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Forget the reductions in news, arts and music programming announced in the BBC’s latest round of cost-saving alterations to the entertainment schedules – there is only one change that really matters. After 60 years on the flagship – or, in lay terms, “proper” – channel, BBC1, Blue Peter is to be moved to CBBC, the [...]

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A Chinese restaurant offering an all-you-can-eat buffet is charging customers £20 in ‘wastage’ if they leave food on their plates. Managers at the Kylin Buffet in Ocean Road, South Shields, have put up a notice urging diners to eat up all their food – or face the penalty charge. The policy has outraged one mother [...]

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AS the gales raged and the floods rose, their homes were destroyed and their families torn apart. Caragh Hunter, of HART Wildlife Rescue, said: ‘Two were found inside a fallen tree. The others were found after being blown from trees. They’re all between four and eight weeks old. One was saved after a crow attacked [...]

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They came armed with rubber gloves, wellies and lashings of Dunkirk spirit. And the brigade of volunteers who took our battle against litter to the beaches managed to fill an astonishing 3,200 bin bags with rubbish. In total, more than 60 miles of coastline was cleared of litter after thousands of volunteers turned out to [...]

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The number of England’s beaches gaining Blue Flag awards for cleanliness has increased in 2012. But about 30% of the beaches might not reach tougher water quality standards being introduced next year, said Blue Flag scheme organisers Keep Britain Tidy. For 2012, a total of 79 English beaches have received blue flag awards – nine [...]

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Up to 525,000 Scouts across the UK are set to take part in their first week of community volunteering since “bob-a-job” week ended 20 years ago. Planned activities include tackling speeding, removing graffiti, renovating care homes and building habitats for rare bees. The young people have been encouraged to do jobs which will help their [...]

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The World’s tallest Lego tower has been erected in Seoul, South Korea, built by 4,000 children, using 500,000 bricks and measuring a dizzying 31.9 metres (105ft) high. The toy tower was unveiled on Sunday by Danish Crown Prince Frederik, who laid the final record-breaking brick, as part of a celebration to mark Lego’s 80th birthday. [...]

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This picture shows me as a Girl Guide aged about 11, shortly after I’d joined up. I loved the Guides (I’m still a supporter) and rose to the heady heights of patrol leader. Camping was the bit I enjoyed most, especially if it involved getting together with the Scouts! The eldest of three girls, I [...]

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I was 10 and it was my first school trip – my first time away from home. It was to Nethercott farm in Devon, where, our teachers promised us with a certain sinister relish that we would be working as farmers for a full week. We were city children, urban ones, with at least some [...]

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They press all the buttons, try to open the windows, then drop their lunch down every crevice in the upholstery. And that’s just the kids when you take them for a drive in the car. So what better way to test the durability of a brand new family saloon than to leave it at the [...]

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A 77-year-old man has been jailed for 62 weeks after admitting offences relating to the safety of children’s bouncy castles. The judge told Peter Coltilda from Deganwy, Conwy county, it was only good fortune no-one was hurt by the poor standard of his repairs. He had also issued the play equipment with test certificates, ignoring [...]

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As a former chief pilot of Concorde, Roger Price knows a thing or two about deafening people. His supersonic airliner happily hit an ear-splitting 110 decibels on take-off and would often bring conversation to a standstill as it thundered overhead. But the 67-year-old’s tolerance levels are clearly set a little lower when he’s in his own [...]

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These musical baby bears might seem ready to cut a rug. But the conga line of cubs is actually a tactic used for grooming. Video shot at a bear reservation shows the litter of 10 standing up on their hind legs and one by one filing in line to lick each other’s heads. A 50 [...]

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The third Wizarding World of Harry Potter is to be built at Universal Studios Japan, in Osaka, with work starting in the next few weeks and the park scheduled to open in late 2014, the operator of the park announced on Thursday.   Universal’s first wizarding attraction, in Orlando, Florida, has already attracted millions of [...]

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When Dickens the Golden Retriever spotted a fawn in his backyard, he didn’t bother worrying that its protective mother might be lurking nearby. Instead, he saw the opportunity to play. This heartwarming video captures the moment Dickens spots the young deer near his home in Delhi Hills, Ohio and introduces himself. via Fawn’s best friend: [...]

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The river takes its time to meander through a wooded valley. You’ll want to, too, as you wind gently along its banks, crossing the water by this famed Exmoor monument. The River Barle is knee-deep to a toddler, every shining blue-grey stone visible on its bed. Children scout in the shallows for sticklebacks and splash [...]

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If chilly temperatures, grey skies and drizzle – and in some cases even snow – wasn’t already enough to make for a miserable bank holiday weekend, pity those who braved the weather to go to the Legoland theme park in Windsor, Berkshire, to find it closed due to a mystery power cut. Shortly before the [...]

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At first glance these technicoloured creations look like they’ve leaped from the pages of a Dr. Seuss book. But the spectacular structures are the brainchild of Danish playground designers Ole B. Nielsen and Christian Jensen. The pair’s company Monstrum are responsible for a collection of amazing playscapes that have popped up across Scandinavia. via Giant [...]

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He has survived political correctness and the PlayStation generation. Now Mr Punch is about to celebrate his 350th birthday. What’s the reason for his longevity? With his familiar cry of “That’s the way to do it!”, Mr Punch has come a long way since his first mention in the diary of Samuel Pepys. Next week, [...]

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The “Pedestrian User-Friendly Intelligent” crossings were developed as a safer way for people, particularity those with a disability or in wheelchairs, to cross busy roads. The new-style “Puffin” indicators, located at waist height on the same side of the road, were designed to encourage pedestrians to look at oncoming traffic and use special sensors to [...]

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Town hall chiefs have been branded killjoys after banning children from climbing trees or flying kites in their parks. More than 40 rules are being introduced by Enfield, including a ban on model aircraft and roller-skating in an “annoying” or dangerous way. Adults caught breaking the new rules could face a £500 fine while children [...]

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EP Collier School’s plan, inspired by 10:10, to raise £10,000 in one term for solar panels raised some eyebrows but they did it – boosting morale and cutting the school’s carbon footprint in the process. Here the pupils and teachers explain how they did it – by gungeing teachers in part – and why via [...]

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A murderous seagull that gobbled up a duckling got more than it bargained for when it returned for another helping. It swooped on the ducklings as they swam with their parents in Herbert Park, Dublin, last week. But the mother duck, who initially had eleven ducklings in tow, finally forced the gull away by aggressively [...]

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Marine experts are calling on the public to report sightings of basking sharks in UK waters this summer. The sharks are drawn to warm, plankton-rich surface waters off the west coast of Great Britain and Ireland. These huge sharks are harmless, but experts are also asking people to “keep a respectful distance and enjoy the [...]

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“Ah,” cries Alan Titchmarsh, “I’m so happy.” He bounds over to 15-year-old Jack Mitchell – who has just told Titchmarsh of his plans to study horticulture at Plumstead College – and gives him a bear-hug. “Horticulture is a proper academic subject,” he enthuses. “People don’t recognise it, and they should. It’s so wonderful that you’re [...]

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A young fossil enthusiast found a deer’s antler dating back 4,000 years as he walked along a Cumbrian beach. Jamie Cassidy, 8, said he spotted what looked like a stick poking through the shingle at South Walney. As he dug it out, he realised it was an ancient antler, 3ft high and perfectly preserved. Experts say it [...]

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It’s a scene with which many parents will empathise. A tired youngster drags their heels after spending a long, hard day traipsing around behind mum. In the case of this polar bear cub however, mum has enough and decides to take matters into her own hands or rather teeth. She picks up her beleagured cub in her [...]

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First there was the Bugaboo Donkey that cost a staggering $1,500 and then there was Lilly Gold’s Sit n’ Stroll, a transformer-like seat for five planes, trains and automobiles. Whatever the latest innovation in the world of baby strollers, they are probably considered more of a pest by the people who don’t have them than a [...]

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A young fisherman is walking on water after catching a catfish that was as big as him. Curtis Welch, 13, caught the monster fish – which weighed more than three stone at Orchid Lake in Oxfordshire on a visit with a family friend earlier this month. The 4ft 10in schoolboy eventually pulled the whopper out of [...]

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A miniature 10-cm high Lego model of the Queen – complete with a real diamond-encrusted crown – will be installed at Legoland Windsor next month to mark the Diamond Jubilee. Described as “one of the most valuable LEGO models”, the Lego Queen will go on display on the balcony of a recreation of Buckingham Palace [...]

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Outdoor play is making a come back as cash-strapped parents swap spending on DVDs and the cinema for free days out in the park, research suggests. A poll of 1,250 UK parents of school-age children suggests 44% of youngsters are now spending more time playing outside than they did two years ago. Many parents recognise that [...]

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A boy of five had a miracle escape after he was crushed under the wheel of a tractor but escaped without breaking a single bone. Leo Cope was out for a ride on his scooter, with his father following closely behind, but the fun came to an end as Leo tried to cross the road just [...]

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Children should put down their computer games, abandon virtual shooting and take up the real thing, the new head of the Countryside Alliance has declared. Sir Barney White-Spunner is urging a new generation to take up arms and embrace country sports. In a provocative hunting and shooting message, Sir Barney said fishing, farming and clay-pigeon [...]

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There were seven of us, all squeezed into a cramped semi in a west London suburb. We rarely saw the horizon, and the main wildlife event was a daily visit of a flock of parakeets to our bird feeders. When we upped sticks and moved down to the Somerset Levels six years ago, my two [...]

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Life for huge river otters stuck in an aquarium must be a little dull to say the least. But this little girl seems to have brightened up their day – with her fingers. There’s no need to worry though – the otters didn’t help themselves to a snack. Footage captured at Philadelphia Zoo, Pennsylvania, shows a cute [...]

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Stuff happens, sometimes when you least expect it. But you just have to deal with it. One day I lost a child on the London Underground. Beat that. It was my first term and I wanted to impress my “lively” Year 6 class by doing a topic on dinosaurs. Kids love dinosaurs – Pterodactyl, Diplodocus, [...]

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If you’ve been growling and hissing at news of the Renaissance tot who’s already signed up to Mensa aged four, then retract those Tiger Mother claws, sister – French needlepoint and advanced calculus are, officially, passé.   Today, the only quotient that counts is how your child scores on the National Trust’s new Bucket List [...]

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Traditional games of tag, dressing up or making a den have been supplanted by expensive toys and gadgets because of fears over health and safety and a belief that playing should always have a “goal”, the research shows. At the same time parents admit they have lost the art of making up stories for their [...]

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Cutting the red tape surrounding school trips has put children’s lives at risk because teachers cannot be expected to ‘rely on their common sense’, unions claimed yesterday. MPs cut the health and safety guidance for days out from 150 pages to eight pages after complaints from teachers about too much paperwork. But union leaders say [...]

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UK children are losing contact with nature at a “dramatic” rate, and their health and education are suffering, a National Trust report says. Traffic, the lure of video screens and parental anxieties are conspiring to keep children indoors, it says. Evidence suggests the problem is worse in the UK than other parts of Europe, and [...]

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In the long-running tradition of cute kids narrating things on YouTube, BBC America presented this gem Thursday: children supposedly auditioning to replace narrator David Attenborough on its hit nature series Planet Earth. In honor of Earth Day, BBC America is playing the full, uncut version of the nature docu-series for the first time on April [...]

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This female brown bear looked like she was having a ball with her young cubs as she enjoyed some fun with her offspring. The mother bear was spotted splashing around with a yellow ball as her cubs looked on in the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. While her two youngsters appeared a little apprehensive at taking a dip [...]

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No helmets, no safety rails, no child-friendly synthetic surfaces — little sign of an adult (with or without a fluorescent bib and a first aid kit). Yet, none of these scenes ended in disaster. They were just part of growing up in the days when a stubbed  toe or a cracked tooth was a fact [...]

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It is usually the incoming tide that spells the end for sandcastles. But this 13ft-high fortress, built to mark the 100-day countdown to the Olympics, did not even stand long enough to have the waves lapping at its walls. Instead, after £5,000 was spent on building the castle over four painstaking days, it was knocked [...]

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Lucky strike! Teenager hit by lightning TWICE in an afternoon says he survived because his novelty hat took the damage By DAILY MAIL REPORTER PUBLISHED: 19:52, 13 April 2012 | UPDATED: 00:49, 14 April 2012 Comments (8) Share The chances of being struck by lightning once are high enough. But a teenager has declared he [...]

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Heroic girl, 15, risks her life to rescue 25 horses from massive stable fire By NINA GOLGOWSKI PUBLISHED: 20:02, 13 April 2012 | UPDATED: 16:40, 14 April 2012 Comments (15) Share A 15-year-old girl is being hailed a hero after dashing into a burning stable and rescuing around 25 horses from near death, against her [...]

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Having a giraffe! Young addition to zoo who just loves playing with friendly butterflies By LAURA COX   A baby giraffe showed off her dancing skills as she enjoyed the sunshine gracefully frolicking around with a butterfly at the Bronx Zoo. The month-old calf caught a glimpse of the butterfly as it flew into her [...]

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The Kinder Scout trespass: 80 years on The anniversary of the direct action that marked the beginning of the right-to-roam movement is still an occasion for celebration Eric Allison guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 April 2012 14.30 BST Article history Ramblers and gamekeepers come to blows during the Kinder Scout mass trespass Photograph: Don Mcphee for the [...]

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Sea cadet plunged to death after falling from rigging A young sea cadet plunged 30 feet to his death from the rigging of a training ship after removing his safety harness to assist a female colleague, an inquest heard today. Jonathan Martin, 14, was killed when he fell from TS Royalist and smashed into a [...]

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