On Tuesday the 24^th of March the children from Awakeri Playcentre visited the Manawahe Ecological Community Centre to learn about the natural environment of the forest and the threat of introduced predators to our native birds.

The day started with an `Easter egg’ hunt where the children had to find hidden pictures of native birds and trees. The pictures were used to tell the story of how native birds need a healthy forest to grow and live in and that rat and stoat kill these lovely birds. Several children shared stories of rats and possums in their own garden.

After morning tea, we all went out on a `hike’ around the centre to check our rat monitoring tunnels and our stoat traps. The children found it quite exciting to spot the traps and find out what was inside them. We caught one stoat and found that most of our monitoring tunnels had rat prints in them. So there are a few rats out there that have yet to be caught!

The day finished with a picnic and a little play before heading back to Awakeri Playcentre. If you have a group that wants to visit the Manawahe Ecological Community Centre you can get in touch with their Environmental Educator Liddy Bakker at educ.met@gmail.com.