Bats are repeatedly used to celebrate Halloween and often described as spooky and scary! However, bats although secretive creatures are very cool and very clever!

Bats sleep during the day and come out at night as they are nocturnal animals that are well adapted to their after dark adventures!

During August young bats start to leave the maternity roosts to catch food for themselves. They do this by using echolocation to find the insects they eat like moths and mosquitos!

If you get the chance do go out for a walk in the dark and take a look up at the night sky. Ask your little ones what they can see, what can they hear, how does it feel being out in the dark, what can they smell and if you’re really lucky you may even see these mysterious and wonderful creatures!

What you need:

• Plain/coloured paper (Blue or black are good for the night sky)
• Natural materials like leaves, grass, small sticks (Container to collect these in)
• Bat template drawn or printed (Click here to download template to print)
• Black pen/pencil (To draw template)
• Scissors
• Hole punch (optional)

Step 1 Head outside with a container and ask your little ones to explore and collect natural things like leaves, grass, very small sticks. You could ask them to look for things that are brown in colour or different shaped leaves. If you head out on a rainy day to collect these things you will need to allow them time to dry (This can be fun for them to help with by laying between sheets of newspaper or towels to dry out for few days).

Step 2

Option 1 - Craft

With the bat template you’ve drawn use the natural materials to stick inside the outline – you can use a glue stick, PVA glue or double sided tape to do this. (Smaller natural materials work best with the glue stick).

Option 2 - Loose parts

This option is a lovely way for children to use their imagination and to tell stories using the natural materials. It also means they can do this activity again and again.

For both these options they can cut the leaves into different shapes and a hole punch can be used to make circles which they may use for eyes or something else entirely!

Step 3

Take a picture of their creations! We'd love to see your photos so please share them with us on our Facebook or twitter pages!

Step 4 (Optional extras)

Older children may like to write their stories down or you could record them telling their stories!

They may like to put their photos in a scrap book or to try and identify some of the plants you have collected e.g. different types of leaves. This spotter sheet will get you started. 

If you’d like to learn more about bats and help them in your garden have a look at this guide.