World Life Explorers helping nature!

It can be hard for garden creatures to find safe places to hide, so why not give them a helping hand! A well wildlife hotel could provide shelter for many creatures such as ladybirds, woodlice, toads even hedgehogs!

Materials you can use: Moss Dry leaves Straw Bark Pine cones Logs Bricks with holes in them (if you haven’t any of these normal bricks are ok) Plant pots (ideally terracotta) Pieces of cut wood (like garden sheds are made from) Old roofing tiles Hollow bamboo canes

Wooden pallets Roofing felt Wooden planks Cardboard (the bottom of egg boxes are

really great for this!) Stones and rocks

MethodChoose your site!

It needs to be on firm and level ground to make it stable and away from vegetable patches or fruit trees and bushes. Remember different positions will attract different creatures. Toads as an example prefer it damp and cooler than butterflies which like it warm and sunny.

Make the base!

Bricks and pallets are brilliant for this as they make a solid and stable base and framework. Put one

brick in each corner and two into the middle side by side. You may wish to make the bottom slightly higher by adding more bricks, this may help attract hedgehogs to hide underneath it!Fill in the gaps! This is the fun part, use your materials such as the straw and try leaves to fill in the gap smaller gaps and the larger materials like the tiles, logs and plant pots for bigger gaps.When the gaps are filled, place another pallet on top and stuff the gaps again. Keep repeating this until the hotel is about 1 meter high.

Remember the roof! You want your guests to stay dry, so you need to add a roof. This is made from the roofing felt which you place over the top and secure with some sturdy rocks to prevent it blowing away in the wind! (the rocks will also provide a lovely basking point for butterflies, moth and other insects during the warm summer months)

Give it a name! Every hotel has a name, so your should do to, maybe you could make a waterproof sign to place outside.

Record your visitors!

Why not use our World Life Explorers bug hunt chart to record who visits your hotel? Remember not to disturb it in anyway as you don’t want to scare your guests!