Children across the country are being given the chance to apply for their own Blue Peter Green Badge as part of the Let it Grow collaboration between BBC Children’s and Education and BBC Radio 2, designed to help everyone transform grey spaces into wild and colourful places!
Inspired by the new BBC One series Wild Isles, the opening episode of which was the biggest factual episode to air on the BBC in 2023 so far*, Radio 2, CBBC, CBeebies and BBC Teach will be building on the interest generated in nature and inspiring all audiences to get stuck in. Viewers and listeners will be encouraged to re-purpose pots, pans and pallets to get planting and bring brightness to wherever they live.
Encouraging children to help with the making, digging and planting, Let it Grow will spring to life on Blue Peter on 31 March (5pm, CBBC and BBC iPlayer), supported by Bear Grylls, Steve Backshall, Vick Hope and JB Gill. A new Blue Peter Garden will also open at RHS garden Bridgewater, and there will be a brand new Let it Grow game on the CBBC website.
Children can apply for their very own Blue Peter Green Badge and for a limited time, those receiving a Blue Peter badge will receive a free pack of sunflower seeds. Easy to grow, their flowers will brighten up any space and the birds and the bees love them too! The Green Badge will be awarded to children who show all the wonderful ways they care about nature and the environment, with those who secure a badge joining previous notable recipients such as Sir David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg.
BBC Director of BBC Children’s and Education, Patricia Hidalgo, said, “When it comes to Let it Grow, everyone can get involved. Whatever the space available – from front or back gardens, balconies, window ledges or driveways – there will be advice on how to Let It Grow in all kinds of places and communities. We can’t wait to see children across the country exploring the amazing world of nature around us all.”
A raft of environmentally focused new CBBC and CBeebies commissions will form part of the Let it Grow initiative. OZT Goes Wild in Britain will air on CBBC in April, following the Whitnall brothers from the popular One Zoo Three programme, as they travel the UK in their electric car, championing conservation projects and meeting wildlife heroes.
Ranger Hamza’s Eco Minis, a miniseries available on CBeebies in May, will demonstrate how a series of small jobs and tasks that everyone can do can make a big difference to the environment we live in.
Steve and Aneeshwar Go Wild will also launch on CBeebies in July. The series follows Steve Backshall and young environmental enthusiast Aneeshwar Kunchala as they take over Knowsley Safari Park to meet animals from all over the world, discovering how we can protect them and how even the most unusual creatures are connected to the wonderful critters we can find on our doorsteps.
BBC Teach’s hub for schools will be available from 27 March on the BBC Teach website, collating the best nature-inspired classroom resources and children’s programming in one place. Teachers can find curriculum-linked classroom videos on how plants grow, what plants need to thrive and survive and how to protect the environment.
On Radio 2, the whole network will be getting behind Let It Grow with inspirational programming from Monday 27th to Sunday 2nd April. The station is also launching a new eight-part series on BBC Sounds called Let It Grow with Liza Tarbuck. Liza will join Zoe on The Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Monday 27th March to launch the initiative and encourage listeners to get it involved. Across the schedule, Radio 2’s presenters will be supporting the drive to bring nature to our neighbourhoods, and special guests will be discovering how to grow plants from seed, sharing their own stories, including any mishaps and missteps, and lots more…
People will have the opportunity to get started planting with a free packet of seeds which can be collected from partner retailers around the UK (while stocks last). Further information is available via bbc.co.uk/grow.