The Queen visiting the Eden Project in 2006

Since Eden Project kick-started the annual Big Lunch initiative in 2009, millions of people have held events, ranging from street parties and fetes to community picnics with neighbours. This year, people in all 54 Commonwealth countries are being encouraged to hold their own Big Jubilee Lunch events as part of the celebrations.

A copy of The Queen’s message will be included in every Big Jubilee Lunch starter pack, along with invitation templates, posters, a wall planner, recipes, stickers and seeds.

The full text reads:

I am delighted that the organisers of The Big Lunch are helping people from across the United Kingdom and further afield to hold Big Jubilee Lunches as part of the celebrations to mark my Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

I send my very best wishes to you and all of those who will be present for what I hope will be a most memorable and enjoyable event.

Andrew Hesford, who is planning a Big Jubilee Lunch in Liverpool, said: ‘It is fantastic to have this special message of support from The Queen. Her words are an enormous boost for every community taking part in a Big Lunch this year – including mine.’

Eden’s Peter Stewart commented: ‘We are enormously grateful to The Queen for her message of support. I’m sure everyone who is taking part in The Big Jubilee Lunch will want to join me in thanking her for her best wishes for a memorable and enjoyable event.

Some 10 million people came out in 1977 to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee so we hope a large number of people will take part in The Big Lunch for the first time in 2012 – joining the millions of us that have been doing it for the last three years.’

To find out how to join in the Queen Diamond’s Jubilee celebrations by throwing a Big Lunch on Sunday 3 June, take a look at Eden’s Big Lunch website. You can order your free Jubilee Big Lunch pack there too.

We asked our Pollinators Jenny Crowe and Dave Webb to belt out a few Christmas classics in our Mediterranean Biome and then we reversed the videos…to hilarious effect.

Play the videos below, and have a guess at what Jenny and Dave are singing. Then you can find out the answers by playing the subsequent videos.

Name that tune videos

Mystery song one

Mystery song two

Mystery song three

Mystery song four

!tcejorP nedE eht morf samtsirhC yppaH

Go Green players use their wheelbarrow to move around the board to collect fruit, vegetables, pigs and chickens on the way. The winner is the first person to fill their allotment and garden with the most produce and animals.

But just like real-life smallholdings, Go Green isn’t all plain sailing. Players must watch out for the ‘green fingers’ cards, which make farming very difficult. So they have to protect their pigs and chickens, sell their crops and livestock at the village fair, steer clear of droughts, famines and even outbreaks of bird flu!

Environmental champion Prince Charles even has a Go Green board himself, describing it as ‘a valuable contribution to educating people about the overwhelming sustainability crisis we face – whilst at the same time, being great fun to play’.

A quirky eco gift for Christmas, you can buy Go Green from the Eden Project shop.

By Peter Dailey

As part of our Festival of Play season, we’re offering loads of ideas for games and activities on the themes of outdoor play and circus fun to keep your kids occupied this summer.

Not only are these water bombs fun to make but great fun to use! Get the whole family involved and see how wet you can get! Recycle old and used paper but be careful when using newspaper as it doesn’t hold the water for long so you’ll have to be quick!

Some of the stages can be a little tricky but  keep trying as the result is worth it! As with all origami, you must make sure your creases are strong and straight as this will make it easier when trying to fold your bombs together.

As you can see, we have made water bombs in all different sizes and using different bits of old paper. The smaller you make your bomb the fiddlier it gets, so we suggest starting with a piece of paper measuring at least 20cm x 20cm. Download your ‘how to’ activity sheet here: How to make an origami water bomb (PDF)

As part of our Festival of Play season, we’re offering loads of ideas for games and activities on the themes of outdoor play and circus fun to keep your kids occupied this summer.

Looking for something quick and easy to keep the kids entertained this summer? Try out our homemade outdoor floor paint. It’s simple to make and will keep the the whole family busy for hours. Here at Eden we have painted hopscotches, games and trails onto our paths to keep the young (and old) entertained!

You need a stretch of paving or wall to get started - a drive way or garden patio is perfect. You’ll also need some brushes or, if you fancy getting really messy, you can use your hands and feet too. We’ve also enjoyed making prints from leaves, wheels, twigs, plant pots and other items found in the garden.

To make the paint:

Thats it!  As soon as you’re ready to clean up, simply use water and a brush to wash away the paints.

We think so, which is why we’re bringing this little-understood subject firmly into the limelight at Eden during May half-term.

Visit us between 28 May and 5 June and you’ll come across a vast exhibition given over to poo, complete with animal dung samples, a turd-themed pub quiz, and a flush game in which you get to see just where things go once the chain’s been pulled.

We’ve developed the feature with our friends at the Wellcome Trust, who have come up with the hugely innovative Dirt Season of events, games and a major exhibition at Wellcome Collection.

The poo exhibit is just one element of this year’s Freaky Nature season, which is back for its second year. This time round visitors will be able to:

• Discover the ingenious tricks plants have come up with to outwit predators, lure in bugs and help them survive.

• Learn how seeds survive, through our sticky seed bomb exhibit.

• Dress up as their favourite insect in the littl’uns’ Bug Boutique.

• Take a freaky plant tour of the Rainforest Biome to discover the darker the side of plants, including poisonous, spiky, carnivorous and even exploding specimens. Meet some of them today in our Freaky Nature blog series.

If you can’t wait until the end of May to get your hands on our turd-tastic games, have a play on our online Poo identity parade game, in which you must be a wildlife detective and match the poos with with their rightful owner.

1. Decorate blown eggs

• Pierce a hole at each end of a real egg, then blow the white and yolk into a bowl (these can be used to cook with!).
• Rinse out the egg and leave it to dry.
• Decorate the egg, using paint or wax crayons, or by leaving it to soak in food colouring for a patterned effect.

2. Play Egg Drop

This is a team game where the aim is to make a cover for a real egg to protect it from cracking when dropped from a height.

• Each team has to pick five things from a selection of different materials (fabric, leaves, cotton wool, or whatever you can find).
• Each team then uses their selected materials to make a protective cover for an egg.
• The eggs must then be dropped from the same height on to the same surface – the one that survives the fall wins. If no egg survives, teams can experiment with different combinations of materials.

3. Make a wild Easter bonnet

Get the kids to raid the garden for materials to decorate an Easter Bonnet. If you’re not happy about them tearing up your garden, you could get them to scavenge materials when you’re out on a walk.

4. Make an Easter mobile

Make some rings of different sizes from willow sticks (withies), and then join them together with wire to make an egg shape. Add decorated blown eggs (see above) to the willow egg to make an Easter mobile.

5. Make a wild nest for Easter eggs

Make a large nest with twigs, leaves and moss, and fill it with decorated blown eggs (see above) or decorated hard-boiled eggs

Mud Between Your Toes aims to connect children and young people to the world they live in – to experience, understand and celebrate their sense of place and purpose in the natural world and in their communities.

Thanks to Lisa Welshman

Hailing from countries as far flung as Argentina and Australia, the performers will be showcasing their skills in areas as diverse as flying trapeze, diablo and cloud swing. The 180 people auditioning will be whittled down to 32 to form the cast and crew of the show.

The skills of the individuals will be paramount to achieving a stunning overall effect in the finished show, and they will be given the chance to develop their original solo work within the broader Labyrinth theme. As well as interacting with Eden’s unique surroundings, the performers will move among and above the audience, resulting in a wonderfully disorientating and magical experience.

As the leading large-scale contemporary circus company in the UK, NoFit State has a long history of attracting the finest circus entertainers the globe has to offer. Today’s audition will ensure the cream of the crop will be at Eden this summer. We’ll keep you posted about who’s made the cut!

Find out more about the show, watch videos and buy tickets on the Labyrinth webpage.

Nick, who is the director of Aardman Animations, met visitors as they tried out the farmyard-style sports day themed around Shaun the Sheep. He also helped create some clay models with children for the Sheep Shape activity and watched as families took part in Shirley sheep space hopper races, cabbage football keepy-uppy, a farmyard assault course and a naughty pigs sack race.

He said: “This is my first time at Eden and it’s brilliant to be here. Championsheeps is great fun and it has been a perfect match working with the Eden Project. Lots of imagination and inventiveness have gone into creating this Shaun the Sheep-based Olympics!”

Nick was also at Eden to promote a new book he has illustrated, Green Poems for a Blue Planet, by Martin Kiszko. The duo read extracts from the anthology and signed copies of the book.

Eden is hosting the world premiere of Championsheeps Live! produced by SGA Productions Ltd in association with Aardman Animations, the film and TV animation company behind the Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit series.

Find out more about Shaun the Sheep: Championsheeps Live

A giant Shirley: part of the Flock ‘n’ Roll game. You’ll work in teams to roll a giant Shirley like this around the obstacle course. The first team to push their Shirley in the bath wins!

In the Farmyard Fling game the Farmer is keeping an eye on everyone with his ‘farmer scarecrows’ (shown above). Try knocking their vegetable  heads off by throwing wellie boots.

In the Free Range game you’ll need to lift the chickens (pictured) and see what you find: if it’s a chick, take it back to the safety of the henhouse; if it’s an egg, balance it on your wooden spoon and take it to the basket.

Find out about all the games on the Shaun the Sheep: Championsheeps Live page.

And…here’s a funny video of Eden staff in training for the Championsheeps, bouncing around the Eden Project on Shirley Sheephoppers!