Freedom Through Fun 2022
I provided two quite different Wellspring funded ‘Freedom Through Fun’ workshops in August and September 2022, thanks to grants from the Toy Trust and The Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust. The first was at ‘The Chapel’, Graylingwell Park in Chichester and the second at ‘The Novium Museum’ in Chichester. Special thanks to them for all their support and for giving us such a warm welcome in their unique spaces.
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‘THIS IS ME’ at THE CHAPEL GRAYLINGWELL - AUGUST 23rd 2022
The two year Covid lockdown affected all of us but especially children and young people who went through enormous challenges. My ‘This Is Me’ Workshop focused on our emotional well-being, uniqueness and explored different ways we can look after ourselves and each other. Poor emotional and mental health is in itself disabling. This hour and a half workshop was attended by eighteen primary aged children with the aims of making it of practical individual benefit and fun. It was great to have Nina Boden, the Heritage and Learning Co-ordinator at The Chapel working with us too. We began by getting to know each other then thought about how we’re all different in various ways; our interests, what we’re good at, what we enjoy, our families, our communities and so on. |
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Next we talked about how we keep our bodies healthy - exercising in P.E., walking to school or whatever activities we’re individually able to take part in. We did some moving around too. Then we talked about things we can’t see about each other which make us who we are...our feelings, emotions, thinking, imaginations and creativity. We look after our bodies but how can we take care of our minds?
We used post-its to write down things which make us happy and stuck them onto a large piece of card to create a poem which you’ll see below. Things which make us happy are part of who we are. Next we talked about other emotions including the opposite to being happy - being sad. The children shared things which make them unhappy including losing something special to them, perhaps a person or something else in their lives.
We talked about what we can do when we feel stressed or unhappy, the tools we use when we feel stressed, worried, anxious. Their ideas included mindfulness; listening to music; playing games; having a pet; drawing and painting; dance; keeping a journal or diary; sharing how they feel with someone they trust.
At the end we spent thirty minutes working together and enjoyed circus skills, gymnast’s ribbons, dancing to C.D.s, dressing up. Then we sat in a circle and used different instruments to paint sound pictures. Children came up with titles for our sound creations including ‘by the sea’. This was a happy ending to the workshop and we all had fun!
The children were each given a certificate, their own journal to write in and a card full of positive quotes to take home including, “Every one of us needs to show how much we care for each other and in the process care for ourselves.”
(Princess Diana).
Nine year old Emma said, “I think we are at this session to get rid of the stress and be able to express ourselves”. During our time together all the children shared something of themselves and in their own ways said, “This is Me!”
We used post-its to write down things which make us happy and stuck them onto a large piece of card to create a poem which you’ll see below. Things which make us happy are part of who we are. Next we talked about other emotions including the opposite to being happy - being sad. The children shared things which make them unhappy including losing something special to them, perhaps a person or something else in their lives.
We talked about what we can do when we feel stressed or unhappy, the tools we use when we feel stressed, worried, anxious. Their ideas included mindfulness; listening to music; playing games; having a pet; drawing and painting; dance; keeping a journal or diary; sharing how they feel with someone they trust.
At the end we spent thirty minutes working together and enjoyed circus skills, gymnast’s ribbons, dancing to C.D.s, dressing up. Then we sat in a circle and used different instruments to paint sound pictures. Children came up with titles for our sound creations including ‘by the sea’. This was a happy ending to the workshop and we all had fun!
The children were each given a certificate, their own journal to write in and a card full of positive quotes to take home including, “Every one of us needs to show how much we care for each other and in the process care for ourselves.”
(Princess Diana).
Nine year old Emma said, “I think we are at this session to get rid of the stress and be able to express ourselves”. During our time together all the children shared something of themselves and in their own ways said, “This is Me!”
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‘ALL ABOUT ME’ at THE NOVIUM, CHICHESTER - Monday September 26th 2022
This hour long workshop was for a group of fifteen children with learning difficulties aged 9 to 11 from two classes at St Anthony’s School in Chichester. They’d been working on the topic, ‘All About Me’ comparing life now with in the past. The special opportunity of being at The Novium meant we chose the Romans and the Celts. We began by looking around at the different things on display in The Novium and thought about the Roman soldiers, what they were like and did. We each chose a musical instrument and together created the sound of marching feet with rhythm and percussion. Amanda Rogan, the Learning & Community Engagement Officer at The Novium gave us Roman costumes to try on including metal armour with helmets which were heavy, also togas and tabards which they would have worn. One of the children became the commander and led us as we all marched around the ground floor following her orders. We talked about the Celts who lived in Britain and Amanda passed round some weaving and other materials which the Celts would have made. Two of the children created a Celtic garden out of fabrics and tissue paper. |
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Then we thought about the Romans coming over from France to Britain and how they got here. We made a boat and sea out of coloured fabrics and card then used musical instruments to create the sea-sounds, we had a thunder storm, seagulls overhead, travelled across the water and finally met the Celts. We thought about what it might have felt like to be invaded and also go somewhere strange we didn’t know. Everyone enjoyed what we did. Each child was given a ‘Thank you’ certificate for all they’d given that afternoon.
“Thank you so much for the session at the Novium. It was really good for the pupils and they all got a lot from it. Just walking to the Museum and being in the space with different people was a very valuable experience, as well as the session itself. We felt that the musical instruments worked really well. The dressing up was perfect for them. Also the boat drama, role play at the end was lovely. These were the things we thought were the most beneficial for them in engaging them and supporting their understanding”.
Mandy Allemand (Teacher)
Chris North
“Thank you so much for the session at the Novium. It was really good for the pupils and they all got a lot from it. Just walking to the Museum and being in the space with different people was a very valuable experience, as well as the session itself. We felt that the musical instruments worked really well. The dressing up was perfect for them. Also the boat drama, role play at the end was lovely. These were the things we thought were the most beneficial for them in engaging them and supporting their understanding”.
Mandy Allemand (Teacher)
Chris North
