A few days working with Foundation Stage children at Annesley Primary School, Nottinghamshire.
camels got priority in our desert tents!
With a theme “Children in other countries”, we set off on expeditions to make new friends:
We could fly in a ‘plane
We could drive in a car
We could ride on a donkey
Or hang onto a motorbike
We could sail in a boat
Or gallop in a horse
We could squeeze all of us onto one elephant
Or have an elephant each
Or we could sit on a flying carpet
Children went off exploring, finding other adventures, other animals, other children
One group went to cold places and made a tent and a campfire. They cuddled up with polar bears at night to keep warm. They met wolves and bears and many friendly animals
the arctic encampment (including stray penguin)
In Africa. another group saw lions, but were not afraid, although on person was scared of elephant noises
Working in the school garden, we made those tents, built those shelters, found homes for monkeys, frogs and crabs, assembled that picnic ( nuts, apples, leaf-ice-cream), photographing and drawing the results. Eventually we made friends with other children and recorded our adventures on pop-up cards with grown-ups doing the writing because when you are 4 years old it’s useful to have minions to do those sort of things….
On a tropical island, children made houses and met giant tortoises
And Jack (3 years old) said: The eagle and the owl are friends,
A fishy flavour for this set – big fish, small fish, fish to wave or fish to wear on your head!
There are two pages to each worksheet: a “leader’s sheet” with equipment list and hints on leading the activity and a straightforward “how-to-do it” page. One page of the Flying Fish sheet has flown away…will track it down!
The original books for these sheets was “Talking to the Earth”. That and the more recent “Celebrating Nature’ are still available – follow the link to my website: Gordon’s books
Enjoy!
"Giant fish" activity sheet
"Giant fish" activity sheet
"Flying fish" activity sheet - leader's sheet to follow
Fat Fish on Sticks - worksheet"Fat fish on sticks" leader's notes"Fishy windsocks" - leader's sheet
A week of hectic workshops pushed African memories to the back of my mind for a while as I need to concentrate on the here and now of slightly mad puppet characters and their evolving stories*.
A whirlwind week with 5 days of workshops since last Monday including three Moorland stories sessions for Borderland Vocies (why not look at and join our Facebook group Moorland Stories), a noisy day making night-time mobiles to carry bats, owl and other excitements into your dreams, a dauntingly quiet day with the woodland Trust (but a chance to meet some excellent Woodland Trust rangers and the delightful Cath Aran, another storyteller )
storytellers, rangers and remarkably few members of the public!
And to-day, a pleasant workshop at Tittesworth Reservoir and maybe 40 people settling down to make puppet s- some to take away and some for us to keep….gradually accumulating numbers for our Moorland Stories Enchanted World of Puppets at the Just-So Festival
* The old woman who lives in Rock Hall in the Roaches and spends her time counting fossils, the mermaid who lives in Doxey Pool nearby, the Moorlands Bear and his endless quest for more honey, and the puppy who lost his voice – stolen by the frog in his throat……
Way back in 1995 or so, I wrote a book called Talking to the Earth exploring environmental art and creativity. We did a set of worksheets to accompany the book that have been out of print for a few years now. So over the next year or so, I’m going to post these on this website for people to download, use and (hopefully) enjoy!
If you use these sheets, please add a comment below!
Talking to the Earth and my other environmental art book Celebrating Nature(2009) are both still available – with lots more ideas and activities for individuals, groups and occasional boggarts to make the most of!
bristling, feathered, rushy, grassy and flamboyant!
get carried away on top of someone's head.....hints and advcie for head Sculptures workshops
“Expect to be brought to a deeper understanding of your own creative process. The Creativity Conference is an annual pilgrimage for creative minds of all kinds, whether you are a business leader, performance poet, or photographer. ” (from the CC website)
2022: training days: nothing is planned just yet – if you are interested in a toad session, get in touch for a chat: creepingtoad@btinternet.com
Courses are aimed at teachers, rangers, environmental education specialists and playworkers and, really, anyone who is looking for activities to deliver to a group of children (or families) along creative environmental themes
Workshops aim to offer participants the chance to experiment, to experience activities for themselves and to talk about resources, workshop patterns and the tricks that make for effective delivery
If you want to find out more about the content of a workshop, you are welcome to contact me, (creepingtoad@btinternet.com) if you want to book or make a booking enquiry, please contact the organisers
a story builds….
Autumn adventures
public events, 2022
Details for 2022 events will follow….it’s often easier to keep track of these:
Families: unless otherwise stated, these events are aimed at family groups – stray adults are welcome to come and join us, too: to listen laugh and make things as suits.
Appropriate ages: If you are 7 years old or less, can you please bring a grown-up with you and don’t lose them during the session.
Stern word: I try to keep things as relaxed and cheerful as possible during sessions but I do reserve the right to ask people to leave if their behaviour disrupts the rest of the group and I generally recommend getting to a drop-in event at least 40 minutes before the scheduled end of the event as I often have to pack up and move somewhere else quite quickly!
Last minute bookings: I still have odd days here and there (some are very strange!) if you would like a session for your site or your own group. Contact me at creepingtoad@btinternet.com or 07791 096857 to find out more
EVENTS BELOW ARE FROM 2018 – LEAVING THEM IN JUST NOW TO GIVE YOU A SENSE FO WHAT MIGHT BE HAPPENING!
October
Light up the woods
Saturday 15th
Plas Power Woods, Wrexham
Mixing lanterns, with woodland storytelling, campfire warmth and the thrill of wandering through a wood at night. You will find me deep in the woods, on a log by a stream telling stories of enchanted owls, tree-magic and occasional bears. This event is becoming a hugely popular annual event. Tickets are limited and advance booking is needed!
Another regular feature and another annual delight. Join us for an afternoon of delicious apples, orchards, stories, art, and baking apples and potatoes in the fire. Bring your own apples and you can scrunch them into the juice – bring your own chutneys and swap them or their recipes. I am here to tell stories and lead some Museum moments: we’re collecting apple thoughts and orchard stories.
Get inspired by the landscape of Cromford Mills and High Peak Junction and sketch, scribble or draw your favourite bits onto our big drawing. Using a variety of materials, we’ll work together to create an amazing picture, 20 metres or more long, that tells the story of this special place: the birthplace of the factory system in the valley that changed the world. Part of Derwent Valley Mills Discovery Days.
Calacas: make your own tiny Day of the Dead characters
In the final days before Hallowe’en, join me for an afternoon with tiny skeletal people. Inspired by Mexican Day of the Dead ideas, we’ll make little skeletal people doing everyday thigns…there may be skeleton footballers, musicians, ladies in ball gowns, gentlemen in tophats and tails – or ladies in tophats and gentlemen in ballgowns…who knows what way the bones will inspire us!
Green Man Gallery, Buxton (Hardwick Square south, , SK17 6PY
https://www.facebook.com/TheGreenManGallery/
Booking needed.
Cost £6.00 (accompanying adult free – but adults could always book a place and make their own Calacas!)
Drop in in person, or call: 01298 937375 (card payment).
And if you survive that, you might like to call in for
Boggarts and Freetings: spooky stories for Hallowe’en week
Still at the Green Man Gallery, between 5 and 6pm (more or less), £3 a ticket and stories for laughter, shock, delight and dismay and a nice shiver or two for the arrival of winter!
Wednesday 26th October
Bone Detectives
Explore the secrets of the skulls, learn to read the clues hidden in eyesockets, teeth and the bony curves of zygomatic arches and sagittal crests. Meet some skulls, draw some bones, take your own bone-folder home. (Bring your own mystery bones with you, if you like to baffle us – only nothing too drippy and messy, thank you!)
Buxton Museum’s Pop-up Museum will be there to, so come and see some of the Treasures of the Peak and talk to museum experts…
I’ll be there at the bony end of things!
A free family day
National Trust, Ilam
11am – 3pm. Free event but car parking charges may apply
Draw, colour, collage, etch and sketch your way around Pavilion Gardens as we celebrate the Big Draw in Buxton. Collect some materials from us by the Pavilion, then get exploring around the gardens and see what inspires your artwork. If it’s raining, there’s plenty to do and draw inside – from the wonderful winter garden to the bustle of the cafe and gallery.
Creeping Toad activities are tailored to suit your individual needs rather than chosen from a set menu of options. But, here are some examples of recent (2013 – 2015) creative adventures that might whet your appetite and give you some suggestions to shout at the Toad about…
a desperate race across a tabletop…
pirates: environmentally-inspired pirates, finding nature’s treasures, writing pirate books, making maps, giant lantern pirate ships, parrots, puppets and lots of wildness: the Tiny! Pirates have appeared several times (working with Buxton community group Stone and Water), a judging panel of mermaids supervised sailing in Mottram St Andrew, pirate treasures inspired new stories… More pirate workshops »
“just how piratical are you?”
challenging assumptions: ethics in environmental education session at Losehill Hall, Peak National Park
a waterfall of words and colours
some fishy moments: in 2014 and 2015, with musician Steve Brown, I worked on a whole series of lovely river sessions with schools involved in the Ribble Rivers Trust’s “River in the Classroom” project, hatching trout for release back into local rivers. In September 2015, I was busy making pop-up rivers and finger-puppet river creatures at Scotland’s Salmon Festival
river pop-ups cpautre moments and thoughts of river, movement and leaping fish
Festival of Outdoor Learning,Hollowford, Castleton: and msot eyars I’ll be at this lively weekend doing workshops that might be anything from making tiny books to spinning stories out of weather and wood..
a pop-up landscape of Stone Age life
homes: living in caves and castles: working with props, drama and sheer imagination: cave people in search of new homes, Stone Age lives, spooky houses and mysterious castles as part of the Summer Reading Challenge in 2013
adventures everywhere: using the school for inspiration to build a class adventure, finding stories everywhere, anywhere, out of anything
touring Scotland: I’m usually up in the Highlands twice a year, telling stories, making puppets, and enjoying the wild ideas and wonderful imaginations of children in schools and everyone on public events
