'Kids click into the natural world'

Wildlife presenter and father-of-three Steve Backshall tells CAMILLA FOSTER how he thinks the great outdoors benefits children

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'VE been lucky enough to work with kids for a long time now and I find that it is something pretty much universal, that kids do click into the natural world,' says 52-year-old Steve Backshall, best known for presenting children’s wildlife show Deadly 60.

“Kids have an immediate visceral response to seeing a sparrowhawk take a small bird for the first time. They have an immediate response to seeing a sand lizard, which is one of the most beautiful kinds of reptile you'll find in the entire world.”

Steve, who went to the University of Exeter and is married to Cornish rower Helen Glover (who is a two-time Olympic champion), says his own passion for the great outdoors was evident from the moment he started crawling.

“My mum and dad have always said that this is something that was innate in me,’ shares the broadcaster. “From the first minute I could crawl, I was instantly out in the back garden turning over stones, looking for beetles, looking for worms and picking them up. I would also go through the compost heap looking for snake eggs.”