Calling all hedgehog fans, every year on the 2nd February we celebrate National Hedgehog Day! Celebrate these spikey critters by checking how hog-friendly your garden is. Hedgehog populations are sadly declining, therefore it’s critical that we do everything we can to protect them.
Here are some pointers on how to make your garden a hog’s paradise:
🦔 Shrubs or woody plants provide much-needed cover.
🦔 Native fruit trees, as well as hazel and hawthorn, will attract insects an important food source.
🦔 Wildflowers will also attract insects providing additional seasonal food.
🦔 Ditch the pesticides, unfortunately, toxic pesticides can kill hedgehogs, therefore organic gardening is the best option.
🦔 If you’re looking for a project, why not make a hedgehog house or a hedgehog highway (just a hole in your fence will do!).
It’s important that we protect the hedgehogs of Britain because not only are they adorable, but they help maintain the balance in the ecosystem. Conservationists refer to Hedgehogs as indicator species. This is because the numbers and behaviour of hedgehogs can tell us a lot about the health of their surrounding areas. Hedgehogs eat soil invertebrates, so a fall in hedgehog numbers can signify a decline in the quality of the surrounding environment. Their main source of food is insects which helps to keep insect population levels manageable, if hedgehog populations drop, insect numbers may rise posing unknown threats to the delicate balance of the ecosystem.
If your young ecologist is a subscriber to Whizz Pop Bang and would like to do more to help wildlife in your local area why not encourage them to complete our Wildlife Watcher badge.
Our very knowledgeable robot, Y, has another challenge for you this week. Y’s Wonder Club club is for budding scientists to share their adventures in science with our robot, Y, and other Whizz Pop Bang readers. All Whizz Pop Bang subscribers are automatically joined to Y’s Wonder Club and for a limited time this summer we’re opening up the club for everyone!
We have two weeks left so get ready for your scientist in training to put their capes on and become an Eco Hero! If you missed our previous weeks, go back and have a look at the Wildlife Watcher and Super Scientist badges to collect them all! We’ve got some great summer holiday activities that not only keep the kids entertained but do good for the planet too!
Complete these three challenges to earn your Whizz Pop Bang Eco Hero badge…
1) Upcycle something
Choose an item that’s reaching the end of its life or is destined for the bin and transform it into something useful. For example, you could make a pencil case from an old bag, tie-die a stained t-shirt or freshen up an old wooden stool with bright paints.
2) Make an environmentally friendly change
Make a lifestyle change that enables you or your family to cause less harm to the environment. Perhaps you could ask your parents if you could walk, cycle or scoot into school or to the park, instead of driving. Maybe you could reduce the amount of single-use plastics you use at home, eat less meat, or help your family to reduce your food waste.
3) Help to raise awareness
Spread the word about an environmental issue that you feel strongly about. You could design and put up a poster about an environmental issue, e.g. reminding your school friends to bring in reusable water bottles or encouraging awareness in your neighbourhood of toads or hedgehogs on the roads. You could write to your MP or your local shops or cafes to ask them to make environmentally friendly changes. Or maybe you could join an environmental campaign or protest.
Here’s how to apply for your badge:
1. Download the Eco Hero application form. Print it out and complete the first page of the application form to tell us about how you’ve helped the environment. Attach any photos or drawings that you’d like to send to us. If you don’t have a printer, you can type your answers into an email or write your answers on a plain piece of paper and send us a photograph of it.
2. Ask your parent or guardian to pay the £1-per-badge postage and packing fee, which can be done online at whizzpopbang.com/shop/719619/badge-postage-and-packing/. Add the order confirmation number to the second page of the application form.
3. Ask your parent or guardian to fill in the second page of the form.
4. Photograph or scan your completed form and any other documents and email them to Y@whizzpopbang.com with the subject line as ‘Eco Hero Badge’. Alternatively, post your completed application to Eco Hero Badge, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please note that it can take up to 12 weeks for delivery of the badges.
Another week of the summer holidays is here, –are you looking for screen-free activities to keep those little brains entertained? For a limited time only, applying for Y’s Wonder Club badges is open to everyone (not just Whizz Pop Bang subscribers)!
This week we’re earning our Super Scientist badges. We’ll take you through the actual steps that scientists follow to study and investigate while ensuring they are conducting a fair test!
Earn a collectible high-quality enamel Super Scientist badge by getting curious! Think up a question, investigate it and record the results and conclusions.
Challenge 1: Think up a question What would you like to investigate? It could be almost anything… Do birds sing more often when it’s sunny? Which type of surface is best for bouncing balls on? Does your pet hamster have a favourite colour?! Make a prediction of what you think your results will be (scientists call this a hypothesis).
Challenge 2: Investigate it Plan and carry out an experiment to investigate your question. When you’re experimenting, remember to only change one thing at a time and try to keep all other variables the same. For example, if you’re trying to find out which surface is best for bouncing, you would need to always drop the ball from the same height, always use the same ball and measure the height of its first bounce. It would be more accurate to repeat the tests a few times on each surface and calculate the average bounce height if you can.
Challenge 3: Tell us what you discovered! Tell us about your results and conclusions. Did they surprise you? Did they lead to more questions that you’d like to investigate further?
How did you get on? Did you follow along with our Super Scientist week? Send your application in to us to receive your badge just like these super-duper scientists!
Download the Super Scientist application form. Print it out and complete the first page of the application form to tell us about your science investigation. Attach any photos or drawings that you’d like to send to us. If you don’t have a printer, you can type your answers into an email or write your answers on a plain piece of paper and send us a photograph of it.
Ask your parent or guardian to fill in the second page of the form. The postage and packing for the first 500 successful applicants is being sponsored by The Great Science Share for Schools so there’s no need to pay postage and packing for this badge. We will update this page and the form once the 500 badge limit has been used up.
Email your completed form (or a photograph or scan of it), together with any other documents to Y@whizzpopbang.com with the subject line as ‘Super Scientist badge’. Alternatively, post your completed application to Super Scientist Badge, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please note that it can take up to 12 weeks for delivery of the badges.
It’s that time of year again! School’s out for summer and you may be scratching your head for things to do over the summer holidays. We could have just the solution you’re looking for – a chance to earn collectible enamel science badges throughout the holidays!
Did you know that when you subscribe to Whizz Pop Bang magazine, you automatically become a member of Y’s Wonder Club? Find out all about it here! Your mini-scientist will love being put to the test with a science challenge!
GREAT NEWS! Y’s Wonder Club is being opened up to EVERYONE for a limited time over the summer holidays! Each week, we’ll post some ideas for how your Whizz Pop Bang fan can earn each badge in the collection and enjoy these summer holiday activities. First up is the Wildlife Watcher badge. Mini scientists will love following along learning about their local wildlife and at the end of the challenge, they can send their application in to get their badge!
Do you know a scientist-in-training who might like to become an official Whizz Pop Bang Wildlife Watcher? To earn a badge, they need to…
Make something to help wildlife close to home
Spot some wildlife and record it
Do something to help wildlife
All of these activities can be done from home – what a great way to keep busy and help nature!
Challenge 1: Make something to help wildlife in your area (e.g. make a mini-pond, bug hotel, butterfly feeder or hedgehog house, etc.).
Here’s your first challenge to earn the Wildlife Watcher badge! Wildlife is a vital part of life here on Earth, but many areas of natural habitat are in decline, threatening the existence of many creatures. If we all did our part to help the wildlife living in our gardens, it would have a huge positive impact. This challenge is all about getting crafty and creating something that will help the creatures living all around you. It’s a great way to encourage kids to help wildlife.
Challenge 2: Spot some wildlife and record it (e.g. describe, draw, count or photograph it).
As a scientist, watching and recording is a huge part of the job! Monitoring species and their habitats is how scientists learn all about our world and behaviour. This challenge will get your scientist-in-training learning to think about how animals look and behave. They will be sure to learn a thing or two about the creatures living in their backyards – and you might too!
Monitoring and recording the world around us is a great way for inquisitive minds to get used to asking questions. So why not record all of your findings in our scrapbook? Find out more here.
Challenge 3: Do something to help wildlife (e.g. create a wildflower area in a garden or window box, clear litter from a park or beach, take part in a citizen science project that helps wildlife, etc.). These are great hands on science activities that also benefit the planet.
The final challenge before your mini scientists can send away their application to get that hard-earned badge. Getting involved and helping wildlife makes a huge impact on our planet. So your scientist-in-training will have to think of a way to positively impact the wildlife around them.
Send your application to us to receive your badge just like these wildlife watchers!
Download the Wildlife Watcher application form. Print it out and complete the first page of the application form to tell us about how you’ve helped wildlife in your area. Attach any photos or drawings that you’d like to send to us. If you don’t have a printer, you can type your answers into an email or write your answers on a plain piece of paper and send us a photograph of it.
Ask your parent or guardian to pay the £1-per-badge postage and packing fee, which can be done online at whizzpopbang.com/shop/719619/badge-postage-and-packing/. Add the order confirmation number to the second page of the application form.
Ask your parent or guardian to fill in the second page of the form.
Photograph or scan your completed form and any other documents and email them to Y@whizzpopbang.com with the subject line as ‘Wildlife Watcher badge’. Alternatively, post your completed application to Wildlife Watcher Badge, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please note that it can take up to 12 weeks for delivery of the badges.
It’s not long until the fantastic Just So Festival kicks off – it’s running at Rode Hall, Cheshire on 20th – 22nd August. It’s an incredible outdoor adventure for families from bumps to great grandparents, and Whizz Pop Bang are so excited to be a part of the fun that’s in store!
Photo: Teneight
The Whizz Pop Bang team will be popping in to run an out-of-this-world Mission to Mars workshop, where interplanetary explorers-in-training will get to explore one of our closest neighbours in space. Come along and look for signs of life, extract Martian core samples and experience the seven minutes of terror faced by spacecraft preparing to land on this fascinating planet!
Find out more about the festival at justsofestival.org.uk, where the line up has been announced! Discover a celestial celebration of the planets in The Observatory, live bands and dance workshops on the Footlights Stage, stories galore in the Spellbound Forest, and so much enchanted adventure throughout the site. There’s something for every member of the family!
Photo: Samuel Mills Photography
Whizz Pop Bang is an awesomely amazing monthly science magazine that brings science to life for children aged six to twelve (and their parents too)! There’s lab-loads of hands-on experiments, mind-boggling facts, puzzles, news and fun packed into each month’s magazine. Whizz Pop Bang sparks imaginations and inspires the scientists of the future from the moment it comes bursting through their letterbox. Subscribe today at whizzpopbang.com!
If you’re not lucky enough to be going to Just So Festival this year, but want to learn more about the red planet, you can pick up Whizz Pop Bang: MISSION TO MARS in our shop now!
One extremely lucky Whizz Pop Bang fan will win a family ticket (for two adults and two children) to the amazingly brilliant Just So festival this August!
Get set for an imaginative outdoor adventure when you head to Just So Festival! Families can step out of their day-to-day lives and into a wonderland of stories, science and creativity and experience a magical weekend of mischief and mayhem.
Photo: Samuel Mills Photography
Find out more at justsofestival.org.uk, where the line up has been announced! Find a celestial celebration of the planets in The Observatory, live bands and dance workshops on the Footlights Stage, stories galore in the Spellbound Forest, and so much enchanted adventure throughout the site. There’s something for every member of the family, from bumps to great grandparents.
Photo: Teneight
Just answer this question in the comments to be in with a chance of winning:
Which planet has moons called Phobos and Deimos?
A. Mercury B. Saturn C. Mars
Terms and Conditions: The prize is one family weekend ticket (up to 2 adults and 2 children) to Just So Festival 2021 (Rode Hall, Cheshire, 20/21/22 August 2021, Rode Hall, Cheshire). Additional child tickets can be purchased on the Just So website. Under 3’s are free but need to book a free ticket on the Just So website. Prize includes festival entry and camping on Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd August 2021. The winner must provide their own camping gear or book boutique camping separately – this is not included in prize. Travel to and from the festival is not included. Food and drink are not included. The prize is non-refundable, non-transferable, non-exchangeable and no cash alternative offered. Click here for full Whizz Pop Bang terms and conditions. This competition closes on Wednesday 16th June 2021.
Looking for some simple science activities to keep children busy during the holidays? Here are three fantastic ways to make paper soar through the air.
Discover new twists on paper planes – just download, print, cut, fold and launch! Try out one design, or challenge your children to make all three and compare how they travel.
Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here and flick through a space-themed issue here!
🐰 We’ve got an EGG-citing Easter competition for you! 🐰
We want to treat a whole class of children to some epic Easter science, so we’re giving away 30 copies of our Easter Eggs-periments booklet! Children deserve a cracking treat to celebrate the end of this very unusual term, so here’s a chance for teachers to win a set for their class, or parents to win a set for their child’s class.
Whizz Pop Bang’s Easter Eggs-periment booklet contains 12 pages of awesome science fun to keep children busy this holiday, including…
To enter, simply answer this question in the comments.
Which of the below is NOT part of an egg?
A. Albumen B. Bitumen C. Chalaza
🐣 🐣 🐣 🐣 🐣
Claim your free Easter science experiments booklet!
This booklet is also available with every purchase from our website until 28th March! To claim your free booklet, simply use the code EASTER21 when you purchase any Whizz Pop Bang product or subscription*.
* Offer valid until midnight on 28th March 2021 on Whizz Pop Bang shop products and new subscriptions only, whilst stocks last. Not valid in conjunction with any other offer.
This competition closes at midnight on 23rd March 2021. The winner will be contacted on 24th March and must provide their details within 24 hours, otherwise another winner will be drawn (we’re really keen to get these booklets to children in time for Easter!) Whizz Pop Bang competition terms and conditions are here.
Half term is almost here and families far and wide are wondering how to fill a lockdown holiday with fun and excitement.
Why not take Whizz Pop Bang’s Seven Days of Science challenge? Every day, we’ll give you all the information and resources you need to complete a simple, satisfying and curiosity-awakening challenge from your home. Enter a science pancakes competition and try some kitchen science experiments, science papercraft, science quizzes for kids, nature activities. It’s also a great way to get children well and truly excited about NASA’s Perseverance planned landing on Mars on Thursday 18th February!
Discover some home chemistry experiments that involve things you’ve probably already got in your kitchen! Here are some you might like to try:
Make gloopy slime! Slime-obsessed children will love this gooey activity! They will make their own slime, then decide if it is a solid or a liquid. You will need: cornflour, water, mixing bowl, food colouring.
Make a volcano Print out a volcano template and create your very own miniature volcano using the harmless chemicals you find in your kitchen cupboards! You will need: the volcano printout below, a small container (e.g. a spice jar), bicarbonate of soda or baking powder, sticky tape, vinegar, red and yellow food colouring, uncoloured soap or washing up liquid, a tray.
Bubbling magma experiment Explore the difference between runny magma and viscous magma. You will need: two glasses, water, a viscous substance (like honey or golden syrup), two paper straws, safety goggles or sunglasses
We love this pancake recipe: BBC Good Food’s perfect pancakes but your science pancakes can be American style, vegan, savoury… whatever takes your fancy.
Next, decorate your pancakes with something inspired by space, nature, engineering or anything else linked to science! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Today’s the day to get outside and do something to help nature! You could refill bird feeders and bird baths, plant some wildflower seeds or go on a litter pick. To make an upcycled bird feeder, you will need: An empty, clean and dry plastic bottle (e.g. milk bottle), a sharp knife, some sticks, strong glue or glue gun, 30 cm twine
If you want to do something inside instead, give these seed dispersal activities a go – it’s a great way to understand how plants and animals work together. To make a super-speed peashooter, you will need: Biro or gel pen, dried pea To make a model dandelion seed, you will need: A sheet of A4 paper, ruler, scissors, pencil, sticky tape
Thursday 18th February: Take the ‘Seven minutes of terror’ challenge!
Today’s an exciting day – NASA’s Perseverance rover is due to land on Mars! You can watch the landing at 8.55pm here (but you might have to wait until tomorrow morning – that’s pretty late!)
Meanwhile, take the 7 Minutes of Terror Challenge to discover the hair-raising journey a spacecraft takes as it travels through Mars’s atmosphere. Download the activity here:
Have you done lots of science activities and experiments this week? Or have you got a burning science question for our all-knowing robot, Y? Send messages, questions and pictures to y@whizzpopbang.co.uk and let us know all about your week of science!
Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here!
Get ready to race with this marble of engineering! Slot together the press-out parts to create three twisting neon tracks, just waiting for marbles to shoot, spin and whizz around.
This clever marble run kit from Build Your Own includes an ingenious lift and drop marble elevator and run switches to randomise the courses. It’s Build Your Own’s most challenging creation yet – with a build time of four hours, this kit is bound to keep the whole family busy during long weekends at home.
Designed in the UK and made from high-quality sustainable cardboard, this is one amazing piece of kit and we’ve got THREE to give away to lucky winners!
To be in with a chance of winning one of three Build Your Own marble run kits, simply answer this question in the comments:
Who is Mae Jemison?
A An engineer and NASA astronaut B A marbles champion C A botanist
Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here!
