This summer Growing Places teamed up with The Inspiration Federation; a not-for-profit organisation that works with children and young people to, ‘inspire, raise aspirations, create confidence and promote positive citizenship and social responsibilities.’ Our first collaboration; ‘Reconnect with Nature for a Healthier Future’ combined art and the outdoors to help children connect with nature in a fun and engaging way.
The children visited our local hundred acre woodland and were given time and space to ‘simply be’ amongst nature, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells around them. Simon Whitcomb, the Inspiration Federation artist, taught the children how to take rubbings from bark and leaves as a way to record the natural patterns and beauty around them. Natural materials were gathered and we collaboratively created woodland art on the forest floor, including a mandala and a large bird of prey! The children left the woodland full of excitement, and took a selection of their natural findings back to the nursery for the following weeks art session.
Simon began by introducing the children to leaf printing techniques which were then used to create a large classroom frieze, he spoke to the children about the various birds we may find in the forest, such as a Robin, Greenfinch and Sparrowhawk. The children then made 3D paper models of these birds, taking care to colour them first before glueing them in a way which enables the wings to move! The children loved flying their finished models around the playground in a totally free and spontaneous way which kept them completely engaged and sparked imaginative play.
The next trip was due to centre around the seaside and the nature found there, unfortunately due to the pandemic and rising infection rates, the seaside trip had to be postponed, although Simon our artist was able to return to our setting to help the children create seaside based art. Shells, pebbles and seaweed were provided for the children to explore, and after followed stencil and wax crayon art along with potato printing. The children once again worked together to create another frieze, this time with a seaside theme!
The Growing Places ethos has always championed the natural world and the wonderful benefits it brings to a child’s learning. Our ONE project has shown first-hand the sheer importance of the outdoors for learning, risk taking and resilience, and of course the building of empathy and kindness, probably the most important lessons our children will ever learn. The added addition of an artist we have discovered, is a wonderful way to continue the dialogue of the children’s outdoor experiences back in the classroom. Re-visiting the sights and smells helps the children to delve a little more deeply into how the experience affected them, and the parts of the encounter they enjoyed the most. This link with a living, shifting, amazing, and sometimes unforgiving outdoor world enables us as human beings to discover a lot about ourselves by how we react to it all. In a time of smartphones and apps it’s easy to become distracted by all the instant enjoyment they promise, but if we are not careful our children may never know the valuable lesson of boredom, in which we are forced to think creatively, and ultimately learn so much more about ourselves and the world around us in the process.
In the ‘Natural Childhood Report’ carried out by The National Trust, they highlighted the fact that British children are spending more than 20 hours a week online, mostly on social media sites, and as children grow older, their ‘electronic addictions’ increase. Britain’s 11-15 year olds spend about half their waking lives in front of a screen; 7.5 hours a day, an increase of 40% in a decade!
They added that, ‘The growth of virtual, as opposed to reality-based play is, not surprisingly, having a profound effect on children’s lives; indeed it has been called ‘the extinction of experience.’
Tim Gill, one of the UK’s leading childhood commentators, expanded on the significance of this need for ‘real world’ experiences; “Natural places are singularly engaging, stimulating, life-enhancing environments where children can reach new depths of understanding about themselves, their abilities and their relationship with the world around them.” He also adds, “Climbing a tree, feeling how the breeze in your face also sways the branches underfoot, glimpsing the changing vista through the leaves, dreaming about being king or queen of the jungle, shouting to your friends below once you’ve got as high as you dare, is an immersive, 360-degree experience that virtual or indoor settings simply cannot compare with.”
With the wonderful success of this project with the children of Oak Meadow, our hope is to continue our collaboration with The Inspiration Federation, and offer these experiences to every Growing Places setting. For all the sad news stories we hear about plastic and pollution, the world we live in is still a very beautiful place. Our aim as a childcare company is to introduce this sense of beauty and wonder to all our children, so that they have every opportunity to begin a life-long connection with the natural world, which will hopefully act as a catalyst to inspire future generations also.