A trip to a National Trust park or garden is usually a popular pastime with families over the Easter weekend.
But with the country on lockdown and its properties shut, the Trust is bringing the fun to you this year.
The organisation has launched the Great Easter Scavenger Hunt for kids to take part in at at home.
Children are being challenged to find objects around their homes and gardens, with 10 tasks including:
- Find three baby animals you'd see in spring - you might find an image of a duckling on a tea towel, or one of your cuddly toys may just happen to be a baby rabbit. See what you can spot then sketch or paint your version of what you find.
- Find three leaves with different shapes - find the leaves on some wallpaper, outside your window or growing on a houseplant. Then have a go at drawing a new pattern with them. Try drawing it without lifting your pen or pencil from the page. See what shapes can be made by tracing around the leaf’s outline and look at the lines created by the veins. What new patterns can you create?
- Find objects to create a rainbow of colour - search the house for things of different colours. Fruit, fabric, plants or paper - there's colour everywhere. Now that you’ve found your objects, put your rainbow of colour together. Snap a photo of it and share with your loved ones, showing them how you can find a rainbow of joy when you look for one
You can download a scavenger hunt worksheet with all 10 tasks to complete from the National Trust website.
Families are being encouraged to share their discoveries and adventures by posting photos on social media and tagging @nationaltrust.
Hilary McGrady, director general of the National Trust, said: "We know how sad our members and visitors are that they can’t travel to their favourite places to mark Easter and celebrate the arrival of spring this year, but our biggest priority has to be staying at home to help our NHS and keep ourselves and one another safe.
“During the closure we are still looking after the places people love, and we’re really looking forward to welcoming them back when it’s time. In the meantime, we’ve put together a new Easter experience with our members on our website so that people can stay connected to their favourite places and each other and create Easter memories in their own homes and gardens.”
The scavenger hunt will be part of a programme of free activity ideas, videos, podcasts and articles available on The Trust's website over the coming weeks.
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Jessica Monaghan, head of experiences and programming, said: “During these extraordinary times, while people can’t visit us, we want to take National Trust experiences to them. We’ll be working hard to share the best of the Trust with everyone, so that people can stay connected to nature and to their favourite places and have fun together.
“We have something for everyone – whether it’s our collections and houses you love and you want to enjoy them at home, or you’re looking for fun ways to connect with friends and family of all age groups.
“We hope we can help everyone stay close to the nature, beauty and history that the Trust is here to look after. Our new activities are ones that everybody can do – whether that’s in their own front rooms or gardens – while sticking to the Government guidelines.”