Please note: This session is for children accompanied by adults. It will include separate activities for adults and children and will culminate in a joint activity.

Kids’ session | 11 am – 12:30 pm | Saturday, 25 Oct | Library

Adults’ session | 11 am – 12:30 pm | Saturday, 25 Oct | Seminar Hall

How can we engage with biodiversity in our localities and backyards—from the many plants and birds around us, to the mysterious spiders, the rain-loving mushrooms, the hidden but chatty frogs and crickets, and even the lice that love to live in our hair? How can we marvel at and magically reveal the secrets of nature around us? For a start—be curious! Nature is everywhere, and so many animals, birds, plants, and insects are leading marvellous and sometimes bizarre lives.

If you love nature and the wonderful life forms that share this world with us, drop by for two parallel sessions with the authors of Be a Neighbourhood Naturalist—a nature activity book filled with hands-on experiments, activities, cool facts, and stunning illustrations that bring the ‘science of nature’ alive.

Children (7+) will take part in a fun, craft-based nature activity—exploring scientific concepts through creativity, observation, and play. Adults will join an in-depth, interactive session on how to introduce children (and adults!) to nature and science through an inquiry-based approach, using questions, exploration, and hands-on engagement.

The book has been created by a team with decades of experience studying the natural world: Labonie Roy, an educational resource creator, art director, and illustrator; Vena Kapoor, an ecologist and nature educator who runs the Nature Classrooms initiative; and Suhel Quader, an ecologist and nature communicator.