The Big Bugs on Tour has arrived at intu Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent

Wondering what to do over the April Easter Term Holiday break? Well, why not head to intu Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent to learn more about bugs..yes bugs! There are 12 giant British bugs which are located all over the mall so little kids are able to get up close to them and learn more about nature. We often head to intu Potteries mall as they are so kid’s friendly and its a great family venue for us to shop, eat and for kids to have a great time. Reader’s would remember us heading there last year to launch their New Family Club and Giant Sized Games as well as attend their Find the Impossible Christmas Gift.

The initiative by intu is backed by naturalist Chris Packham and features 12 supersized, indigenous bugs including the honeybee, ladybird, hornet, swallowtail butterfly and the nut weevil.  It launched at intu Potteries on 2 April and will be on display until the 1 May 2019, before going on tour across other intu shopping centres nationwide.

The campaign to reconnect kids and adults to nature comes as reports show children are now better at identifying Pokemon characters than British wildlife, despite a £10 million pledge from Government to encourage children to get closer to nature.  Did you know that one in five children (21 per cent) were unable to correctly identify a bee while one in four children (25 per cent) have not seen a caterpillar in over a year? Another surprising fact is that one in ten kids (10 per cent) did not know honey came from bees!

The 12 British bugs being exhibited are:

• Azure damselfly
• Black ant
• Honeybee

• Hornet

• Ladybird

• Meadow grasshopper

• Swallowtail butterfly

• Swallowtail caterpillar

• Nut weevil

• Rose chafer beetle

• Stag beetle

• G

  reater water boatman

Here are 10 Facts you didn’t know about the bugs around your garden

1. A bee’s wings beat 190 times a second, that’s 11,400 times a minute
2. A ladybird might eat more than 5,000 insects in its lifetime
3. Grasshoppers existed before dinosaurs
4. Certain ants can leap seven times the length of their bodies
5. Butterflies taste with their feet
6. Caterpillars have 12 eyes
7. The stag beetle is the largest species of insect to be found in the UK
8. Damselflies have been on earth for more than 300 million years
9.  A hornet’s favourite food is a…bee!
10. Greater water boatmen breathe through their bottom!