point, start a new round, with the last winning player sharing their highest stat with the other players. The new winner from this round will add the losing cards to their own hand, as well as the cards from the centre of the play area.
Try writing haiku about being outdoors in nature
A haiku is a Japanese poetic form that consists of three lines with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. Unlike other poems, haikus usually don’t rhyme. The brevity of a haiku is well suited to contemplating small details and fleeting moments in nature.
Here are a couple of examples:
I planted oak to
reinvigorate the hedge.
Wildlife will love it!
Lightening flashes
with thunder clap following!
Waiting for the rain.
Check your syllables
To help you try out your haiku lines you can use this website to check the number of syllables: Just type in your haiku and press the count syllables button to check.
Pictures to colour
Download three pictures to colour in here.
Word search puzzles
Try our two word search puzzles. Download the PDF here.
How to make leaf skeletons
This craft activity was designed by the Wildlife Trusts and does take a couple of weeks to complete. However, your patience will be well rewarded!
The Christmas holidays are perhaps not the best time for gathering a selection of leaves, but you should be able to find ivy leaves and the golden leaves of beech which can be found in hedges right through the winter.
Download the instructions here: