YOUNGSTERS at a Hampshire school have been getting hands-on experience creating new animal homes for their school's environment area.

Outdoor artist Ganesh Bruce has been visiting Hook-with-Warsash Primary School giving children the chance to develop new skills while creating homes for the local wildlife.

The skills they have learnt include making bird feeders, hedgehog homes, bird homes and bat boxes.

The children busily worked together to measure the wood, cut pieces to the correct length, and join the components together using a range of tools and techniques.

Some of the children even had the chance to use a special wood-burning pen to create their own designs on a totem pole that has been placed in the woodland section of the environment area. The school recently received an Awards for All Lottery grant, which staff have used to develop their environment education and bring in Mr Bruce.

Now pupils have an environmental classroom, sensory garden, pond, woodland, willow tunnel and meadow area with a storyteller's chair Head teacher, Christopher Hines, said: "The children thoroughly enjoyed working with Ganesh to create the animal homes which have been placed throughout the environmental area.

"Being able to create their own animal homes, rather than buying them from shops, gave a real sense of purpose to the work that they were carrying out."

Local groups wanting to visit the environment area should call the school on 01489 572393.