Do your kids love seeing animals in the garden? Do you want to teach your kids about biodiversity?  Building a lizard lounge ticks both boxes and is a great way to increase biodiversity in your garden. They are easy to make, the kids can use their imagination and creative flair and best of all you will be providing a home for some of our most vulnerable creatures.
To make a lizard lounge in your garden you will need:

• Large rocks or logs for the lizards to sun themselves on.
• Native plants. Grasses and shrubs are ideal and will not only provide protection but will also attract insects that the lizards can eat.
• Mulch such as leaf litter, sticks or bark for skinks to hide underneath. The mulch will also attract insects.

Lizards are cold blooded and shy creatures so you will need to find a spot in the garden that is sunny but also relatively quiet. The ideal spot would catch the morning sun and away from high traffic areas. Once you have found your spot, plant your native plants, spread out your mulch in a thick layer and then place your rocks and logs close to the plants so the lizards can escape quickly if need be.
When I built two lizard lounges with my students, they came up with names for their lizard lounges which my lovely husband then burnt into some timber to make signage. Your kids may like to do something similar, though I’m sure the lizards won’t mind one way or the other ;-).