At this time of year there is so much going on in the garden - here are a few ways of introducing some wildlife to your outside space.

1. Any bird-feeder whether the most expensive fancy gizmo from a garden centre, or just a plate of seeds on a table will encourage feathery birds into your garden.  You may even see something exotic if you're lucky!
2. Birdhouses: Fit a couple of bird boxes or reed bird houses in your garden to encourage birds to stay and move in!  Site them fairly high and in well sheltered positions.
3. Plant flowers that attract insects such as lavender, thyme and Buddleia.
4. For bugs and ladybirds, and even frogs if you're lucky, keep a pile of old branches or logs in a shady spot.  They will be attracted to the warm, dark, damp atmosphere and will set up home.  Not one for those mums scared of spiders!
5. A water bath can be as simple as a saucer of water and this will encourage birds to bath or drink in the garden.
6. Worms and centipedes love compost so how about create a compost heap or compost bin and encourage some long, slithery worms to the garden.
7. Throw some wild flower seeds on a patch of soil or grass.  The pretty flowers will grown and provide a meadow-like patch which is really pretty and easy to maintain.
8. Try not to cultivate all areas of the garden.  Leave some damp leaves or grass cuttings in a pile to welcome bugs frogs, hedgehogs and spiders looking for a home.
9. Take cuttings from friends and family and plant your own trees and shrubs for free!  Just pop any cuttings into a pot of soil and see how your garden grows!  Great fun!

Most of all, get the children involved and get them muddy too!  Nothing is more exciting for a toddler or pre-schooler than dirty hands, mucky knees and a brown, muddy smudge on their nose!  Start a diary project and draw what you do and what you observe in the garden.

During winter, many of our birds really suffer in the cold weather and many perish as temperatures drop.  We may take our birds for granted, but we would miss them if they weren't around.  Run a diary project during the cold weather with your little ones.  Chart what birds you see them and when, and put our food for them to attract them nea your home and to help them through the winter.

Nut feeders: there are all sorts of specialist nut feeders available from garden centres and pet shops to attract and feed different species of bird. You can simply hang a cheap nut feeder from a drainpipe or window and they will still come.  If the weather is bad, they will become bolder in order to get to the food!

Bird tables: place the food on the table in a good, open position, near to trees in case a predator comes or cover is needed, but away from the fence that a cat might use as a springboard to get to the table!  Make sure you can observe it from your window so that you and your children can enjoy watching the birds come and go.

Keep bird tables and feeders well stocked: if you decide to start helping the birds by providing food, try to keep it up throughout the winter so they can rely on your home to provide them with food throughout the winter rather than just for the first few days!  Have your children help you put out food each day.

Water: A bowl of water (rather than ice!) is useful as during the icy months usual sources of water to drink become icy and frozen solid - rendering them useless.  Bird baths are also essential for birds to clean their wings and rid themselves of any muddy debris that may have come attached.  When their wings are not washes properly, they have trouble flying.  Float a small plastic ball in the water to try to help it from freezing over.  If it does freeze, break the ice and replace it with fresh water.

Spot any bird tracks (or any other animals for that matter!) in the snow and get the children outside (wrapped up warm!) to look at their environment.

Encourage your children to get involved in whatever way they can.  Looking after nature is important and looking after our birds is easy and rewarding when you see them enjoying your food and flying around the wintery garden.

With spring upon us, now is the perfect time to start a diary project exploring how flowers and plants grow - here are some ideas for some growing fun...

• Take one flower pot for each of your children and write on their names.  If you only have a single child then take three flower pots and give each a fun name.  Fill each with soil and plant a sunflower seed in each.  Every week, chart which one is the tallest.  Is one always the winner, or do they each grow at different rates?  Which one grows to be the tallest?
• Take a flower pot and draw a face on the front, stick on googly eyes.  Fill it with soil and sprinkle grass seed on top.  Sprinkle a fine layer of soil over the seed and water it.  Watch the grass grow as green hair for your character.  Every couple of weeks, give your character a hair cut, and see if you can keep it growing throughout the summer!
• Take a discarded plastic food container, wash it out and line it with kitchen roll.  Sprinkle cress seeds over it and watch them grow over just a couple of weeks.  When they have grown, start pulling them out and eating them in sandwiches or on salads!
• Collect a variety of berries and other seeds from the trees, shrubs and plants in your garden.  Plant them in a large pot and see which ones grow.  See how quickly you can identify which is which as they appear - do they all look the same to start with?  How are they different?  Do they appear at the same time or at different times?
• Try growing plants from cuttings rather than seed!  Take a glass and fill it 3/4's full with water.  Cover the top with two or three layers of cellophane, then go into the garden and take some cuttings from your plants.  Herbs such as lavender, rosemary and thyme work well, as do climbing plants such as ivy, honeysuckle or vines; you may propagate many shrubs in this way.  Take short stems of new growth, typically 4- 5 inches in length with just one or two pairs of leaves at the top. Pierce the cellophane over your water using a skewer and poke your cuttings through so that the ends are in the water. Over time you should see roots beginning to grow and in time, you will be able to plant them into pots and later into the garden!  Seeing the root system grow in water is particularly fascinating - have your children study them and draw how the roots look.

Diary projects are lots of fun with your little ones - keep a log book with drawings of your observations over time, your children will love the ongoing project.  If you feel really ambitious, why not plant some vegetables?  ...or plant a pumpkin that can be ready for Halloween?!