VICTA Young Achievers Award

Young Achievers Award

Nature

The second theme of the Young Achievers Award is Nature. Time to get outside and explore!

To earn your second pin badge, you need to complete 3 Nature related tasks between April and June. For each theme you will find there is one activity that has been set by VICTA that you need to complete. The other two activities are your choice.

The set VICTA nature activity you are required to complete is…

Take part in the VICTA Sunflower Race!

Applications for your free Sunflower Race pack are open! Your pack will include sunflower seeds and marker cards to help you track your flower’s progress. Once you’ve planted your seeds, share a photo into our race gallery to receive a certificate, a little treat from us and an entry into our big prize draw to win a £25 Argos voucher. Applications close on Tuesday 9 April, if you miss the deadline you can still take part by purchasing some seeds at your local garden centre.

Apply for your sunflower pack and take part in the race

A boy stands next to his sunflower which is taller than him

Other Nature activity ideas to tick off to earn your pin badge!

We’ve put together some activity ideas and opportunities for the Nature theme below to help you get started. Don’t forget, if you’d like to come up with your own ideas, that’s brilliant too. Once you have completed 3 tasks, complete the evidence submission form at the bottom of this page so we can see what you’ve been up to.

Try iSpot!

iSpot is a friendly and free community helping to identify wildlife and share nature. You can browse thousands of species spotted so far and help identify new ones you may discover during your iSpot adventure!

Find out more >

Make your own Terrarium

The Ernest Cook Trust created this fantastic guide for VICTA! Connect with nature while carefully foraging for the specimens to feature in your terrarium.
Let your emotions lead your decisions, only collecting samples of those which bring joy and inspire you.

Download the pdf instructions >
Download the Word instructions >

Play Sensory Bingo with The Wildlife Trusts and VICTA

From June, download the Wildlife Trusts 30 Days Wild pack. Inside you’ll find VICTA’s sensory bingo activity! See how many items you can tick off and take photos as you go.

Register your interest in 30 Days Wild here >

Create a sound map

Follow this guide from the Ernest Cook Trust and experience the beauty of your favourite greenspace in a new and unique way by focusing purely on what you can hear.

Download the pdf guide >
Download the Word guide >

Plants from pips

Did you know that you can re-grow plants from the food scraps that you probably throw away? Learn how to limit your food waste, save seeds and care for plants with the Ernest Cook Trust.

Download the pdf instructions >
Download the Word instructions >

Try these nature and mental health challenges

For Children’s Mental Health Week VICTA and The Nature Based Learning Hub created these challenges to help you connect with nature, how many can you complete?

Download the challenge pdf >
Download the challenge in Word >
Download the challenge tracker >

Plant your favourite fruit or vegetable in pots in your garden

Fancy adding a twist to your planting? We love this idea from Children’s Gardening Week – writing your name in salad!

Find out how to write your name in salad here >

Build your own birds nest

Here’s a video from Wildlife Watch showing you how!

Did you take part in Earth Hour?

Write a blog telling us how you spent Earth Hour 2024 – how did it make you feel switching off for an hour? Did it give you lots to think about?

Can you make a pledge for the year to support our planet’s future?

Litter pick in your local green space

Keep Britain Tidy have lots of tips and advice on getting started with your first litter pick.

You can read their Beginner’s Guide to Litter Picking here >

Can you identify the trees in your local green space?

Do you know your conifers from your broadleaves? The Woodland Trust has some helpful information to get you started!

Visit the Woodland Trust website for hints on identifying trees >

Make a sensory mandala

Get outside and see what seasonal items you can find and then arrange them into your own beautiful mandala! A mandala is a geometric shape that means ‘circle’ in Sanskrit. In some cultures, it represents the universe and life, with the circular design expressing the concept that everything is connected to life.

Download the instructions >

Make an animal home in your garden

Here are some great ideas for taking care of your local animals!

Make a bug hotel with Wildlife Watch >
Pine cone bird feeder with the Parent Portal >
Build a bat box with the Wildlife Trusts >

Get gardening with Thrive

Thrive is a charity who use gardening to change lives.

They’ve put together activities to get started on in the garden during Spring.

Visit their Spring activity guides >

Visit your local nature reserve

Volunteer with your local organisation

Turn natural objects into instruments!

Have noisy fun outdoors with Wildlife Watch >

Try this ‘Tech for the Planet’ lesson & challenge

Visit the Tech for the planet website >

Terms and conditions

  • The Young Achievers Award is open to children aged 10 and under who are registered or are registrable as blind or partially sighted
  • Entrants must be permanent residents of the UK
  • For each theme, entrants must complete three activities – one set by VICTA and two of their choice
  • Evidence submission must be completed by a parent/carer
  • By submitting evidence for the award, you agree to your photos/videos, your child’s name and age being used by VICTA, including being displayed on the VICTA website, on our social media channels and on charity emails
  • Please note, the actual badges and medal you receive might differ to the ones in the illustrations

Does your Young Achiever have a sibling that does the award alongside them? We’d like to recognise all those Super Siblings out there – we know you work just as hard as your brother or sister. When you submit your activities, make sure to pop the name of your Super Sibling on the form and we’ll send them a certificate to celebrate their achievements!

Enter your VICTA Young Achievers Nature challenges

Click or drag files to this area to upload. You can upload up to 2 files.
VICTA’s Young Achievers Award aims to improve a child’s confidence, resilience and creativity. Please complete the statements below, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest, reflecting your child currently.

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