September 2004 to now....
The children have completed workshops in puppet making, clay, sculpture, scrap metal music, dance and drama
Follow blue links to find out what our artists do.
January - April 2007
27nd January
24th February.
23rd March
28 th April
January - April 2006
22nd January
26th February
Away Day - Russell Cotes April 22nd
May - July 2006
27 th May
24 th June
Sept - Dec 2006
October 28th
November
December 9 th
January - March 2005
22nd January
26th February -
Splat Song
27th March
May - July 2005
September - December 2005
September 24th
October 22nd
November 26th
Xmas Party 11th December
25 th September
23th October
27th November
Splat! Xmas Party 2004!
During the three months prior to Xmas SPLAT! was asked to be involved in a project with PVA Media Labs. This was with funding from First Light , who wanted to look at the way in which children view 'work'.
Children are avid consumers of films and potentially each one is a filmmaker of the future. Straddling training and education, First Light is an innovative project backed by Lottery funding from the UK FILM COUNCIL, dedicated to fostering film culture for young people from all social backgrounds.
Artists - Joe Gladwin, Puppeteer and Jim Price
First session with animator Jim Price
from PVA media labs working on his project looking at the way children view ‘work’.
Much excitement was planned for the session, Splat! had bought lots of cameras and we were ready for photographic mania. Jim had planned a session looking at ‘work’ and what it meant to us. We were going to take photos that would then be put together on a computer to make an animation.
What things did work? Was it something that you could enjoy? Was it easy and did you have to get paid for it! We started off with a discussion and then talked more about the things we thought did work. We had a real treat with the arrival of Joe Gladwin and his puppet making.
The children had to make a puppet and then think of a character and describe the work that they would do. This started some great designs for puppets and even Jim joined in. The children started talking about what their characters would do; the faces on the puppets were great and the children like creating hair out of the crepe paper. Perhaps the most memorable was Ryan who entertained us with stories about Bert his truck driving friend! He had calls coming in and I was in on the team as the fork lift driver. This story line developed during the session in to a full scale epic. Jim could base a book on Ryan's imaginative story!
After break we had cameras to take pictures of work, first there was an opportunity to take pictures of all the children for Joe’s project the following week. We also went out looking for work with the children and made return visits to the launderette and the swimming shop! Much to the amusement of the owners the children had questions and were keen to take photos of people working! The shop keepers were very helpful and let us take pictures of thier shops and talk to them about work and what it is!
Scrap Metal Music with Andy Kirkby.
Sadly Jim couldn’t be present due to unforeseen circumstances so we had no artistic input for our work animation. However, fortunately we were lucky enough to have the capable assistance of Andy Kirkby from the Study Gallery who pulled together a great session! We had been asked by Jill Bishop, Services Manager of Social Services and North Bournemouth Social Services Office to provide canvases to decorate their buildings. So my job for the session was to fill many bottles with a range of fantastic colours ready for a splatathon!. Maggie had bought us a new set which meant that the canvas was especially vibrant.
The session was attended by 12 children which is a fantastic turn out. We started the session with a game of Zip Zap Boing….! Fortunately Andy was familiar with this game from the Holton Lee visit. The children enjoyed the session, Ryan almost taking over as he likes to lead and was keen to show he knew what should happen. There was an interesting competition that developed between Tim Hender and Joel, who would be the first to drop from exhaustion from the bounced back boings…. , it was a close match. We then broke into smaller groups to start on some painting and begin building the scrap metal music.
A group worked with me to paint some pictures of their favourite part of Splat!. Brinley did a fantastic painting of the ball pit along with the Matt and Tim who also produced some great painting of the garden and football.
We all ready for break at half time, there had been so much talk of the ball pit the children were all ready to go and create some havoc! Maggie decided that if anyone emptied the ball pit that there would be an instant ban! We all knew that this was not enough of a deterrent, so when it happened there were a lot of sad faces and of course cryies of "well, we were going to put them back in….!". We decided that they all looked so glum that we’d have to give in.
I was grabbed by Ryan when the music was ready for the first playing, "You’ve got to come now, it’s great!". It was a magical transformation…. The pipes and rubbish that I had helped Andy bring in were all part of an instrumental orchestra. There was Ryan and Ryan on the pipe drums, Joel on the squeaker, Brinley and Tom on the plastic guitar. What a session!
Without too much time left we needed to do our canvasses… Paint ready for a warm up and arms shaken out to ensure that we were ready for painting Pollock style. We started with some drawing with the paint, Pollock would have been proud, then it was a painting.
A frrenzy ensued as the children got warmed up and the canvas started to get more splodges on it.!
A second canvas was produced it was just as colourful.
It was over all too soon but out of the chaos two fantastic Splat! canvases had emerged!
Time to pack up ….
Ryan, Ryan, Tom, Mathew, Brinley, Tim and Michael.
Jim Price and Nick White.
Well it couldn’t be such a bad week as last time … could it?
ten o'clock came and went again and my trusty texting started one again …. It was a nightmare! Tim and Jordi from the Children’s Fund were here to do some filming for Jordi’s next video. We had a room full of children and no artists….. Fortunately, Jim turned up in the nick of time and we set about planning a session without Nick. The phone suddenly rang, Nick had been pulled over by the Police for a routine check and they’d found that one of his tyres was so bald that the wire had started to show through!! They were so worried about him that they insisted that he change the tyre before he went anywhere! We co-ordinated some ball pit activities while Jim sorted out what he needed to finish his animation. We had flipping, jumping summersaults and a range of spectacular events in the ball pit. Jim said that he had something to show us. We were all amazed at the animation and Ryan (Scout leader) was particularly pleased because it was his voice that Jim had used to create the main story line from. Ryan was excited because it was his character that was used in the main animation story line. It was a fantastic piece and we all were amazed at the development of the pictures that we had taken.
Ryan (Scout leader) offered to help Jim organize what he needed to finish. The rest of the group joined Nick for Zip Zap Boing! Ryan wrote a very impressive list so that he would know what we needed to get the group to do. We needed boos, hisses, cheers and stomping around….. we couldn’t wait for the finished animation! Nick said that he was particularly pleased when Ryan came up to him and said, "Nick, Sometimes you brighten up my day!". ‘Its moments like this that reassure you that you’re doing a good job!’ said Nick. Ryan was also very good at coming up with games for the group to follow, he's a natural leader!
Generally the children were in very high in spirits so it was a pleasure to allow them to enjoy the sunshine for the last ten minutes! Nick said that Tim was particularly helpful when it came to putting back the basket ball net ready for a game. Nick and Brinley had a great game of football and Tom enjoyed joining in too. It was yet again a sunny day .. it certainly seems that the sun always seems to shine on Splat!
Can’t wait to see the finished animation…..!
Artists - Nick White, Janna Edwards, Claire Hicks, Andy Kirkby and Tiago Gambogi
Maggie Garforth and Nina Squire.
Jim Price – animator.
The children have been working with PVA Media Labs to make an animation on the theme of ‘work’. PVA had been funded by First Light to make a small animation on the theme of work and gave us artist and animator Jim Price. He worked with the children over the three months to take photos of ‘work’ and make those photos along with the children’s views on ‘work’ into an animation.
Just some of the photos that the children took.
We started with the display of the animation, Jim had kindly brought the photos that the children had taken and I managed to make a display in 30 mins… phew!
The animation was fantastic and we hope that we have the opportunity to work with digital media again. The children were fascinated not only by the images but also by Ryan’s fantastic story line which was the theme for the animation. He’s a star! We all agreed that Jim must have worked very hard!
George with Jim admiring the animation. We dicided he deserved a cup of tea!
This year we had a different format for the party, traditionally it’s a Splat! party but this year we invited all the other projects at the Children’s Centre to join in our party. It seemed a shame not to invite the parents along to see the raffle and animation so we opened our doors for parents and children to drop in from eleven o'clock onwards. There were mince pies and a selection of goodies. Yum! We had to keep Nick away from them as he’s got a little weakness for them!
We’d invited Tiago, Janna,Andy, Claire and Nick for the festive celebrations! The artists had all brought along different activities for the children to join in with. Janna came prepared for the children to make festive fairies and Xmas trees,
Claire cards making and Xmas hats,
Andy made a scrap drum kit and some fantastic festive guitars and
Nick and Tiago had plans to make a Xmas bonanza panto and, I suspect, a sneaky game of footie!
We had lots of visitors and it was a wonderful chance to chat both children and to parents about what effect Splat! has had on their children during the last few months.
Brinley was making a guitar with Andy, he commented, ‘ Splat! has helped me make new friends and I especially like the leaders who help me do new things. Andy’s helped me make a guitar; he’s helped me a lot!’.
Brinley’s Mum and Dad were near by and mentioned that they wished it was more than once a month.‘He’s given respect which has given him more confidence, he looks for Splat! on the calendar and really looks forward to it!’.
Evaluation is very important to the continuation of our Splat! project and we are always keen to hear positive feedback from our children and parents. I was pleased to be sat at the table when Mat and Tim were asked by Keith, the evaluator, what they would be doing if they weren’t at Splat!,’ I’d be watching TV at home which is boring on a Saturday. We live in a flat so we can’t always go outside. We get to play at Splat!’. Tim said, ‘the best thing that I learnt at Splat! is how to play with people and make friends!’.
It should be noted that Nick is playing a paint tray guitar made by Andy Kirkby....you saw it here first!
It’s always great to get feedback as positive as that and that’s what we hope we achieve with the project. Tim and Matt’s Dad said he was really pleased that they go to Splat! and that they look forward to it every month, ‘there’s so much on offer and they get to mix with other kids, they sat still for half and hour because they wanted to go to Splat! early!’.
About half way through there was a very loud announcement from Nick and Tiago that there would be festive songs and games in Room 2. They came out with Ryan in front and banging a loud drum to get our attention. A special speech from Ryan got us all listening and we all went through to the room to start the songs. It was great fun and a game of zip zap boing…! had us all warmed up!!
Ryan was very busy but managed to stop for a while to tell me that the best thing about Splat! was ‘it was good fun for getting messy and splatty!’. The Children’s Fund had sent some of their children evaluators along to help with the evaluation process. This helps as the children are able to make the questions more accessible and conversations are more relaxed. I was able to sit in with Tom as he talked to one of the evaluators. His first words as he sat down were, ‘ I love it here!’. He went on to mention that the reason that he enjoyed coming back was that there were people that he had made friends with that he enjoyed coming back to see. Tom also enjoyed the photography and would like to do some more. His Mum was able to comment on the huge change in both his confidence and his mood when coming to Splat!, ‘He’s always keen to get to the session on time!’.
Other highlights of the session was Tiago’s jumping session on the trampoline and of course it wasn’t long before Nick wanted a game of football! It was a beautiful sunny day and there were whoops of joy as the lads raced out for a quick game!
Had Santa lost something?
We were all glad to see that Santa hadn’t forgotten us and he sat patiently by the door as all the children left and had a present for us all!
It was then nearly time to leave. There wasn’t much food left and the children all seemed to have enjoyed the activities. The artists all lent a hand to the clearing and it was soon time to say good bye! A great session to end the year!
Artists - Janna with ceramics
Jack, Ryan. H, Louis, Abbey, Tim, Mathew, Michael, Brinley and Ryan. B.
We had two projects to complete today, a clay light house and some coiled mugs. The children all love clay and were soon settled working hard on the first house project. Janna had made our lives a lot easier by rolling out the clay so that we only had to cut out the windows for our house. When finished the house will be able to have a tea light in side and the roofs will have holes so that the smoke can escape. We had to learn about the way in which clay sticks together and how to make sure that the sides didn’t come apart during the firing process. Janna assured us that as long as we were careful and added ‘clay slip’ to our scratched edges that they should survive.
Jack was new to the group and obviously was a natural with the clay. He made a great house and decorated it carefully, taking a lot of time to paint it. Abbey had heard about Splat! from he two brothers and asked if she could come too, she soon settled in. Jo worked with her to make a great house with birds on the roof.
Tim made a house and constructed a fantastic fence around the outside; he finished so quickly that he had time to make a coil mug, too. Mathew was keen to keep up with his brother and spent a lot of time on both his mug and house. Ryan. B came a little late and worked well on his house and learnt about cutting the clay. Anne was new to Splat! and had come along to give a hand; Ryan showed her a few of things he had learnt.
Ryan. B sat with Louis who was new to the group and was keen to show him the ropes. It was soon time for a break and important to make use of a very sunny day in January. Ryan wanted a quick game of footie and grabbed Jack and Brinley for a game. It was great to see them running around and letting of some steam! Michael was keen to support and enjoyed watching the game and joining in with the cheers. There was also time to have a quick go on the basket ball hoop, the boys soon worked out a competition. Janna was keen for us to finish our clay creations and so it was time to get back to decoration and coil mugs. Janna had a great piece of equipment that had made us long pieces of clay string that we could coil to make a pot. A simple handle meant that when we glaze and fire it, it’ll be ready to drink out of.
We were all keen to make Abbey feel at home; soon she was like an old timer and showing Brinley how to make birds to decorate his house! It was amazing how many things that we had all made. These are just a few....!
Michael loves coming to Splat! and is always cheerful, today something had caught his ear as he was singing during the whole session. This kept Louis amused who was keen to join in with this new activity, perhaps we need to get Michael leading a few singing sessions!
A very busy session with lots of lively characters. It makes a big difference when everyone turns up, its more fun when there's lot of people at the sessions. Lets hope that this continues!
Claire Hincks and Sammy Hurden
A new artist for Splat, Sammy Hurden. We were all very excited by the Felt Making with Claire and it was great for Sammy to get stuck in a meet some of the children. We were very pleased when so many children turned up, its great when we have a full table. It was great to be able to plan out your design, Claire gave us all the task of creating fruit with the felt. There were some great patterns and every one seemed to join in! We then had to cover the design with netting and add water and warm soapy water and rub very hard for a very long time!
Maggie was particularly excited about the felt and was keen to get one done herself. Ryan and Ryan were on hand to make sure that she was able to finish her design. They were very insistent that she spend along time making sure that all the fibres were all felted and helped her with the soapy bit. We all agreed that this was the hardest bit and it made your arms really ache! We all had clean hands ready for break, but it wasn’t long before the boys wanted to go out for a game of football. Claire and I spent ages washing all the designs, strange how everyone disappeared when the boring bit came along!
It’s a new thing for the SPLAT eteers to have a singing session and we weren’t sure how it was going to go. Sammy had a great session with the kids and had them all in a circle for the whole hour. They all must have been very keen to get the song finished. Or perhaps they liked the instruments that made lots of noise!
Sammy was great and before long we were practicing a few rhythms, with Brinley leading the way! Sammy noticed that she had some talent in the from row when piano keys were being played while she wasn’t looking. She was quick to focus this and soon we had Ryan and Ryan supporting with piano playing and holding the words for us to read from. 
By the end we had a great piece that we had put together and the children loved doing a small rendition for the early parents and the video. It’s a rare thing for a session to hold all of the children’s attention for the whole session. Not one of them left to do something else, they all wanted to join in and see the song finished. Even Micheal seemed to have picked up the catchy tune as he sang it while waiting for his parents to pick him up.
On Saturdays we do splatty things
We make clay chicken wings
We play zip zap boing in rings
We make little eggy things
Splat! With Janna Edwards, Ceramic artist and Matt Perry, Percussion from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Ryan. H, Ryan, Tom and Louis.
Maggie, Nina and Jo.
It was a lovely sunny morning which makes SPLAT! Especially enjoyable as the room is like a conservatory with the sun streaming through the glass roof!
Janna had brought back our tea light holders which been fired and were now ready to take home. They looked fantastic and Jo, or volunteer, was particularly pleased with hers and very excited about taking it home to try out! Janna had prepared to Easter projects for us, we had to make either an Easter Bunny or a Easter Chick. We had to first coil a nest for them to sit in, we knew how to do this from our previous lessons. Janna reminded us that we had to score the underside of the clay that we wanted to stick, otherwise, she warned us, it would fall off! It was very tempting to play outside but we all had to finish our Easter projects before break. We had an extra long break to enjoy the sunshine, Matt was keen on organising a game and it turned out that Janna was a secret footballer confessing that she played a long time ago!
Matt reminded us that we had some percussion to do. We left the sun to practice a piece for an outside procession! Matt showed us his snare drum, we learnt why it was called snare and why it makes a strange noise. We started by practicing rhythms that Matt played for is on the snare drum. Ryan and Ryan were especially keen to get some hands on practice! Matt had to be careful or I think that they would have taken over! We also got to practice some marching to a beat! After some practice Matt got out some more instruments, we had a tambourine, stick and a guiro. A guiro is a wooden instrument from Cuba that has rough edges that you rub a stick along. Matt knew that these noisy instruments were just right for Ryan and Ryan! We practiced a rhythm and then realised that the best thing to do would be to take the procession outside! So in the sunshine we marched through the garden, it was a great sight!
Suddenly Maggie rushed out she’d seen the Easter Bunny in the other garden, she thought that we should come quick and see if there were any eggs left. We went into the garden and he’d been kind enough to leave us some eggs but he’d hidden then to give us little adventure. We all joined in and I think that some of the adults forgot that the chocolates were for the children…… what me…!?
Joe Gladwin – puppeteer and Andy Kirkby – Scrap metal music.
Louis, Brinley, Jack, Abbey, Ryan, Tom, Josh, Tim, Matt and Michael.
Jo, Amy, Andy and Nina.
Joe came armed with a puppet making box and an idea for some hero’s and villains. We had some decision to make as we thought about who were our favourites. Ryan showed a real talent for drawing, we were all very impressed at his imagination and skill. He managed two puppets in the time it took us to do one! We made sure that we told his Dad that he done a great job at the end of the session. Joe made a funny incredible hulk that Louis helped colour in, Brinley worked hard all session to make his puppet and helped with constructing the mobile . Josh did the incredible Darlick and explained how his favourite film was Doctor Who. He was new to the group and enjoyed joining and making friends. He was great at helping Joe with the mobile’s construction and keen to get it on the wall. After we had all had a go at making the heroes of our choice we charged out into the sunshine for some footie with Andy. Brinley always enjoys and game and I think that Andy’s skills on the field are as impressive as the scrap metal sculpture.
Andy had some scrap that the group made some instruments with, taking advantage of the fine weather we set them up outside and made some noise! Tom, Abbey, Matt and Tim worked really hard to make the drums, they sounded fantastic with the help of a ‘bin amplifier’. They also put together a xylophone which sounded fantastic when played with the drums in the garden. Andy showed us how to play them and helped us put together a few tunes. It was great hearing it all played together. Josh really enjoyed the music session and was really excited to coming again soon. His Dad said that as he had enjoyed the session so much he would look into getting him some music lessons. We all thought that he would enjoy this as Andy agreed he had some great ideas for rhythms. It was soon time to go home and the boys were very helpful in taking out the instruments to Andy’s car. I think that anyone in the near gardens would have had trouble ignoring the deafening sounds! I wonder if we get some complaints about the sound! Or perhaps requests …!
Joe Gladwin, Puppeteer and Nick White, PTQC - Drama
Puppets for Wimbledon.
We had a plan to re create the Wimbledon tension with some puppets for a game of tennis. As you can expect the children had other plans and soon we had a Wimbledon dog verses an equally unnamed action villain and Dr Who being created out of puppetry! Brinley had been the creator of the dog and Josh is always a keen Dr Who fan. Tom was particularly annoyed by the carrying on! I think he secretly believed that Dr Who had no place in a serious play, and none in a play about Wimbledon. Jack likes practical projects and was keen to get his action villain puppet finished.
Nick as always was there to lend a hand. He likes to make the practical things almost as much as the games of football! I think that Tom became so frustrated by our strange action hero Wimbledon that he left and offered to help Maggie stick some photos in the album.
There were great discussions about the play and who should do what and it wasn’t long before the puppets had to have a fight! Joe had to remind them that the life of the puppets would only be short if they fought for too long! Michael was keen to be involved and like one of the puppets a lot.
We were very pleased when it came to break as the store had been blessed by the Malteaser fairy. We had a small bag of Malteasers each it was great. It was soon time for a quick game of football! Does anyone spot a pattern… football and nick ….. Hmmm!
We had nick help us create a story that involved a dog deciding to walk to Wimbledon and a battle to save the earth through tennis with Dr who!
The sun must have got to our heads! Suddendly Luke turned up. We were glad to see him, and keen to see him join in.
His Mum stayed to watch our first performance. I think she was very impressed at the stage!
There was much giggling and laughter as the performance progressed and Nick was fantastic at creating a story line for the boys to perform to!
A great day for Splat!
Andy, Maggie, Nina and Jo.
Nick, Andy and Joe.
It was a very exciting day, we were looking for dinosaurs! We had some great artistic input and a plan for the whole session that certainly had me excited!
Nick began by telling us about the jack the dinosaur/dragon killer! He had bought some great things to make a model out of. ( not sure at which point the dragon turned into the dino or whether there is much of a difference). We also had Joe working with the children to make a great Dinosaur puppet!
He had fantastic teeth! It was great fun and everyone lent a hand! Now, I’m sorry I don’t have many pictures of the making because we need all hands on deck! It was hard work making a convincing dino and killer puppet. Some people decided that dino killer needed a sword.
You can see the
giant slayer in the distance with his sword!
It was very useful when we went into the forest for keeping the bears away!
I think that it was a great idea to set the story telling in the forest. What a great backdrop for a fabulous tale. But we had a lot to do before the story was to be told….
Andy decided that we should be looking for footprints, of course we had to dig a little!
It was great fun and the kids seemed to love working with the soil and scraping away to make the footprints.
I think that the best thing for Andy was the messy bit of putting the plaster of Paris in the holes.
No one wanted to go back for lunch, we all wanted to wait and see what happens to the plaster. Andy said we need to and that it would take some time. Jo persuaded us all to go back for some food. She seemed very keen to get back. Can anyone tell why?
Lunch was fantastic but soon it was time to go deep into the forest to tell our story. Fortunately we found a little glen which was just perfect for the story to be told. Nick had his team making growling noises behind his dino and Joe was being brave with his team of killers! He was a ferocious story and no one could tear themselves away from the gripping tale… unfortunately the dino died and Jack was victorious. Secretly, although I keep it a secret, later as everyone left I took out my supply of magic Splat dust, which I used to bring to dino back to life. He’d had fun but wanted to be set him free in the woods. It was only fair really!
By the time I had got back Andy was working with the kids to get the casts out of the ground. They were a huge success. Dino feet and buried treasure was captured perfectly in the plaster.
It was soon time to get everyone together for leaving. What a success our away days are!
Janna Edwards – Tall ships; and Tiago Gambogi – Creative Dance.
Maggie, Jo and Zoe.
Brynley; Joel; Ayden; Claire; Tom; Ryan; Jason; Jack.
Two new members were welcomed today, Ayden and Claire. Introductions were made and both settled really well.
Janna brought a clay model ship for the children to use as example. All of the children were happy to join in the activity, and settled to make their ship. They were all really lovely and all unique in design. The children helped the drying process with the hairdryer. Some children chose to paint theirs and others preferred the plainness of the grey clay. They all were most pleased to have their end product to take home and show.
The second half of the session was led by Tiago who taught the children an umbrella dance in the garden with miniature umbrellas. The weather was lovely and the gardens large and safe. They used mime movements and took turns to video the activity. One or two of the boys became a little over excited at this point and Tiago ended the session with a 10 minute game of football to allow the letting off of steam before parents arrived!
Ayden was very happy at the end of the session, in fact so surprised his mother that she asked if he could come more often than once monthly, as Ayden finds it very hard to socialise.
All of the children left happy, boats in arms.
Nina, Claire and Maggie.
Tom, Ryan, Claire, Ayden, Josh, Evie, Michael, Brynley, Joel and Jack.
Well, now I think I should say that long before I started writing this Splatalog I worked as a Splat artist. So when a space appeared on our timetable I thought that it would be great fun to do a favourite session of mine casting….. Claire and I like working together and with her experience of clay and mine with plaster of paris what could go wrong?...
It was going to be lively session! We had a great turn out, which is great, we always like it when people urn up, more the merrier!
We started off with some clay that we all had to roll a flat panel out of. With this we then could make a design on the clay. The next part I took responsibility for, making a dam for us to pour in the plaster of paris into. I chose to make them out of card and fasten them around the tiles! Now far be it from me to cast blame… but I thought that I’d invite our merry team to help me out with the fastening barriers around the moulds we had made…. And that’s were the problems started!
With break time fast coming up nearly all of us had finished and created a dam for the plaster. I thought that it may be a good idea to mix up and pour in some plaster so we had some set pieces for the children to unwrap after break!
And that’s when it started!
I started pouring and then a flood of plaster poured forth as the dams popped open… were they fastened tightly in the first place…. I wonder! It was pouring out onto the table and as it hit the floor, splashed everywhere! So, my brown shoes and blue jeans now looked as though I had been walking through chalk! Right up to my knees – lesson1 – always check jointings before pouring in plaster to a mould made by small hands!
Every one enjoyed working with the plaster and it was great seeing what happened with the clay and the plaster. The plaster produced an exact copy of our design and was completely hard. I had been round with string and made sure that there was a piece in a loop in the back so that we could hang the finished pieces up.
A great time making a mess but what a time it took us to clear up!
A well attended fun session!
Andrew, Claire and Nina
Clay Santa's and snowmen cards
Well, its nearly Xmas time! Not long now till party time! At Splat we try and promote healthy living so it seemed only fair to have the clay Santa’s without there huge belly’s. Why should Santa get to eat too much, we need to get him thinking about leaving that 20 th mince pie! Sticks of celery by the fireplace this year, we think! Adien arrived first and was keen to show us his toy cars, I challenged him to a race! I won! Well, that’s my story and I’m writing the report!
Claire had made a great example piece and showed us how we were going to produce our own version.
We are all pretty good at clay and so it wasn’t long before we all had started our clay figures. It’s a great idea, we built a clay stick man and then dressed him with clay clothes!
Tom was keen to join in, he had some great ideas once he got started! He works very carefully. I think that Michael likes working with Andrew. He rarely likes to join in, he prefers to watch, so we were all pleased that he chose to come and join in. He worked with the clay like a pro! Adien worked well all session and kept us amused with his stories! Jack works well at splat and is obviously very creative. We are always pleased to see him and what a great result! That’ll be great fun to paint at the party!
Soon time for a break and a well deserved biscuit. Its was a lovely day outside so they were all keen to get outside!
We decided that with Xmas coming up we had better practice some ideas for cards. We used our fingers to print some great cards with snowmen ( thumb as a body, finger as a head!) robins and father Xmas too! We al decided that with cards as great as this there was no reason to give our money to Tesco’s, we’d make our own! Tom and Joel loved making cards this way and it was such a success that we decided that we’d set up card making facilities at the Xmas party!
Nina, Maggie and Andy
It was a very exciting day… we were all looking forward to getting stuck in. The artists all came with Xmas themed activities so that our kids could make something as they dropped in. There was a rumour that we may have a special visitor but it was all whispered and no one was really sure when and how he would arrive.
Joe had come armed with a box of fantastic things ready to make hats for all the children. There were pirate’s hats, sparkly hats and a great Xmas hat with a furry bauble!
Janna had some clay ready for the kids to make Xmas trees.
Claire had come up with some fab designs for cards that we could make ready to send!
Claire and Andy - practice makes perfect!
Claire had brought our santas to be painted from the last session.
My job today was simple, we have to make sure that we’re making a difference to people’s lives. What does Splat do for your child, do they talk about it, does it matter if they don’t come and are there any changes that you have noticed. If you ask Maggie, Andy or I there’s no chance we’d say anything but great. There’s never a complaint that we’re there on a Saturday morning and no question that fun is the main activity. However, its not enough to have fun, we need to be enriching lives and providing children with creative opportunities that otherwise they wouldn’t have. In a situation like Splat provides we are able to get to know the kids and provided them with new opportunities to build relationships. It doesn’t come easily to everyone!
Janna always attracts children with her amazingly creative ideas and today was no exception.
The children love clay and were keen to work with her to make Xmas decorations and a great design of Xmas tree! Brinley worked quietly to make a tree, his techniques have really progressed this year. Elise made some decorations for her tree at home. Milly worked extra hard to make both the clay tree and some decorations. Claire concentrated hard and was really pleased with her tree. She said her favourite Splat memory was the plaster of paris, ‘that was great fun!’.
Claire said she thought the plaster was a bit yucky! What a funny face she pulled!
We talked about our Splat year, Brinley said that his favourite memory was holding the plaster of paris in his hands as it dried. It was really strange seeing how it went from powder to liquid and then solid. ‘You could see all my finger prints in the plaster when it had dried!’ he said. Claire said, ‘ I remember that day, that was great fun!’. Janna said that Claire was great at clay work because she always works so carefully! Elise said quietly, ‘I like the chocolates at break time!. Her Dad said, ‘its been great watching Elise making friends, she doesn’t always find it easy at school and it suits her more having a smaller group’. Erica was showing he Dad her new pirate hat, ‘I loved making this!’ she said. Dad said that she normally likes him to stay, but at splat she quickly says, ‘its alright Dad, you can go!’. Well, that’s the result we’re looking for! Timmy, Mathew and Abbey are always smiling and happy children and they all agreed that one of the best things about Splat was the space to play and do fun things! Zoe enjoyed it because she doent have tp worry about getting in a mess and she always comes always comes away with ideas!
Josh is steadily becoming a familiar face at Splat. We all love his polite and careful approach! His Mum and Dad said he always looks forward to coming and that he likes to mark it on the calendar so no one can forget! Dad forgot once and was sternly told not to do it again! Dad likes the fact that he is given opportunities that he wouldn’t otherwise have available. He’s developed a real flair for creativity since joining!
Joel’s a familiar face at Splat and is a pleasure to work with. His Dad and I have both noticed a developing interest in clay, lets hope that continues. Janna pointed out that she’d been very impressed with his clay work during the year. Joel’s Dad like him being sociable and he seems very settled at Splat. Rachel’s Mum has seen a huge progression in Rachel’s attitude to Splat. She’s gone from no wanting to come in to not wanting to leave! Rachel loves getting messy and Splat gives her a safe arena to do it in. Tiago has had a huge effect on her and her mum regularly gets dragged into some of her favourite games that Tiago taught her! There are cries of Zap yelled from all round the house!
The raffle was a huge success and I met Jonathan after he had won a small radio.
That was his favourite thing about Splat! Andrew was watching on enviously as Jonathan played with his radio. I asked him about the highlights of the year, ‘I like the away days, Holton Lee is especially great as I love watching the children enjoy the space and running in the large field!’.
I met Tom and his mum, she was keen to emphasise how important it is for Tom. She’s seen a real improvement in his attitude and never worries about him after she’s dropped him off, a rarity she enjoys! It helped when Tiago turned up at school and spotted him. It made Tom feel special in front of the other kids. Tom said that he really enjoyed looking for dinosaurs and that casting the dino feet with the plaster was his favourite. Cameron is a boy who doesn’t waste his words, which is why I was especially pleased when he took the time to tell me how much he enjoyed Holton Lee and the forest. His Dad said that he always says he’s had fun at Splat. Jack is always good fun at the sessions and was really pleased he could come, ‘I like all the things we do, I never feel alone here!’.
We’re always keen to get feedback from our artists. Janna was really pleased with the scarecrows at Holton Lee. It was great for two of our artists to get together and work on one project. She says that this is a great opportunity for her as normally you don’t get to meet and work with other practitioners. Joe said he loved working on a larger scale with the kids and that producing a huge dinosaur was a great thing to do with the kids. He thinks that the away days are a huge success and is always keen to make sure he has time to do them! He also loved the theatre that we did with Nick outside, that was very effective and great that some of the parents came to see it at the end. Claire said she had enjoyed the opportunity to develop her felt workshops, the displayed work had led to her gaining further sessions at the centre. Jo, our helper, made a return visit, she had to leave after getting a job that took too much of her time up, so its always a treat when she returns! She misses us lots! ‘It’s a fab opportunity!’, she said.
Jo models one of our Xmas Hats !
It was soon time to get ready for Santa to arrive, we were sure he would forget. Maggie always gives him plenty of warning with a invite in November!
Sure enough at just the right time he turned up, as the children left he a had a little gift and a message about Xmas.
So gradually it all got quieter, we were left to clear up the bits and pieces. Did we mind, not at all, it was a fantastic SPLATURDAY yet again!
Happy Xmas!
Artists – Nick and Janna
Team Splat! – Zoe, Maggie and Nina
Kids – Ryan, Brinley, Jack, Tom, Claire, Josh, Tim and Joel.
Janna started the morning off with the same project the juniors had. There were spiders, acorns and mushrooms available to copy. The boys loved talking about what was happening around the scene that they were developing. Jack wanted to do a spider, he’s very creative and works quietly to get the job done. Brinley also has a flare for the arts and he and Jack liked working together. Brinley made some excellent acorns.
Our helpers for the day were Nick and Zoe both got stuck in. There’s no sitting around in Splat! Josh had us amused with tales about the Lord of the Rings slanted story that he developed around his character.
Tim was a welcome addition to the morning, a little late, he hurried to make a fantastic spider. Maggie thought that Claire’s mushroom looked almost real!
Tom, in the past, has found the clay work a challenge, not today, he really got stuck in a worked hard to produce a great spider.
It was football time at break and the kids (and Nick!) love a game. We were lucky it was a fine day, but it was really cold. We were all impressed that Brinley and Jack played for ages after the rest of the children had got cold!
Nick gathered all the children around for his workshop! He’d planned for us all to be involved in a Carnival workshop! The children had to follow a leader who was given a different character to develop! Joel did a fantastic impression of a duck, with a great waddle for the others to copy! There were snakes and elephants to copy! It was great fun to watch and the kids were roaring with laughter! After that was a chance to dress up in a different costumes to create a character! The boys liked getting dressed up! The children then lined up and clapped each other down an imaginary road while they acted out there character! There was a real carnival feel to the session that left everyone feeling uplifted by the laughter!
We thought that it would happen! And then it did the last 10 minutes were kept for that essential game of football that no session with Nick would be the same with out! It was a lively game with Nick, Janna and myself against a gaggle of kids! Janna turned out to be a secret weapon for two reasons! One, she’s played the game before as a kid and secondly she had slip on shoes which when she kicked followed the ball into the goal, much to our amusement! It was a great morning with just the right mixture of fun and healthy activity!
Claire and Emily Stracey.
Emily had been once before and rescued us when someone couldn’t make it and here she was again at the last minute, stepping in to help us out!
Claire had a great plan which involved huge long coils of clay that Claire had prepared for us. It was great using the clay when all the hard work had been done. The kids were keen to start, Claire had an idea for us to use the clay to make a base for a teapot or hot bowl to stand on for the table. The kids loved working to make the bases and when they finished that Claire showed how to make bowls using the same technique. It was great fun!
Even Maggie had a go! Brinley got really stuck in and made a great delicate flower disk. Jack was very focused and worked well with Tom who produced two pieces. He really helped Jack do the project, it was great to see that afterwards they then went and played football together too! Claire has a real flair for clay and her pieces are always very technical. Evie seems very content during the session and makes a effort with whatever we are doing!
Play time was lively as always. Its still too cold for us adults to join in for long but you cant keep the children out of the garden at play time!
Emily was easily able to lure them back with some great pictures of spider that they could make with straws. They had some black ink and then blew with the straw so that the ink spread over the page to make fantastic random pictures. We then had great fun working out what they could be and drawing over the top to make the final image!
Evie excelled at this project and her creatures were very delicate, she liked making butterflies and bees. Claire had some great creative ideas and ended up with some flying creature that wouldn’t have looked out of place in any film! Emily also showed us how to make pictures that you folded the paper onto so that you produced a reflection. It was a real success. Tom enjoyed the process and ended up making a spiders web that he was very proud of! Brinley wowed Maggie with his creative side when she was working next to him. He had some great stories to tell!
It was a great session with some great techniques that we could take home with us. Perhaps you could try making a painting at home and then blowing the paint to make funky patterns!
Away Day Russell Cotes April 22nd
Animal Crackers with Emily Stracey/Music and Movement with Tiago Gambogi
Brynley; Jack; Evie; Claire; Matthew; Timothy; and Joel.
The first hour all the splatters were very keen and involved in making animal heads with the clay. They chose from rabbit, dog, or cat and all concentrated really well, producing some beautiful and very professional end products. They used soft wire for the whiskers. All of the children took t heir animal heads home.
At the mid way point the boys really needed to let off steam, having sat so still and quiet for a whole hour, so all charged outside for some serious football!! Jack had particularly lost the ability to concentrate anymore, and could not be encouraged into the next part of the morning.
Tiago joined the football game and then took all the splatters inside for some expressive music and movement. We worked in a circle, starting with a warm up and progressing into movements chosen by group members in turn and copied by the rest of the circle. Brynley found this difficult and improvised with his own version of the task, but did do a very impressive 360 degree jump! Jack would not join in but sat out, and Timothy claimed his in growing toenail prevented him from any jumping. The rest of the group however did extremely well, contributing to the ideas and taking part. Emily was warned not to do anything too strenuous, given her condition. Tim asked her if she was expecting a baby or just fat!
Tiago then had everyone write forfeits which we hid in the garden and used for a treasure hunt with tasks. The children all enjoyed this and were very supportive of each other. A bit of tactical swapping went on so that Tiago got Evie’s challenge of doing the splits! Jack completed an excellent challenge of singing a song while doing star jumps and mooing intermittently!
Everyone was rewarded with a packet of Wotsits to take home. We finished with two minutes of football with Tiago.
This was a productive morning, the most striking aspect being the difference with Jack in the first hour, when he was very quiet and subdued, to Jack in the second hour, being very disruptive and difficult to manage.
Evie and Joel were the stars today and engaged very well with all activities, plainly enjoying the fun to be had.
Lessons learned: reward system works well in keeping the more lively participants focussed!
Tiago and Chaz Dickie, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Joel, Tom and Ryan
It was quite an event today to organize. We had three projects planned, Tiago wanted to do some great dance and movement exercises, Chas had a great idea for songs and rhythms and I had been asked to have Splat create another canvas as the Social Services felt another one would brighten up the centre! So as I was busy filling bottles, Tiago led the first part of the session. He took the children into the garden for a warm up.
Whilst I was filling up the paint bottles, I could see the children from a window, in this enormous elasticated pen. It all looked very strange! I had to go and investigate!
Although, I think Maggie looked relieved that we had found a great way of containing the children finally! It turned out that Tiago had been using this as a form of dance theatre and it worked beautifully. All the children had to concentrate as they were joined by this piece of string and he was able to direct them to make also sorts of strange shapes with their bodies and tie themselves in knots with the other children! It looked great fun and I was sure that the children learned from working as a team to get themselves out of the knots they created without letting go of the string!
It was soon time for a drink and some football! The kids always love footie with Tiago as he has enough energy to keep up with them unlike the rest of us! There wasn’t long to play as we had some much to fit in!
We had to listen carefully as Chaz explained what we had to do to make the music section work.
It was all about developing rhythm and listening to others and working with them. It was great fun and we soon picked up the tune. We had a few games during the second session too. Tiago had us running around like fools in an enormous game of tag! Only to make things more tricky we had to hold any part of us that got tagged! We were in stitches! It was great fun! Tiago also sorted out a game of blind man’s bluff, we loved creeping up on people and Ester was very funny as she got spotted lots! Chas let us make some music up too with the skills that we had learnt!
Joel had us using the instruments that Chaz had brought along to make a tune that he had come up with. He really enjoyed playing with the instruments. We were pleased to see him so confident in creating a team piece as when he arrived with us he found it difficult to make friends. Ryan loved the opportunity to work with musical instruments again, we think he'll go on to be a musician! Tom loved playing and took great delight in telling us when he thought we'd done well! Joel kept us amused with his feedback on our sucess and failure!
It was soon time to start the Splat Jackson Pollock canvas. I explained that Jackson Pollock thought that the process of painting was as important as the painting itself. I had filled the paint bottles up and we were ready for some paint filled fun. I suggested that people take off their shoes and roll up their trousers…..it was going to be messy….
It was great fun and everyone joined in. when we finished we looked for sticks to drag through the paint as Jackson Pollock would have done. It looked lovely in the sun but you can never tell until its dried off how it will settle. I’ll post a picture when I see the results on the 8 th…..
There wasn’t too much damage; I think that the grass will wash clean. Tom was a little worried, as I got paint on his trousers. He said that his Mum might think he’d not taken care. She reassured us all, ‘I know what goes on here! I’m never worried about the mess, you always have such fun, its soon forgotten about!’. Phew, I was glad! Splat’s definitely about having fun, its just that some times that involves mess too!!
Maggie, Nina and Zoe
Claire, Emily, Brynly, Tammy and Joel
Janna came armed with exciting things, ribbons, sticks and tissue paper. Sometimes it’s easy to take for granted how many exciting new things that the artists come up with for each session.
Nick came through the door slowly. He’s managed to get all the way from bath despite the fact he’s had a footballing injury. He had crutches and a very big bandage around his knee. It was nice of him to make the effort to come. We soon had him propped up and joining in the clay activities.
Janna told us that from this pile of things we were going to create bonfires and fireworks. It would be part of the display in the entrance hall at Splat with the felt panels that were created previously at Splat. It was important that we remembered some of the important safety points in time for bonfire night. We made sure that we talked through the importance of giving fireworks distance and respecting the adults who deal with them. The boys loved use the clay to create a base for the sticks to stand in to make a bonfire. Janna showed us how to create fire work shapes with clay that we painted and pieces of ribbon. We all enjoyed making the fireworks, they were very effective on the wire sticks that we mounted them on. As we finished these, Janna showed us some Christmas figures that she’d made. They looked very professional but she soon showed us her secrets! Joel was particularly clever at making the figures and worked hard to make his realistic. Emily made a great figure which she seemed to enjoy making. Tammy started to develop her own ceramic projects and produced a very clever cow! She liked the bonfire best of all! Joel said that he’d had a great morning making his models, ‘it was fun!’.
We were all prepared for Nick to take a back seat with the activities during the second session. We should have known that it wouldn’t happen. Out into the garden he hopped and took us on a creative story telling adventure with the kids in tow.
They loved creating characters for themselves having heard the story of Guy Fawlkes. I’m not sure it happened as we described it but it made for some great story telling. Joel was brilliant at getting into character. They had nick and me in stitches as the recounted the story in their own version!
our final display
With that finished we soon had to go and pack up. Only time for a short story for the children who were waiting for parents to turn up.
Nick and Janna
Its always a great day at Splat but extra special is the Xmas Party!
It was a wonderful spread, the food looked amazing which was kindly supplied by the church. Janna and Nick came armed with exciting ideas, Janna had made us some Xmas decorations to paint and Nick had some fantastic tales to tell and pictures to show. He also helped out with the card making. There was a lovely Xmas prize draw which everyone seemed to love. What great presents and all kindly donated by local companies. It was hard work setting up and everyone was running about making sure that everything was perfect.
Tony was there with Luke excited about seeing Santa. He said that he’s so pleased that Luke now feels happy at Splat and that he doesn’t even notice when dad goes! He’s impressed at the way that Splat has brought out his Arty Crafty side. He’s made some new friends and become more confident with his peers. Gradually there are more through the door and even some old faces. Ashley has made a return appearance! He say that he misses Splat and wishes he could come back but he’s too old now! There’s not many project that run on a Saturday! Brinley came and brought his family too. It was great to get some feedback from his Mum. She said that he seem more confident through coming here because no one judges him. Brinley was closely followed by Ryan. He was a popular member of Splat, keeping us all amused with his antics! He misses Splat and wanted to come back so much that he promised to better behaved at home if we let him back! We told him that he should be anyway! He’s got a great sense of humor and always makes us smile! He said that his favorite memory of Splat were the trips to the Russell Cotes Museum. He was especially sad to have lost the friends that he made through Splat!
Emily is a new face to Splat and she’d brought her Mum along to show her what we’ve been up to. Her Mum was keen to tell us she loved Splat and that baby bro James wants to come to because of what Emily says about it! Mum’s noticed that her Art has improved and that her confidence has grown with working with others. Well, I had a word with Maggie and she’s agreed to let James come too!
Jonathan and Rhys came along with their Mum. Jonathan was very sad as he’s not been able to come to Splat this year. He spends quite a lot of time with us already and we had to make sure that we give spaces to others. Jonathan’s very Arty and he said that he missed making things. Rhys said he liked looking at the DVD’s, it was like the history of Splat, he said!
Joel and his parents came; Dad says that Joel loves Splat and that he often asks when it is. Dad said it’s the only time he socializes with other children. Jamie’s new to splat and has become a very popular member, she’s a quiet worker. She said that she loves doing the Craft things and that it’s a fun way to spend Saturday. Her parents were pleased with the effect it was having on her confidence and that they often got showed how to make things from Splat sessions. She talked about how much she enjoyed making the Dragon at the last Splat session. Her parents are sure that she’s been happier because of it and wished that she could come more often.
Janna and Nick worked hard all session entertaining the children with various projects. Nick said that he loved coming to Splat and that the children make him laugh with their antics and good humor. He’s loved watching the DVD and hopes that we can make another as it captures the essence of Splat, lovely people and fun!
Claire enjoyed all of the projects and couldn’t make a decision which she enjoyed the most. She’s a great help at Splat and is always helpful. We were keen to thank her Dad for sending us such a helpful member, he said that he couldn’t manage without her, she’s very helpful at home too.
Chinese New Year theme
Janna and Rose were keen to get the children started on their clay projects. Janna had created a clay dragon money box for the children to copy.
It looked fantastic fun and the children were keen to get stuck in. We thought it was important to have our Splat dragon on display. We thought we’d lost it until Maggie found it in the cupboard! Maggie and I set about attaching it to the wall by the foyer. It wasn’t as easy as you’d imagine and more often than not I’d end up with the dragon perched on my head. Joel thought this was very funny and wanted to come help us do it properly! Maggie and I were very disappointed that we didn’t get a chance to make the fantastic dragons. The children seemed to be getting on very quickly.
Emily said she always liked the clay sessions because she gets to do painting as well. Claire likes making things, especially in clay. Joel likes Splat because he says always makes special things. Everybody worked very hard right up until break time. With some healthy snacks taken from the Splat supplies we were ready for Rose’s project.
The children had to make Chinese lanterns; they were very colourful and patterned. The children had to first cover the paper with colourful tissue with PVA. We used hairdryers to speed up the drying process. When they were dry enough the children use some lovely printing blocks that Rose had brought along to create some more patterns on the lanterns.
They looked lovely already so it was exciting to see the next stage. Rose showed us how to fold the collages in half and cut part was through so that when we opened them up they had a fan like lantern shape. They looked lovely, the children then finished them off with silver tape around the top and bottom. The last part was a wire handle which was finished just in time for the parents to arrive. Both artist’s agreed that it had been an exceptional day with the children working hard and being very focused!
Rosie and Janna
Nina, Maggie and Zoe.
Emily, Joel, Tamara, Brinley, Joel and Claire
Janna and Claire were there when I arrived pouring over the proposed new football pitch. It looked like a box of old scrap but with the help of the canvases I’d brought it was going to look fantastic! Rosie had made some great puppets out of papier-mâché and thought that we could use them to create a mural for the children to use in the centres children area. It looked like a fantastic project.
The children responded really well to it and settled well to the task of constructing the papier-mâché figures. The head were made from surplus ‘ball pit’ balls and the body out of a frame of wire. Rosie showed the children how to wrap paper around the body to make the characters develop.
The soon took shape! With the paper wrapped around the figures Rose showed them how to use masking tape to make it extra secure. With this completed they had to use damp sponges to wet brown gum strip. These strips then were used to cover the figure and make it look more like a human model!
We nearly missed break time and were all pleased when Maggie brought out some healthy snacks and drinks.Most people wanted to carry straight on but Joel had his eye on a lead roll! Pitch designer! When Rose had showed him how to apply the glue and the green felt he did a great job of designing the pitch and the football posts. He was completely absorbed by the time his Dad came to pick him up. Joel said he’s had a great day and really enjoyed making the models! Emily showed us what a fantastic designer she was by creating a highly finished checked shirt for her footballer. She really has an artistic streak!
Tamara made us all laugh with her footballer who’d ripped his shorts trying to save a goal! He had bright read shorts on underneath!
Joel made a Shriek style footballer, no point for guessing what he’s been up to! Brinley had tried to create a skinny footballer, he was very tall and thin! Claire said she had a great day and was keen to help clear up! She really enjoyed making the football players. Time unfortunately ran out so we’ll have to wait until next time to see what it’ll look like when it’s a finished display!
Joel, Emily, Brynley and Claire
Janna and Rob came to Splat to entertain us with some ceramics and musical instruments. Janna had designed some mobiles for the children to make using clay.
The children always enjoy ceramic projects and soon settled to the session.
Joel made an excellent mobile with a good use of colour. Emily made a head which had lots of fine detail and also a fish mobile.
She’s a very skilled model maker and impressed us all with her creative ideas.
Brynley wanted to make a cow mobile, Janna mentioned how much she liked his ideas. Claire works hard every session and impressed us with her use of decoration and use of colour.
It was soon time for a break and the children piled outside, they love to play in the sun. As part of our healthy snacks the children have been having cheese and crackers and only a handful of crisps. Its important to watch what you eat!
Rob had a great box of interesting things, he’d brought along a find! A very old looking French horn!
The boys were dying to have a go. They lined up and waited patiently! They were both very good, Rob had us entertained with some great ideas and tunes.
Claire wasn’t so keen on the instruments and wanted to have a go at the mobile making instead.
It was a fun afternoon with lots of noise! The children enjoyed having a go at making sounds with an instrument, something they wouldn’t be able to normally.
Brynley; Joel; Emily; James; Tamara and Daniel.
Janna brought a kite making activity for the children, providing batons, tissue paper, and ribbons for the creations. The young people loved the opportunity to design their own kite and came up with Manchester United; smiley Face; and Under the sea designs amongst others. They finished off with trailing ribbons and glitter glue. James said he thought Emily’s was the best (his sister) as ‘she is the best artist here’. Brynley and Tamara had the idea of creating a joint Splat kite, and divided one into 6 sections for each child to decorate their own part. This one was offered up for display at the Resource Centre.
Nick provided a storytelling session and gave the children a guided tour of the museum, concentrating on facial expressions and poses of the statues and in the paintings.
Lunch was buffet style in the SVJ Room (Stories, Voices Journeys), followed by outdoor fun in the gardens. Nick led a treasure hunt, giving clues for finding chocolate ladybirds and beetles nestling amongst the rocks and plants in the clifftop garden. The young people loved this and all came away with several. They then had the opportunity to fly their kites around the lawns before meeting their parents for collection. We were again lucky to have glorious weather and were made very welcome by the staff at the museum. A lovely morning out for all!!
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