If you are planning on a visit to the Isles of Scilly then there are a two bits of kit you will definitely need to pack: comfortable shoes for walking in and a rain/windproof layer! There is no getting away from it – the Isles of Scilly are best enjoyed outdoors and no matter the weather, you will always find somewhere new to discover, wildlife to watch, flowers to admire or a beautiful new landscape to enjoy. For kids, just the sheer joy of being able to run free in the countryside is enough entertainment in itself. If you are planning on doing a lot of walking though and are visiting during the summer months, you may find this Isles of Scilly flowers scavenger hunt handy for keeping the younger members of the family occupied out and about round the islands.
Just your average Isles of Scilly garden wall…this one was on Tresco.
With their temperate climate and the almost frost free environment, the Isles of Scilly are renowned for their colourful flowers, both native wildflowers and those more exotic species that have been imported from places such as the Canary Islands and South Africa. When we visited in late June the islands were a riot of colour, with every hedgerow, heathland, beach edge, garden and wall covered in flowers of one sort or another. I went a little trigger happy with the camera and when I got home it seemed a shame not to use some of those photos somehow, hence the idea to create the scavenger hunt, Of course the jewel in Scilly’s floral crown are the beautiful Tresco Abbey Gardens. There you will find a huge variety of tropical plants imported from all over the world and it’s worth a visit to the gardens even with little kids who might not be that taken with the flowers – perhaps you will catch sight of the golden pheasants, see the red squirrels or learn some nautical tales about the ships’ heads recovered from the seas around Scilly where they were wrecked. Once you have bought a ticket you also get entry all day, so if your little ones will only take so much umming and ahhing over flowers then you can go in briefly in the morning and pop back in later.
Some of my favourites from Tresco Abbey Gardens
If you have very little children or are visiting outside the summer then perhaps try an alternative ‘rainbow’ flowers scavenger hunt and get your children to spot flowers for a variety of different colours. I have made a similar scavenger hunt template before which you could use to draw pictures of their finds as you go along.
Happy flower hunting and I hope you find the scavenger hunt useful! If you click on the image below it will take you to a pdf printable.
1 comment
Oooh great timing for me. I am hoping for glorious sunshine but will have to print this to take on our trip.