Hip, hip, hooray for SUPERWORM! Superworm arrives at Westonbirt Arboretum with an exciting new family activity trail

From the creators of The Gruffalo, the hugely popular children’s picture book Superworm arrives at Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, in February 2022 with a brand-new family activity trail. Launching on 21 February, the new Superworm trails follow the premiere of the animated special from Magic Light Pictures, which aired on BBC One on Christmas Day. 

Image: Superworm Trail. Credit Forestry England/ Crown.

In the latest exciting partnership between Forestry England and Magic Light Pictures, the Superworm trail showcases the unsung heroes of the forest. Based on the children’s picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, the trail highlights the small but mighty creatures in the Superworm story, such as toad, beetle, and Wizard Lizard, and shows their amazing abilities as they make their home in the forest.

The Superworm activity trail at Westonbirt Arboretum will have lots of fun activities to complete and the new self-led trail will encourage children to become superheroes of the forest themselves. Families will discover brightly illustrated panels, packed with amazing activities designed to get children thinking about these unsung heroes.

Questions along the self-led trail will inspire children to think about the everyday heroic feats of the minibeasts of the woods and forests around them.  The trail should keep the young ones entertained for around an hour leaving plenty of time to find more fun and explore the forest.

Special Superworm trail packs are available to buy on site from the Westonbirt shop, for £3.50 with additional activities, including stickers, a superhero mask, creature fact cards, at-home activity sheet, pencil and crayon.

Hannah Ward, Visitor Attraction Manager for Forestry England says: “This is such a fun trail that offers children the chance to become a hero of the forest, just like the much loved and heroic creatures within the Superworm story. You’ll get to learn about our minibeasts and the important jobs they do for the nation’s forests. It’s the perfect winter’s day out.”

Alex Sanson, Brand Manager at Magic Light says: “Forestry England sites are the perfect home for Superworm and all his friends. These trails offer a great opportunity to young explorers to learn about all the heroic feats that worms and other minibeasts achieve.”

The Superworm trail can be found at 26 of the nation’s forests and launch dates differ between forests, for more details please visit www.forestryengland.uk/superworm