Five Things To Do With Your Family This Weekend

DO WINGS OVER BRITAIN

This weekend’s RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is a low-key, inclusive way for even the smallest of children to connect with nature. It’s the world’s largest garden wildlife survey – every January, half a million people spend an hour counting the winged creatures that come into their garden, balcony or park. This year, why not head to an event at a reserve near you or keep an eye on Birdwatch Live where you can catch up with bird web cams and enjoy chat with special guests Chris Packham, Dr Amir Khan and Lucy Hodson. Download a pack and join in the fun.

EVENT THE COMET IS COMING
Look to the skies! This week sees the closest approach to Earth of an exotic green comet (we’re taking this one as ours) that hasn’t passed this way since the time of the Neanderthals. If you can find an area with minimal light pollution you may catch a glimpse of the show. It’s visible as the sky darkens below and to the left of the handle of the Plough constellation. Find out more here

EVENT MOTHERS OF INVENTION

Push Manchester celebrates the region’s freshest, most creative artists, at Home, with a wide range of shows, workshops and events as well as networking events for creatives and industry professionals. Perfoårmers from Mothers Who Make, a monthly social network for artists of all disciplines who happen to be mothers will take part in Test The Waters, a scratch event on Saturday that showcases six performers who have spent four days in their studios to produce dark comedy to explore the stark contrasts within motherhood, a dreamlike performance using facemarks to chart the evolution of language, behaviours and our first steps, and stories about new motherhood and the maternal brain. There will be a matinee performance suitable for pre-crawling babies and neuro-diverse audience members.



EVENT AND DO CHASE YOUR TALE

National Storytelling Week starts on Saturday, a time where the oral tradition is celebrated and the air is thick with wild tales and monsters conjured from the imagination. There’s a rich selection of storytelling resources here, from online storytelling classes and a webinar with the You’re Dead To Me podcast team to a guide to story sacks and great podcasts.

There’s nothing like the atmosphere conjured by listening to a story live; join in the fun at an event near you – there’s a map of what’s happening here. We like the sound of the Feast of Fools Festival that celebrates Saturnalia with mumming and feasting in Sandwich and Three Drops of Blood in Cambridge which explores the gothic and wild side of fairytale and sounds perfect for older teenagers. Can’t make it along to an event? Find ‘story medicine’ alchemist Susan Perrow’s top tips for telling your own tales here explore more ways to share stories here.

RECIPE SUNSHINE IN A JAR
It’s a particularly long, grey, miserable January, so this weekend, we’re determined to bring a little citrussy, warm sunshine to our kitchen by making marmalade. The very short Seville orange season is in full swing now. There’s a great basic recipe from Nigel Slater here (we love his idea of adding a few mint leaves), while this take adds in warming cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla, and there’s a fragrant, sophisticated version using clementines and bay here.

WHAT WE’RE EATING Oven-Fried Nuggets with a Cornflake Crust A perfect weekend treat for Veganuary! Katy Beskow shares her recipe for these spicy tofu nuggets which take less than 30 minutes to get on the table! Find the recipe here

WHAT WE’RE READING Scientists discover new emperor penguin colony in Antarctica - by spotting their poo from space The colony, located at Verleger Point, West Antarctica, is home to 500 birds. It brings the total of known emperor penguin sites around the continent to 66, according to scientists at the British Antarctic Survey. Read more here