Family travel brings unexpected joy: watch your children connect their classroom knowledge with the real world, like finding purple pitcher plants at the Eden Project.
The Sarracenia purpurea may not be a plant you are familiar with. It is certainly one I didn’t know about before this week. But my eleven-year-old did.
How purple pitcher plants work
When we visited the Eden Project in Cornwall, she was almost as excited to see the Sarracenia purpurea as I was to see a Wollemi Pine. Before I knew it, she was giving a lecture on these purple pitcher plants. They’re from North America, they have leaves that form a test tube-like shape. Rainwater partially fills those tubes, and insects are attracted to the nectar within.
Once inside, the insects struggle to grip on the waxy interiors, and once near the bottom of the tube a series of downward-pointing hairs make escape impossible.
Where did my daughter learn this?
This is what my daughter told me, and it seems to be more-or-less correct. I don’t know whether she picked this information up in school, on TV or from one of the books she’s been devouring in the back of the car*, but it marked a new phase in family travel.
(*She’s been working her way through the Usborne 100 Things To Know About… books. I heartily recommend them)
Learning from your children
I wrote in January about how travelling as a parent has changed me. It has become less about what I see and do, and more about the privilege of being there when my children see and do things. The joy comes from their joy.
Well, as the children get older, there’s a new phase where children get joy from seeing things they’ve learned about in books or at school in the real world. The eagerness to share knowledge and make the mental links is gorgeous. And for every ten things they explain that you very much already know, there’s one that take you by surprise.
Knowledge is no longer a one-way street
The purple pitcher plants at the Eden Project are one example of this. The communication of knowledge is no longer a one-way street, and travelling together ignites that communication. I not only want to experience the world with my daughters, I want to learn with them and from them.
Unless, of course, it’s about Minecraft…
To book tickets to the Eden Project, head this way. Other unexpected highlights there include The Seed.
Five great things to do while you’re in Cornwall
- 👻 Feel the chills in the abandoned cells on a hugely atmospheric tour of Bodmin Jail.
- 🌱 Explore the world’s largest indoor rainforest at the Eden Project.
- 🎬 Discover the Beyond Paradise filming locations around Looe on a specialised tour.
- 🐬 Spot dolphins, seals and porpoises on a RIB sealife safari from Padstow.
- 🏄 Hit the surf in Newquay with a two hour surfing lesson.
More Cornwall travel
Other Cornwall travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- Can you park at the harbour in Polperro?
- How to behave around seals at Lizard Point.
- How much does the Fowey to Bodinnick ferry cost?
- How to get into the best bit of Tintagel Castle without paying.
- Is it safe to swim at East Looe Beach?
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