Playwalks, term 3 2012, meeting in Swainswick

An outdoor walk for parents and pre-school children led by playworker, Barney.  Meet in Swainswick, Thursdays 10 - 12.  Scroll down for diaries.


26th Jan:
A longer WALK today; MARSHMALLOWS and EMERGENCY SHELTER. We walked safely down the lane and through the grumpy man’s house. We arrived at the majestic oak tree... the grandfather of the valley. We cut hazel twigs and toasted marshmallows over a fire dug out of the ground and made invisible afterwards. We chatted about not having fires over the root system of trees. When the cold rain suddenly came down we used our ground sheet held over our heads as an emergency shelter. It wasn’t that comfortable but it stopped us getting soaking wet and too cold. I asked Jayne, “Is it over?”; she smiled and answered, “Yes, it’s over.”
19th Jan:
Today we did CAMP-FIRE COOKERY and WEAVING. Jayne and Jack brought along some sweet dough which we twisted around freshly cut sycamore twigs and baked over a small fire. Sophie and Ellen did ‘five finger weaving’ and ‘magic string’ with their children Beatrice, Ava, Daniel and Joseph. There was also a nice round of name singing. Robin and Leo kept warm by running around.
12th Jan:
Our activities today were CLIMBING with ROPE and DEN BUILDING. We climbed down a challenging slope into a new camp... “Swainswick Dingley Dell”. While in camp some of the young ones made a den in a big fallen branch and adults helped by adding a cover to make it a nice hidden area.
5th Jan:
The weather was breezy and changeable. We welcomed two new playwalkers: Katty and her boy, Willis. We planned to stay close to HQ today. ROAD SAFETY first, then up Blacksmith and down Kent Lanes and into “Churchyard Camp”. We collected fire wood and spoke about our FIRE RULES. We erected a SHELTER to protect us from wind chill. We put up a ROPE SWING and there were lots of games around this including everyone pulling it down and everyone jumping on top of Barney. Willis was able to MAKE FRIENDS,  nicely, as the adults chatted and had a picnic. We made HOT DRINKS on the fire under the long branches of a Monterrey Cypress (Cypressus Macrocarpa).