Wildlife Lines London brings creative poetry and writing sessions to primary school children in Lambeth and South London, helping them discover and celebrate nature right on their doorstep.
Nature isn’t something that exists only in distant countryside or faraway wilderness. It’s here in the flash of a ring-necked parakeet over Brixton, in the stag beetle trundling through a Stockwell garden, in the cherry trees lining a Lambeth street. Wildlife Lines – London is a new creative project that helps primary school children see it, feel it, and write about it.
Wildlife Lines – London is a poet-led creative writing project designed for primary school children in Lambeth and South London. Through short, guided poetry and creative writing sessions, the project aims to build a meaningful connection between young urban dwellers and the wildlife all around them.
At its heart, the project challenges a common misconception: that nature is somewhere else. Wildlife Lines London says , loudly, and in verse , that nature is here, in our city, on our streets, above our rooftops.
Wildlife Lines – London was created by a professional copywriter and widely published poet with a clear ambition: to use their literary skills in a way that actively encourages children to engage with and appreciate the living world around them.
Working with primary schools and local authorities across South London, the sessions are designed to be short, inspiring, and low-barrier, an accessible entry point into both creative writing and nature appreciation. The vision is simple but powerful: by noticing nature more, children become more curious about and protective of it.
In the longer term, the project has an exciting goal – to produce a London Nature Poetry Collective (LNPC) booklet featuring the children’s own writing: a published anthology of young South London voices writing about their wild city.
Each Wildlife Lines session is a guided creative experience. The session leader reads aloud work by established poets who have written about urban nature, introducing children to a tradition of finding the extraordinary in the everyday. From there, the group explores and discusses what animals, trees, plants, and natural features the children have actually noticed in their own local area , foxes, parakeets, frogs, stag beetles, hornbeams and more.
Children are then guided to write their own short poems or creative pieces about what they’ve seen and what they imagine, building observation skills, vocabulary, and creative confidence all at once.
Wildlife Lines – London sessions are designed for primary school children in Years 4 to 6 in Lambeth and the wider South London area. The project is committed to working closely with schools and teachers to be as inclusive as possible, with all sessions adapted to meet the needs of individual groups, including children with SEND.
Sessions take place during school term time, on dates agreed between the project lead and each participating school. The format is flexible , a one-off session or a series, depending on what works best. Sessions are held in school, or where possible, in nearby green spaces and parks. No health and safety concerns are anticipated; all activities are age-appropriate and safe for both indoor and outdoor school settings.
How To Get Involved
Sessions are arranged directly through schools. If you’re a teacher or school administrator in Lambeth or South London and would like to bring Wildlife Lines – London to your pupils, get in touch to discuss dates and how sessions can be tailored to your class. Parents and guardians interested in the project should speak to their child’s teacher or school office to express interest.
Children who feel connected to nature are more likely to care for it as they grow up. But in urban areas, nature can feel invisible , or like something that belongs to other places, other people. Wildlife Lines London is a small but meaningful intervention: giving South London children the language, the attention, and the creative tools to notice the fox slipping under the fence, the stag beetle under the log pile, the parakeet’s impossible green against a grey London sky , and to say: I see you. You are part of my world.
If you would like find out more, please email: matt.gilbert@nationalparkcity.
