We have had another brilliant year with Wheely Wonders days at Applefield in Sidlesham. We’ve had one a month on a Sunday from April to October. Here’s an update of everything we have done since our last report…
June - We had a great day with 17 children (3 had not been before), and lots of Father’s Day activities. Woodland Wonders Forest School with Jen and Sam included sawing wood to make remote controls or sailing boats and decorating crowns.
At Lizzie’s Craft Club we made people collages and decorated photo frames for dads. Chris North provided his wonderful magic with lots of children assisting in different ways and some incredible giant bubbles! We had a great parade with everyone making their way around the fire circle, using musical instruments and ribbons in any way they liked! Lots of the children were able to bottle feed David the lamb as well as holding Bedroom Slippers the bantam hen! It was great to see Leo Gilbert again and he was very proud to see his article “Leo’s Adventures” printed in the newsletter!
July – We started off with a drizzly morning but ended in warm sunshine with 12 children plus parents and carers. Jigsaw, Olive and Chilli the goats and Rosemary and Angela the donkeys were very happy to see everyone arriving! Tam and Sam K ran the Forest School activities, making wooden puppets and clay sculptures before the usual fire lighting fun. At Craft Club, colourful flowers were created with pipe cleaners in mini terracotta pots which were individually decorated. It was great to see everyone trying out new circus skills with Chris and enjoying his awesome giant bubble makers! We were so pleased to welcome Kirsty and Scooter and hear about their adapted surfing – children were able to try out the surf board and beach
wheelchair. We finished the day listening to Scooter’s story and bottle feeding David the lamb.
In August 11 children attended including one new family. We met, petted and fed the animals, then explored, bug hunted, played in the hammock and nest swing. The children used tools to make puppets or drums and made bubble wands with Jen and Tam from Woodland Wonders. Before lunch toasted marshmallows were made into S’mores. At Lizzie’s Craft Club the children (and parents!) used fabric paints, stamps and stencils to create wonderful fabric placemats as well as decorating slap bands with a choice of stickers. Scooter and Kirstie came back to help all day and more families tried their equipment. Chris entertained the children with his magic show and we finished the afternoon listening to Scooter’s story. It was very special to see children meeting old friends, making new ones and parents getting together again. Thank you all our lovely
volunteers who gave their time and to The Alpkit Foundation for the funding for the day.
September started off with grey skies and it turned into our wettest ever Wheely Wonders day! We welcomed two new
children as well as friends we hadn’t seen for a while and the farm animals were very happy to get attention on a gloomy
morning. Jen and Tam took everyone to the woods and managed some time sawing, bug hunting and using the hammock and swing before the torrential rain and thunderstorms! Back in the glasshouse, wooden snails and boats were made and
hot chocolate warmed people up before lunch. A free choice scratch art session kept children and parents busy before creating paper plate pictures and autumn wooden wind chimes at Craft Club. As we ended the crafts, it stopped raining
so we moved out to the field with Chris for some music making, a dragon hunt, story time and magic, then ended the afternoon with lovely sunshine and bubble fun! Thank you to the families for sticking it out despite the wet weather!
On Friday 29th September we had a beautiful sunny day welcoming 24 first year Childhood Studies students from the University of Chichester to Applefield for a Wheely Wonders type day, experiencing Woodland Wonders Forest School, Lizzie’s Craft Club and Chris’ ‘Freedom Through Fun’ music time as well as meeting all the animals! It was great to get to know the students during their Induction Week and we hope to see them again, volunteering with us over their time at university!
October was our Wheely Spooky Day with 14 children and it was lovely meeting 3 who had not been before. The day was funded by the Wellesley Charitable Foundation. It was very special to meet 10 month old baby Pippa whose brother Alexander was the founder member of Wheely Wonders in 2017. The weather was very chilly, but everyone wrapped up well and as always, the donkeys and goats were very pleased to see everyone! We also had 3 volunteers from the University
of Chichester who are running The SEN Library Project (see newsletter, page 11). At Forest School with Jen and Sam, some
wonderful non-carve pumpkins were decorated as well as sawing wood to make pumpkin medals with fun on the swing and in the hammock, before fire lighting and marshmallows. The glasshouse was full for the afternoon, designing Trick or Treat bags and making various Halloween decorations at Lizzie’s Craft Club. The children all had a turn at the Spooky Lucky Dip too! I was also presented with a beautiful card from some of the families and proudly showed everyone my MBE medal.
We finished the day with spooky music and dance, magic and circus skills with Chris.
Unfortunately, due to Storm Ciaran and the very muddy ground at Applefield, we had to cancel our fireworks themed Wheely Wonders in November.
Here are some of the lovely comments from parents and children:
“We absolutely love coming to Wheely Wonders. Getting the chance to meet many other families, the forest school, crafts, magic shows, are all amazing. We are always welcomed by the whole team”
“I love coming here and there is nothing I would change”
“I like the magic show with Chris and playing the instruments.”
“We love coming here and seeing the animals. We enjoy feeding them and doing various crafts in the forest area and with Lizzie. It is a wonderful environment and an opportunity to meet other families.”
Huge thanks to all our fantastic helpers this year, and to the Boltini Trust for their funding from June to September. It has been wonderful to make special memories with all the lovely families. We look forward to starting again in March or April depending on the weather. If you would like to be added to the Wheely Wonders mailing list, please get in touch!
Lizzie Baily MBE 2023
June - We had a great day with 17 children (3 had not been before), and lots of Father’s Day activities. Woodland Wonders Forest School with Jen and Sam included sawing wood to make remote controls or sailing boats and decorating crowns.
At Lizzie’s Craft Club we made people collages and decorated photo frames for dads. Chris North provided his wonderful magic with lots of children assisting in different ways and some incredible giant bubbles! We had a great parade with everyone making their way around the fire circle, using musical instruments and ribbons in any way they liked! Lots of the children were able to bottle feed David the lamb as well as holding Bedroom Slippers the bantam hen! It was great to see Leo Gilbert again and he was very proud to see his article “Leo’s Adventures” printed in the newsletter!
July – We started off with a drizzly morning but ended in warm sunshine with 12 children plus parents and carers. Jigsaw, Olive and Chilli the goats and Rosemary and Angela the donkeys were very happy to see everyone arriving! Tam and Sam K ran the Forest School activities, making wooden puppets and clay sculptures before the usual fire lighting fun. At Craft Club, colourful flowers were created with pipe cleaners in mini terracotta pots which were individually decorated. It was great to see everyone trying out new circus skills with Chris and enjoying his awesome giant bubble makers! We were so pleased to welcome Kirsty and Scooter and hear about their adapted surfing – children were able to try out the surf board and beach
wheelchair. We finished the day listening to Scooter’s story and bottle feeding David the lamb.
In August 11 children attended including one new family. We met, petted and fed the animals, then explored, bug hunted, played in the hammock and nest swing. The children used tools to make puppets or drums and made bubble wands with Jen and Tam from Woodland Wonders. Before lunch toasted marshmallows were made into S’mores. At Lizzie’s Craft Club the children (and parents!) used fabric paints, stamps and stencils to create wonderful fabric placemats as well as decorating slap bands with a choice of stickers. Scooter and Kirstie came back to help all day and more families tried their equipment. Chris entertained the children with his magic show and we finished the afternoon listening to Scooter’s story. It was very special to see children meeting old friends, making new ones and parents getting together again. Thank you all our lovely
volunteers who gave their time and to The Alpkit Foundation for the funding for the day.
September started off with grey skies and it turned into our wettest ever Wheely Wonders day! We welcomed two new
children as well as friends we hadn’t seen for a while and the farm animals were very happy to get attention on a gloomy
morning. Jen and Tam took everyone to the woods and managed some time sawing, bug hunting and using the hammock and swing before the torrential rain and thunderstorms! Back in the glasshouse, wooden snails and boats were made and
hot chocolate warmed people up before lunch. A free choice scratch art session kept children and parents busy before creating paper plate pictures and autumn wooden wind chimes at Craft Club. As we ended the crafts, it stopped raining
so we moved out to the field with Chris for some music making, a dragon hunt, story time and magic, then ended the afternoon with lovely sunshine and bubble fun! Thank you to the families for sticking it out despite the wet weather!
On Friday 29th September we had a beautiful sunny day welcoming 24 first year Childhood Studies students from the University of Chichester to Applefield for a Wheely Wonders type day, experiencing Woodland Wonders Forest School, Lizzie’s Craft Club and Chris’ ‘Freedom Through Fun’ music time as well as meeting all the animals! It was great to get to know the students during their Induction Week and we hope to see them again, volunteering with us over their time at university!
October was our Wheely Spooky Day with 14 children and it was lovely meeting 3 who had not been before. The day was funded by the Wellesley Charitable Foundation. It was very special to meet 10 month old baby Pippa whose brother Alexander was the founder member of Wheely Wonders in 2017. The weather was very chilly, but everyone wrapped up well and as always, the donkeys and goats were very pleased to see everyone! We also had 3 volunteers from the University
of Chichester who are running The SEN Library Project (see newsletter, page 11). At Forest School with Jen and Sam, some
wonderful non-carve pumpkins were decorated as well as sawing wood to make pumpkin medals with fun on the swing and in the hammock, before fire lighting and marshmallows. The glasshouse was full for the afternoon, designing Trick or Treat bags and making various Halloween decorations at Lizzie’s Craft Club. The children all had a turn at the Spooky Lucky Dip too! I was also presented with a beautiful card from some of the families and proudly showed everyone my MBE medal.
We finished the day with spooky music and dance, magic and circus skills with Chris.
Unfortunately, due to Storm Ciaran and the very muddy ground at Applefield, we had to cancel our fireworks themed Wheely Wonders in November.
Here are some of the lovely comments from parents and children:
“We absolutely love coming to Wheely Wonders. Getting the chance to meet many other families, the forest school, crafts, magic shows, are all amazing. We are always welcomed by the whole team”
“I love coming here and there is nothing I would change”
“I like the magic show with Chris and playing the instruments.”
“We love coming here and seeing the animals. We enjoy feeding them and doing various crafts in the forest area and with Lizzie. It is a wonderful environment and an opportunity to meet other families.”
Huge thanks to all our fantastic helpers this year, and to the Boltini Trust for their funding from June to September. It has been wonderful to make special memories with all the lovely families. We look forward to starting again in March or April depending on the weather. If you would like to be added to the Wheely Wonders mailing list, please get in touch!
Lizzie Baily MBE 2023
