Connect with Nature
Research tells us that children and adults are healthier, happier and more creative when they have a connection to the natural environment. A connection to nature can improve your physical and mental health and reduce stress, boost your immune system and increase your energy levels. Best of all though, connecting with nature is a lot of fun!
Camden Council has developed the ‘Connect with Nature’ video series in partnership with Penrith City Council.
‘Connect with Nature’ explores the unique plants and animals of Western Sydney that are found in the endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland and the Nepean River corridor. You’ll not only learn about our unique natural environment, you’ll also get some great ideas about how to create a habitat garden as a family.
Backyard Safari
Discover the creatures living in your own backyard using tools from around the home, and techniques that are suitable for the whole family.
Nature Safari
Learn some great bushwalking techniques and tricks to help you spot animals from the ground to the trees.
Where can I go on a Nature Safari in the Camden area?
- Bicentennial Equestrian Park, Camden
- Kings Bush Reserve/Nepean River Cycleway, Camden
- Elizabeth Macarthur Reserve, Camden
- John Peat Reserve, Camden
- Cut Hill Reserve, Cobbitty
- Elizabeth Throsby Reserve, Currans Hill
- Charles Throsby Reserve, Currans Hill
- South Creek Reserve, Gledswood Hills
- Gledswood Hills Reserve, Gledswood Hills
- Harrington Forest, Harrington Park
- Harrington Park Lake, Harrington Park
- John Oxley Reserve, Kirkham
- Mount Annan Botanic Gardens, Mount Annan
- William Howe Regional Park, Mount Annan
- George Caley Reserve, Mount Annan
- Lake Yandel’ora, Mount Annan
- The Cascades, Mount Annan
- Gundungurra Reserve (North), Narellan Vale
- Kolombo Creek, Oran Park
- Grand Prix Park, Oran Park
- Springs Lake Reserve, Spring Farm
Habitat Garden Part 1
Find out how to build your very own frog jacuzzi and lizard lounge. This video shows you how to incorporate habitat features into your own garden to provide refuge to native animals.
Habitat Garden Part 2
Learn which native plant species are best suited to our local area, and how they can support wildlife in your very own backyard habitat garden.
You can also check out the Camden Native Garden Guide which has been developed to help residents improve the existing biodiversity in their garden, or to design a native garden from scratch.
We’ve created lesson plans and activity guides that you can use to go on a Backyard or Nature Safari or create elements of a habitat garden.
If you have any questions about the following content, please get in touch with our Sustainability Team on 13 22 63 or email sustainability@camden.nsw.gov.au
Use this activity guide to create your own lizard lounge which is a perfect place for our scaly friends to find shelter so they can hide, sleep and be protected from weather and predators. Use this activity guide to create a budget-friendly bird bath by up-cycling old materials lying around your home or visiting a local op-shop. In this activity you will learn simple techniques using tools from around the home to discover the creatures living in your own backyard. In this activity you will learn some great bushwalking techniques and tricks to help you spot animals from the ground to the trees when out on a nature safari in your local reserve or park. This activity provides instructions on how to build a frog jacuzzi or frog hotel and encourage these beneficial creatures to your garden. A Nest Box Trail has been created at Harrington Forest as part of a restoration project that saw 10 nest boxes that were decorated by local primary school and preschool students, installed within large eucalypt trees. These students have decorated the nest boxes to create a cosy home for our wildlife. See if you can find all 10 nest boxes while enjoying a bushwalk through Harrington Forest. Do you love food? Well you must love bees! This activity teaches us about the importance of native bees for our natural environment and the vital role they play as pollinators in food production. This activity contains instructions on how to build a bee hotel as a way to help our native bees. Now is a great time to get out in your garden and get creative by turning used contained or bottles into a mini herb garden! In this activity, kids are encouraged to flex their green thumbs and create a mini-herb garden using recycled materials. Head outside to your local park or reserve or even your backyard to discover what plants and animals are living there. You’ll be surprised at what you find when you look closely! Nature Quest contains the following three smaller activities: Bird Bingo, Mini-beast Discovery and Nature Scavenger Hunt.
Build a Lizard Lounge
DIY Bird Bath
Go on a Backyard Safari
Go on a Nature Safari
Build a Frog Jacuzzi or Frog Hotel
Explore the Nest Box Trail
Build a Bee Hotel
Create a Mini Herb Garden
Go on a Nature Quest
Creature Features Competition
This mysterious creature has a head like a lion, a body of a zebra, cheetah legs, rabbit ears and a unicorn tail.
Camden is famous because of ‘Camden’s Mystery’. It protects Camden from any bad people. The bad people will tremble to their feet before the ‘Camden Mystery’.
It eats plants and small animals. If it can it will devour the nectar if a hibiscus.
The spiky-devil-roo cannot hop backwards and its spikes are like swords.
The features of the Monophingon are its giant platypus beak. It also has big purple spikes on the sides of its body and is covered in green fish scales.
The Monophingon lives in the deep parts of the muddy river in Camden.
My creature has webbed feet and enjoys swimming in Harrington Park Lake with the ducks and swans. It has wings and spends most of its time in the trees. It has spikes on top to protect it from predators and it eats fish from the lake.