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.

.

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.