Exmoor Views

Today is the start of National Parks Week when we celebrate all the wonders of Britain’s breathing spaces and this year’s theme is ‘adventure’. So to get the week’s hullaballoo off to a flying start, National Parks UK have teamed up with Mission Explore to launch their latest adventure book for children Mission Explore: National Parks. Promoting the idea of being a guerrilla explorer, these pocket sized books are filled with challenges and adventures for children to try out and keep a record of when they are in one of the UK’s 15 National Parks.

The Mission Explore series are truly books for children by children. All of the challenges were voted for by school children from all over the UK, with the favourites selected to be published.

The book costs only £5.00, for which you will get over 90 fun-filled pages (in English and Welsh), jam-packed with 49 missions of weird and wonderful ideas of things to do whilst at a National Park. Mission Explore: National Parks is available to buy at Exmoor’s three National Park Centres (in Dulverton, Dunster and Lynmouth) or online.

It is aimed at encouraging children to explore the enormous world of the National Parks and engage them with all the brilliant things that are on offer throughout the UK by drawing, rubbing, smearing, writing, colouring and printing their findings inside the book to create a unique field journal.

Television presenter and National Park enthusiast Julia Bradbury said: ‘I absolutely LOVE this book, drawing a cow-pat emoji is a must-try! It’s so important to encourage kids to enjoy our UK National Parks from an early age and instill a love of the countryside that will last all their lives thus helping to secure the future of our protected landscapes’.

Helen Steer, Director of Mission Explore said “”The Mission:Explore team are extremely excited that our latest book is a collaboration with National Parks UK. Each member of the UK National Park family is a unique place, ideally suited for discovery, curiosity and creativity. Mae’n amser mentro! It’s time to explore!””

“Our book challenges the owner to become an extreme explorer, natural navigator and wildlife watcher in one of our 15 awesome National Parks.” Said Kathryn Cook, UK Director, National Parks UK.  “Missions range from simple tasks to more challenging ones. An example of a simpler task would be ‘Eat like a local’, encouraging children to try food produced by local businesses. At the other end of the scale there are challenges to ‘Go on a poo hunt’ (encouraged by Steve Backshall as seen in this video!) and ‘Get stung’. Go explore our UK National Parks and have fun!”

So to make the most of Exmoor, you’ll also find the Top 15 Adventure lists offering ideas to inspire young and old, such as ‘Adventures for the non-adventurous’, ‘Family-friendly adventures’ and ‘Quirky Adventures’. And don’t forget to send us your adventure pictures via Twitter (@ExmoorNP) or Facebook.