Children and adults in a lush, green garden with various plants and bushes, some children wearing blue jackets, and one person holding a clipboard, possibly engaged in gardening or outdoor educational activity.

YCLA
Award

Fully funded

Nature Explorer Award

This award will open children to the wonders of nature and inspire them to care for the environment

Key Stage 2 Year 6

  • Two fully-prepared lessons to support delivery of the Award

  • Children complete a Nature Journal over 4-6 weeks

  • Cross-curricular links

  • Teacher training included

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Award activities:

  • Encounters with local nature

  • Visits to green spaces

  • Personal investigations

  • Actions and reflections

Benefits of the Award:

  • Helps to develop a love of nature and inspiration to care for the world

  • Develops independence, responsibility, creativity, attention to detail

  • Develops skills for wellbeing

  • Helps the transition to secondary school

  • Certificate and badge in Award assembly

By the end of the programme, our fully-fledged nature explorers will have learned that:

A child's hand touching green ivy leaves growing on a tree trunk.

Connecting to nature through their senses

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Child wearing dirt-stained gloves holding a small amount of soil with a worm in it.

Caring for nature

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A young boy in an orange and yellow striped shirt with arms outstretched, smiling in a field of tall green grass or wheat during daytime.

Experiencing gratitude

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Close-up of honeycomb with bees on the right side.

Living  more in harmony  with nature

Nature Explorer Award

  • Green leaves symbol on a yellow circular background, often associated with eco-friendly or organic products.

    Activity journal

  • A yellow circular sign with a green hand symbol pointing upward and surrounded by green dots of various sizes.

    Hands on projects

  • A bright yellow circular sign with a green dashed route line showing a path that branches into a circle and a dead end, ending with an X symbol.

    Nature connection

The Bloom Workshop coupled with the Award Scheme was the best extra-curricular provision we have ever done! The workshop leaders were so adaptive and engaging. It was an amazing opportunity for young people  who so often struggle to access the academic curriculum, to learn through experience.

Year 7 SEND lead teacher

In our journals we’ve written about so many things we’ve seen, heard, touched, smelt and tasted. We’ve thought about how nature is all connected… This project has made topics in geography and science feel real and important…..We’ve learnt so much on this journey.

Year 6 pupils assembly presentation

Logo of the 40th Young Conservation Leaders Award from The Conservation Foundation, with the acronym YCLA in large bold letters and full name below.

The Nature Explorer Award is Level 1 of the Young Conservation Leaders Award scheme (YCLA)

Find out more about the Young Conservation Leaders Award here