Days Out Review: Wicken Fen, Pond Dipping and Bug Hunting

by Helen Johnston

I took my five year old son and two year and four month old girl to the Pond dipping and Bug hunt at Wicken Fen during the heat wave in July. As a first time visitor to Wicke

n Fen I was happily surprised with the lack of parking charge and also that we did not have to pay an entrance fee on top of the activity  as the activity was taking place outside the Fen area.

We arrived slightly early for the Pond dipping but were guided to a craft and activity area which was supervised by a very helpful and friendly volunteer. We spent the time whilst we waited colouring in crowns and pictures of insects which kept my two children happily occupied.

When the activity began the small group of pond dippers were given a talk on what to expect and what they may find in the pond. The talk was short enough to hold the children’s attention and delivered in a lively and age appropriate way. The volunteers had kept a newt to show the group which had been caught by the previous group, which provided some interest.

Once the pond dip was underway the volunteers supported the parents and children to pond dip correctly and if (like us) we weren’t very successful they gave us a few bugs to look at. Throughout the activity we were regularly visited by a volunteer who gave us interesting facts about the creatures that we found in the pond.

The second half of the activity consisted of a bug hunt; this was introduced by a lively volunteer who had the children in stitches of laughter. Unfortunately by this time my son was hungry and irritable with the heat so he did not engage well with the bug hunt but my little girl Edie loved looking at the spiders and woodlice. Again as in the previous activity the volunteers were on hand to tell us some interesting facts about the bugs that we had found.

We all had a great time and I found myself learning something too, I would thoroughly recommend this activity, which lasted an hour. Edie really enjoyed it, however she may have been slightly young to get the most out of it. I would perhaps recommend the ideal age group for the activity to be 3 -8 years. I would also advise anyone wanting to book an activity to book in advance through the website or booking line.

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