If keeping the kids occupied and learning about their environment is the aim, then Biodiversity Bingo is the game.

North Otago Sustainable Land Management (Noslam) engagement officer Nic Neal has come up with a creative way to get children outdoors and engaged with their environment, using artwork by New Zealand author and illustrator Ned Barraud.

Five bingo cards are being released this week, each with nine pictures of wildlife found in five different areas - wetlands and rivers, beaches and estuaries, rocky foreshore and ocean, forests and mountains, and another bonus card of things which might be slightly trickier to find - and may only be somewhere like a sanctuary or a museum, Nic said.

“So five cards, each with some of Ned's beautiful illustrations.”

The cards can be found on the Noslam Facebook page, or paper copies picked up from the Ōamaru Library.

Awareness of biodiversity is something that is improving, particularly in environmental and farming circles, and Nic is looking to help break it down to a “nuts and bolts” level to encourage people to help get to know what exists around them. 

“It's understanding what lives in our environment. If we have a monoculture of only one thing then it's not that healthy for the whole ecosystem. So where we can have a lot of biodiversity that's better for the ecosystem generally.

“And there's definitely lots of different ways we, as farmers and as people looking after land, can encourage that biodiversity.

“So even knowing what is out there, what animals and plants live in our environment and making sure that we're sort of thinking about that, so that things are in balance, I guess. ‘Cos whenever we change something all one way, then we're going to pull something else out of balance.”

As a mother of two who has battled with summer holidays, Nic also wanted to offer an activity that would get children out and about, and give them something to do.

“I thought, well, what's a cool way that we can include some biodiversity thinking, and get mainly our rangatahi out, looking into the environment.” 

Ned Barraud is based in Wellington, but has collaborated with the Waitaki District Council before, with his work being used for previous story trail panels which are scattered around Ōamaru harbour. 

Nic thinks his book Where is it? A wildlife hunt for Kiwi kids resonates perfectly with her bingo idea. 

“And he has very graciously allowed us to use some of his artwork to make that happen,” she said.

Once items on the bingo cards have been found, they can be photographed or drawn, and emailed to [email protected] or messaged directly to the Facebook page. 

Copies of the book Where is it? donated by Ned and his publishers Potton and Burton, are up for grabs for the best entries.

Entries need to be received by January 14.