It has been another brilliant year with Wheely Wonders family days at Applefield in Sidlesham. We’ve had monthly get togethers on a Sunday from May to November and have welcomed lots of new families as well as seeing lots of returning children. In total this year we’ve had 64 children! Here’s an update of everything we have done since the last newsletter…
In June we welcomed 15 children, where many of the families experienced “Lambing Live” with the first 2024 lambs arriving at Applefield while they were here. Everyone also got to feed the goats and donkeys as well as the chickens.
Sawing wood to make necklaces and turning sticks into bubble wands were the main activities with Jen and Sam from Woodland Wonders Forest School. Children played on the swing and hammock and did some bug hunting too! Back on the field fire lighting skills were tested and marshmallows were enjoyed before lunch. These are the main morning activities at each Wheely Wonders day.
At Lizzie’s Craft Club, paper plates were turned into pictures using pens, stencils, stickers and foam as well as taking home butterfly and flower decorations.
We were also joined by Chris North who provided his “Freedom Through Fun” activities as well as parachute games which are always a highlight for parents and children. We imagined we were all riding the surf with Kirstie and Scooter the Surf Therapy Dog who were with us for the afternoon and brought their beach wheelchair and adapted surfboard for everyone to try out.
Many thanks to all our volunteers for the day and to The David Hunt Trust for the funding.
July started off as very grey and wet but we were so happy that 13 children came. Forest School activities were moved to the glasshouse and sawing took place under the wooden shelter.
During the morning there were more lambs born and the children were able to hold the older ones during the afternoon.
By lunchtime, the sun had come out so everyone was able to toast marshmallows and enjoy being on the field.
Wonderful wooden spoon puppets were created at Craft Club and these were then used with Chris as characters in our story time:
an alien using buttons as currency met a cowboy and other friends who were invited to Mars!
Thank you to all the helpers for the day especially three young people who used to attend Lizzie’s Craft Club! Many thanks to Wagner Renewables Eco Fund for supporting the day.
The sun shone all day for August’s Wheely Wonders! We welcomed 8 families with 12 children and for 3 families it was their first time attending.
Everyone enjoyed spending time with the donkeys and goats before having fun at Forest School - turning logs to find creepy crawlies and fire lighting skills were very popular!
After lunch, we decorated mini drums, shakers, bells and whistles at Lizzie’s Craft Club in preparation for the finale of the afternoon - a fantastic drumming session with Adam Gellibrand. It was absolutely brilliant to see how all the children (and adults!) responded to the different beats and rhythms and were able to start and stop when Adam blew his whistle. Many of the children also loved being the “conductor”, making the drummers louder or quieter!
It was wonderful to have Jennifer volunteering for the day – I used to teach her in year 3 and now she has graduated from university!
It was another sunny day in September with another 4 new children attending and 15 in total.
The children had the opportunity to hold “Bedroom Slippers” the bantam chicken (with her huge feathery feet) as well as feeding the goats and donkeys.
Jen helped children to saw their own discs for necklaces at Forest School.
At Lizzie’s Craft Club there were shoulder purses and pencil cases to decorate with stencils and fabric pens, followed by adding a bead chain to the zip – some children also made bracelets.
Next there were autumn and nature stickers to create personalised bookmarks. Everything looked so colourful!
Chris brought all his usual activities with a great magic show to end the afternoon. Lots of the children were excited to be assistants!
On Friday 27th September it was a freezing day when 20 first year Childhood Studies students from the University of Chichester visited Applefield for the final day of their Induction Week. We gave them a full Wheely Wonders type day, experiencing fire lighting and sawing logs to make necklaces with Woodland Wonders Forest School, designing pencil cases and keychains at Lizzie’s Craft Club as well as meeting all the animals!
It was great to see how enthusiastic the students were about starting their course and we hope to see some of them volunteering with us next year!
October was our Halloween themed Wheely Wonders day with 14 children - a new member and two new young volunteers. At Forest School with Jen and Sam, some brilliant pumpkins and apples were carved as well as fun on the swing and in the hammock, bug hunting, fire lighting and marshmallows!
The children all designed their own magic wands at Lizzie’s Craft Club, decorating them with pipe cleaners and glittery stickers as well as attaching some spooky decorations. These wands were then used during Chris North’s magic show.
It was brilliant to see the amazement on everybody’s faces as small squares of cloth turn into an everlasting scarf, and the magic colouring book which has blank pages to begin with, then after the magic words has bright pictures!
The children all had a turn at the Spooky Lucky Dip too and went home with a squishy ball!
It was a great relief to have a dry day for our final bonfire and fireworks themed Wheely Wonders of the year on Sunday 3rd November, and great to see some families who hadn’t been since earlier in the year.
The donkeys were very happy to be fed with apples and carrots while the goats nibbled some bay leaves. At Forest School everyone created “Guys” or scarecrows and one was ceremonially burned on the coloured flaming campfire!
During the afternoon at Craft Club, mini rocket bottles were filled with coloured sand and card stars were turned into hanging decorations. Some children had time for scratch art too!
We had great fun out on the field enjoying giant bubbles and “stomp rockets” as well as circus skills and puppets brought by Chris. The magic show was back in the warmth of the glasshouse where there were lots of laughs over bendy magic wands!
The afternoon ended with everyone using musical instruments to create the sounds of a fireworks display!
Thank you to Heather and Carys from the University of Chichester for helping us as well as Angelina and Stevie.
Many thanks to the Hendy Foundation for funding Wheely Wonders days from August through to November.
We have so enjoyed seeing all the children becoming more confident through the year and making lasting memories with all the lovely families. We look forward to starting again in the spring and are so happy to have National Lottery funding for next year.
Keep in touch with our updates via the Wellspring Facebook page! If you would like to be added to the Wheely Wonders mailing list, please get in touch!
Lizzie Baily MBE 2024
In June we welcomed 15 children, where many of the families experienced “Lambing Live” with the first 2024 lambs arriving at Applefield while they were here. Everyone also got to feed the goats and donkeys as well as the chickens.
Sawing wood to make necklaces and turning sticks into bubble wands were the main activities with Jen and Sam from Woodland Wonders Forest School. Children played on the swing and hammock and did some bug hunting too! Back on the field fire lighting skills were tested and marshmallows were enjoyed before lunch. These are the main morning activities at each Wheely Wonders day.
At Lizzie’s Craft Club, paper plates were turned into pictures using pens, stencils, stickers and foam as well as taking home butterfly and flower decorations.
We were also joined by Chris North who provided his “Freedom Through Fun” activities as well as parachute games which are always a highlight for parents and children. We imagined we were all riding the surf with Kirstie and Scooter the Surf Therapy Dog who were with us for the afternoon and brought their beach wheelchair and adapted surfboard for everyone to try out.
Many thanks to all our volunteers for the day and to The David Hunt Trust for the funding.
July started off as very grey and wet but we were so happy that 13 children came. Forest School activities were moved to the glasshouse and sawing took place under the wooden shelter.
During the morning there were more lambs born and the children were able to hold the older ones during the afternoon.
By lunchtime, the sun had come out so everyone was able to toast marshmallows and enjoy being on the field.
Wonderful wooden spoon puppets were created at Craft Club and these were then used with Chris as characters in our story time:
an alien using buttons as currency met a cowboy and other friends who were invited to Mars!
Thank you to all the helpers for the day especially three young people who used to attend Lizzie’s Craft Club! Many thanks to Wagner Renewables Eco Fund for supporting the day.
The sun shone all day for August’s Wheely Wonders! We welcomed 8 families with 12 children and for 3 families it was their first time attending.
Everyone enjoyed spending time with the donkeys and goats before having fun at Forest School - turning logs to find creepy crawlies and fire lighting skills were very popular!
After lunch, we decorated mini drums, shakers, bells and whistles at Lizzie’s Craft Club in preparation for the finale of the afternoon - a fantastic drumming session with Adam Gellibrand. It was absolutely brilliant to see how all the children (and adults!) responded to the different beats and rhythms and were able to start and stop when Adam blew his whistle. Many of the children also loved being the “conductor”, making the drummers louder or quieter!
It was wonderful to have Jennifer volunteering for the day – I used to teach her in year 3 and now she has graduated from university!
It was another sunny day in September with another 4 new children attending and 15 in total.
The children had the opportunity to hold “Bedroom Slippers” the bantam chicken (with her huge feathery feet) as well as feeding the goats and donkeys.
Jen helped children to saw their own discs for necklaces at Forest School.
At Lizzie’s Craft Club there were shoulder purses and pencil cases to decorate with stencils and fabric pens, followed by adding a bead chain to the zip – some children also made bracelets.
Next there were autumn and nature stickers to create personalised bookmarks. Everything looked so colourful!
Chris brought all his usual activities with a great magic show to end the afternoon. Lots of the children were excited to be assistants!
On Friday 27th September it was a freezing day when 20 first year Childhood Studies students from the University of Chichester visited Applefield for the final day of their Induction Week. We gave them a full Wheely Wonders type day, experiencing fire lighting and sawing logs to make necklaces with Woodland Wonders Forest School, designing pencil cases and keychains at Lizzie’s Craft Club as well as meeting all the animals!
It was great to see how enthusiastic the students were about starting their course and we hope to see some of them volunteering with us next year!
October was our Halloween themed Wheely Wonders day with 14 children - a new member and two new young volunteers. At Forest School with Jen and Sam, some brilliant pumpkins and apples were carved as well as fun on the swing and in the hammock, bug hunting, fire lighting and marshmallows!
The children all designed their own magic wands at Lizzie’s Craft Club, decorating them with pipe cleaners and glittery stickers as well as attaching some spooky decorations. These wands were then used during Chris North’s magic show.
It was brilliant to see the amazement on everybody’s faces as small squares of cloth turn into an everlasting scarf, and the magic colouring book which has blank pages to begin with, then after the magic words has bright pictures!
The children all had a turn at the Spooky Lucky Dip too and went home with a squishy ball!
It was a great relief to have a dry day for our final bonfire and fireworks themed Wheely Wonders of the year on Sunday 3rd November, and great to see some families who hadn’t been since earlier in the year.
The donkeys were very happy to be fed with apples and carrots while the goats nibbled some bay leaves. At Forest School everyone created “Guys” or scarecrows and one was ceremonially burned on the coloured flaming campfire!
During the afternoon at Craft Club, mini rocket bottles were filled with coloured sand and card stars were turned into hanging decorations. Some children had time for scratch art too!
We had great fun out on the field enjoying giant bubbles and “stomp rockets” as well as circus skills and puppets brought by Chris. The magic show was back in the warmth of the glasshouse where there were lots of laughs over bendy magic wands!
The afternoon ended with everyone using musical instruments to create the sounds of a fireworks display!
Thank you to Heather and Carys from the University of Chichester for helping us as well as Angelina and Stevie.
Many thanks to the Hendy Foundation for funding Wheely Wonders days from August through to November.
We have so enjoyed seeing all the children becoming more confident through the year and making lasting memories with all the lovely families. We look forward to starting again in the spring and are so happy to have National Lottery funding for next year.
Keep in touch with our updates via the Wellspring Facebook page! If you would like to be added to the Wheely Wonders mailing list, please get in touch!
Lizzie Baily MBE 2024
Wheely Wonders Feedback
“We love crafting, being outside and seeing/feeding the animals. Edward says: “Me and William really enjoy it. I like that I spend time with my brother and making stuff and feeding the donkeys. I really like donkeys!”
As a parent I love seeing them engaging with new and different activities. The drumming was fab!”
Aimee Kelly
“Wheely Wonders has been the first SEND activity we have done since my daughter started her diagnosis journey. We will never forget our first visit. In a world of days out being hard work, mitigating stress upset, meltdowns and not being suitable for both children, Wheely Wonders was a day out we had never had as a family. Olivia loves animals - as soon as she saw them and that she could touch and feed them, she was in her happy space.
My son found freedom in the space, in the woods, with Jen making things and getting muddy and eating marshmallows. Both of my children are creative so after a morning of high energy they love doing crafts with Lizzie and are always so proud of what they have made.
And we can’t forget Chris North with his magic and excitement and musical instruments that took me back down memory lane.
Since attending Wheely Wonders my son and daughter have both become more confident; they can be themselves and just be kids with no masking required. They really look forward to going. My daughter thrives on the routine - she knows what’s going to happen and when and this enables her to cope and enjoy and experience new activities.
As a family it has enabled us to have a family day out where everyone can have fun. It has also enabled us to talk to other families and get advice and help in this long and complex journey we are on.”
Claire Barr
As a parent I love seeing them engaging with new and different activities. The drumming was fab!”
Aimee Kelly
“Wheely Wonders has been the first SEND activity we have done since my daughter started her diagnosis journey. We will never forget our first visit. In a world of days out being hard work, mitigating stress upset, meltdowns and not being suitable for both children, Wheely Wonders was a day out we had never had as a family. Olivia loves animals - as soon as she saw them and that she could touch and feed them, she was in her happy space.
My son found freedom in the space, in the woods, with Jen making things and getting muddy and eating marshmallows. Both of my children are creative so after a morning of high energy they love doing crafts with Lizzie and are always so proud of what they have made.
And we can’t forget Chris North with his magic and excitement and musical instruments that took me back down memory lane.
Since attending Wheely Wonders my son and daughter have both become more confident; they can be themselves and just be kids with no masking required. They really look forward to going. My daughter thrives on the routine - she knows what’s going to happen and when and this enables her to cope and enjoy and experience new activities.
As a family it has enabled us to have a family day out where everyone can have fun. It has also enabled us to talk to other families and get advice and help in this long and complex journey we are on.”
Claire Barr
