Spring term 2008

The last term from April to July saw more rainy days than any other. however it did not dampen the spirits

We followed on from seeing the new born lambs with making felt broaches and wool pom poms. The Marsh Frogs sang their April Chorus which enticed us down to the river bank for a spot of pond dipping. Sure enough we saw several frogs, some minnows, pond snails and newts.

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From pond life to sea life. Whilst rockpooling at Pett Level we saw jelly fish, jelly buttons, strawberry anenomea, shore crabs, periwinkles, lugworms, mussels and baby plaice... phew!



The beginning of May saw us in festive mood. We danced around a Maypole and made flower garlands. We also planted sunflowers for a growing competition.

The final week before the half term took us for a walk along the country lanes foraging for Elderflower to make cordial

After the break the vegetable plot the childrehn had planted was looking superb. So to keep the birds away we felt we needed scarecrows!

A big thank you to Josephine Ho who came to teach us how to dye cloth using local plants. The tie dyes looked amazing and some were turned into lavender bags.

At the end of June we were lucky enough to see the nesting Terns at The Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. Thank you to Barry Yates for his support and minibus access and to Cliff dean fo facillitating the group.

Creative Natives is taking a break for the summer holidays but there are lots of interesting things happening at Rye Nature Reserve.

Please contact me for details of spaces for next term. We have a planning application to negotiate but will be back in some form come September.

Happy New Year! Winchelsea 2008

The New Year at Creative Natives started with some den building, utilising locally sourced birch, willow and hazel. Thanks to Alex for the coconut matting which added a nice finishing touch.

The changeable weather provided us with lots to do including rain batik plates, paper bag kites, ice mobiles and, of course, the obstacle course to warm up. We also dug some more vegetable beds which supplied us with mud for some beautiful mud pies and some worms for the wormery.
A big thank you to Julia Williams who supplied Creative Natives with some red and green willow and showed us how to build a living willow tunnel. With some of the left over willow we created some nesting wreathes to give the birds a helping hand. The blue tits and starlings have made use of them, and some of our bird boxes.


The children AND the grown ups enjoyed making bows and arrows! Thanks to Alex, again, for the Hazel and to our neighbour, Jill, for the goose feathers which made fantastic indian head dresses.




Easter time involved make egg cups at The Gopshall Pottery for the Tuesday and Wednesday groups. Unfortunately the Monday group was called off due to the extreme weather, which had bought down trees and power lines. The group will benefit from a free session next term.


On Easter Monday we were joined by some siblings for an easter egg hunt. We also made some birds nests and looked at a collection of local eggs from geese, chickens, quails, bantams and ducks.


We have begun to sow some seeds in our little poly tunnel, and our potatoes have been chitted and planted in the tyres. Lots more planting to follow next half term.



A walk to see the local spring lambs rounded off this half term beautifully.

The Bug Hotel's winter guests 2008

The bug hotel attracted several winter guests, including ground beetles, millipedes, centipedes, woodlice and hibernating ladybirds. Nearby we found a newt, asleep under a rock. Obviously too tired to make it to the luxury of the hotel!

Christmas term Winchlsea 2008

October, November and December has been quite special at the Creative Natives site. With only one or two seriously wet days (which bothered us grown ups more than the children), the transition from Autumn to winter was mild and beautiful.












The first week back after half term bought Halloween festivities. As we had been growing some pumpkins the children got stuck into carving spooky faces and stars with safety knives. With help from some of the local vegetable growers we had enough pumpkins for all. Thank you dear neighbours!















Novembers Guy making was a challenge with the group ending with a big bonfire. The firework splatter pictures were good fun. Very messy but not as loud and scary as real fireworks.

Wildlife conservation has also been important this half term. The RSPCA's hedgehogs were provided with our homemade hibernating boxes. The local birds were made birdfeeders and we played games listening to bird songs. Well done all those who recognised their bird's song.

Everyone enjoyed the paper making in December. We collected shredded paper, grass, straw, nettles and rose petals to create our own beautiful paper. The children loved stirring the pulp and squeezing out the paper with rolling pins.



Gopshall pottery have the most beautiful environment to work in and kindly provided the children with clay to create their own home made Christmas presents.



To inspire the children into making some creepy crawly thumb pots we first searched under rocks, wood and in the soil to find the insects, which we put back after studying them. Lovely natural Christmas cards were also made, with a touch of glitter! We also made Christmas Wreaths from willow coppiced on the site.



Our final week was dedicated to planting and decorating our Christmas tree. Thanks to Finlay and Jean for all their digging efforts. The tree looked wonderful with glittering cones and pomanders. A sun filled walk to the beach for some Christmas treats ended the year beautifully.

The Bug Hotel

We frequently check the Bug Hotel for visitors. Yesterday we found a Devils Coach Horse Beetle whose tail curled like a scorpions!

We have also found privet hawkmoth caterpillars and an elephant hawkmoth caterpillar.

The first half term... Winchelsea 2007

Creative Natives has experienced a fantastic first half term. The autumnal leaves, hedgerow berries and seeds have provided us with plenty to do and make, such as natural paints and inks, collages and beautiful mobiles.

We have spent time in a woody area towards the end of Morlais Ridge listening to all the sounds and looking at all the colours and the children painted some inspired pictures under the trees. The children also went hunting for hidden objects not normally found in the woods and things that are.


One Wednesday morning on the beach felt very autumnal, rock pooling in wellies. A couple of common crabs were found along with mussels, barnacles and lots of wet clothes! Warm drinks from the flask went down well. The toddling scavengers bought back plenty of treasure to make a wonderful work of art and some of the smaller stones and shells were stuck onto fish shaped boxes to take home.

During our toddler paced walks we came across many interesting things: A woodpeckers hole; Garden spiders and their glistening webs; Listening to noisy marsh frogs by the river; Bean galls induced on a willow leaf by the grub of a sword fly; and lots of Cinebar moth caterpillars on the poisonous plant ragwort.

On site, our regular visit from a male pheasant has fascinated some of the children, as have some of the strange looking mushrooms, like the shaggy inkcap and the pleated inkcap. The former made excellent ink for our goose feather quills. It was much more effective than the ink we got from sloes which we picked the previous week.

Many of the boys and girls have enjoyed working on the vegetable patch, digging in the soil, raking leaves and building a fantastic castle from hay bales (with the grown ups help!). So far we have only experienced a couple of rainy days which were great. The children enjoyed splashing in the puddles and floating their leaf boats. The tipi was a bit leaky but it did the job for activities when we needed some shelter.

Creative Natives has lots of plans for the coming half term, with Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas to look forward too. We will be focusing on the needs of the birds and animals over winter, building shelters and feeders for them. There will be lots to make and do for us too with pumpkins in October and beautiful natural presents, cards and decorations for Christmas. With warmth from the occasional bonfire, woolly

hats, boots, gloves, and, of course, hot chocolate, the Creative Natives are going to have a ball!

If you feel like joining us for one and a half hours a week give me a call on 01797 223121, Sam.

The Launch Party Winchelsea 2007

Thank you to everyone who came to the Launch Party and all those that helped out. The afternoon was a great success. Much noise was made by the children making instruments from recycled rubbish with Peter Quinnell and from the amount of glue, leaves and feathers we had to clear up from the Tipi I think the mask making was enjoyed too!


Several stalls were set up on the day supporting local businesses including Wild Garden who supplied wonderful soup and hedgerow jam tarts. See below for the other businesses who enjoyed the Launch.



Rye Nature Reserve was represented by Miriam who helped the children make some bird feeders. Other activities included face painting and a toddlers assault course.


You can read what the local press had to say here.

Local businesses who supported the day included: Wild Garden Foods, The Gopsall Pottery (who also sold some lovely veggies), Sarah Benton (Arts and Crafts), The Spotted Spoon, Kate (Artist), Hannath Photography and Design, 21st Century Shepherds Huts, Doug and Richard's Oak Benches and Kirsty Hannath (Artist and Photography). Contact us if you want information on any of these businesses.

All Photos Hannath Photography