Embedded Files
Examples of some of our previous Clubhouse days...
Woodland Adventure
Moon's Wood awaited us with a carpet of golden leaves. After a quick chat about how to be safe in the woods and take care of the natural world surrounding us, we took a tour of the woodland and enjoyed a play on the dog agility course (also perfect for small humans).
With tummies rumbling we headed back to camp to build a fire and enjoy lunch.
The rest of the day was spent in free play with additional activities such as den building, tissue paper lantern making, nail hammered tin lantern making, pine-cone/acorn/chestnut people craft, story sharing, playground games and marshmallow toasting.
As the darkness drew in, we gathered around the fire for a story over hot chocolate and more marshmallows before taking our lantern parade out of the woods back up the hill for home time.
Halloween Craft and Party A day of Clubhouse play and the opportunity to join in adult-led activities such as pine-cone spider and bat making, ghost and bat decorations, mini-lanterns, ghost fruit-skewers, dead man's fingers (hot dogs), ghost and pumpkin vegetables and pizza making.
After a day of creating, it was finally party time, we all changed into our halloween costumes, had our face painted, put on the party lights and music and enjoyed two hours of party games, dancing and food before home time, and for many of us, trick or treating with family.
Orford Castle and Wildman Adventure
Meeting at the playground in Orford, we enjoyed a play before heading down to the harbour. It was high tide and as we stared across the grey and misty waters towards Orford Ness, we talked about the geographical location of the village in terms of the river, sea and neighbouring towns, as well as discussing the part the Ness played during the war. Once settled on a bench overlooking the water, we heard the first part of the story of the Wildman of Orford - how he was brought up in nets by local fishermen and taken up to the castle. Using white pastel, and inspired by the Pinny's of Orford logo, we drew portraits of the Wildman.
We followed the footsteps of the fishermen and their catch back through the village and up to the castle. On arrival we headed straight down into the basement to hear the next part of the story - how the Wildman was locked in the dungeon and tortured by his captors. Afterwards we explored the rest of the castle before heading back to the park for lunch.
After lunch we made our way to the church, where the Wildman was taken to test his religious sensibilities. We discovered the Wildman sculptures around the base of the font, as well as a beautifully knitted Wildman and Orford scene. Inspired by the font we found a spot in the church grounds to carve our own Wildmen into soap, before making our way back to the harbour once again.
Now low tide, we took our work to the beach. Those of us too tired for more activity, played on the beach and explored a map of the area, whilst the rest of us cut Wildman and Orford inspired scenes into foam sheets and used them to create beautiful prints. A magical way to end the day.
Landguard Fort and Harwich Harbour Ferry
The day began with a play at Martello Park as we waited for everyone to arrive. Then we took a stroll towards Landguard Fort, climbing the mounds along the footpath giving us great views along the coast. We stopped for snack on the quiet shingle beach before making our way across to the Fort.
Here we were met by Lawrence, a Landguard Tour Guide who took us around the Fort telling us all about it's history: how the soldiers kept watch for invaders, loaded the guns, stored the explosives, and slept and bathed.
After lunch we boarded the ferry which took us on an hour long tour across the harbour to Harwich and back via the Shotley Peninsula. We were amazed by the size of the great container ships and heard about the careful steering of boats in the harbour as they avoid the shallow waters.
After the ferry there was just enough time for a quick play on the beach before walking back to the park ready for home time.
Luna Loves Library Day
After boarding the bus at Martlesham, we took the short journey into Ipswich and walked along to the New Wolsey Theatre where we enjoyed the musical Luna Loves Library Day. We hoped to enjoy a sunny picnic and play at Christchurch park but the autumn weather took a turn and our lunchtime was spent under the ice-cream hut sheltering from the rain.
The downpour forced us to the library early, but we were warmly welcomed and spent an hour choosing books to take home and sharing stories together.
Finally the rain stopped, so we managed a quick play at the park before taking the return bus home.
Welcome to Serene
Our last Clubhouse day of the summer!
We took the bus from Martlesham and after disembarking in Ipswich we headed straight to Christchurch Park where we took some bird feed to the duck pond, then followed the paths around the park-edge searching for squirrels. Despite our best efforts, the sheer number of us was enough to put them off, so sadly there was no squirrel feeding today.
We headed into the centre of the park to find a lovely picnic spot overlooking the great fields and ancient trees. After enjoying lunch we ran to roll down the hills, before spending some time in the playground.
Then we made our way to the New Wolsey to watch 'Welcome to Serene' - performed by the the British Youth Music Theatre. We were all inspired by the acting talent and voices of the teenagers involved and were excited to spot some of them in the foyer after the show.
Finally we boarded the bus back to Martlesham where we said goodbye - until next time.
Adventure Golf and Woodland Afternoon
After a picnic lunch and a full morning playing adventure golf at the entertaining Congo Rapids (Ufford Park), we walked along the village towards Ufford Recreation Ground. After a play on the equipment we set up camp under the dappled sunlight of the attached woodland, where we created watercolour paintings using the leaves we had found, bunting and flags using the japanese art of Hapa Zome (leaf dye) and printed cards using acrylic and the surrounding grasses. When we weren't creating works of art, we were climbing trees and swinging on rope swings, and we all produced our own shows (unprompted) which were performed at the end of the afternoon.
Deben Adventure
It was a windy old day so we made a circle under the grateful shelter of the old oak trees at the top of Broomheath. We spent the next hour whittling ourselves bows, arrows and spears (with the occasional wand thrown into the mix). Then we took the beautiful walk from Broomheath down to the Deben and along the river path to Woodbridge.
We stopped at the park for a picnic lunch and play before finishing our walk to the Riverside Cinema where we settled down to a 90 minute thrill-ride watching the classic children's adventure 'Neverending Story'.
Bury St Edmunds
With high vis and wristbands given out, we headed into Ipswich Station and boarded the quiet train to take the 35 minute journey to Bury St Edmunds. We took the scenic route through the town, down to the Abbey Gardens where we took in the beautiful gardens and enjoyed a picnic lunch in the sun. Afterwards we enjoyed some playtime on the play equipment before taking a walk through the ruins on the way to the Theatre Royal.
For two and a half hours we were treated to a brilliant production of Dorothy Back in Oz! Extra exciting for those of us who had just done the Wizard of Oz for our end of year production.
Beach Day
After some free-play time on the beach we came together to talk about the littering of our beaches and seas. In small groups we took part in a quiz to label the amount of time it takes a material to biodegrade - from paper which can take weeks or months, to a glass bottle which may never break down. Then we put on some gloves and took to retrieving as much litter from our stretch of the beach as possible (teachers had checked the beach beforehand for anything dangerous and children had been warned not to pick up anything sharp). We found bat and ball netting, silver foil strips, food wrappers, plastic bottles, hundreds of tiny plastic beads and much more.
After a good hand wash we got to some more free-play - the children were desperate to continue protecting their large hole from the quickly approaching tide. They created dams and trenches and worked together to problem solve under great time pressure - all very exciting! Those that wanted to went on a sea-weed hunt using one of our sea-weed identification sheets, whilst others created mersapiens (humans covered in sand shaped like a mermaid) and pebble faces.
After a break for lunch, some of us created our own beach olympic games and whilst we waited for the tide to retreat we headed over to the ice-cream kiosk where we were all treated to an ice-cream which we all enjoyed on the sea wall.
With stomachs full, we headed further along the beach to a lesser known area which is a wonderful treasure trove of shells, stones and fossils. It can only be reached on foot and so is beautifully quiet and peaceful. Here we spent almost an hour looking for hag stones and shells that could be threaded onto string, and some of us even found some sharks teeth! A beautiful way to end the day.
Framlingham Castle
Having met above the allotments and next to Framlingham College, we walked down to the Mere where we did a quick sketch of the beautiful view up to the castle on the hill. We chose this meeting point so that the children could get an understanding of the the castle being on one of two high points in the town - the second being where we first came together.
We then walked on through the town and to the church. Whilst younger children made use of the children's corner, the older children sketched the tomb of Thomas Henry (previous owner of Framlingham Castle) and heard about his life, death and lavish funeral.
Excited to get to the castle, we walked around the inner dry ditch, noticing the ruins of old bridges, walk ways, dungeon and possible prison wing. After a run around the lower court (once a beautiful garden) and a roll down the hills, we headed to the main entrance and looked at where the draw-bridge and portcullis would have been. One of the castle staff showed us the holes in the ceiling where boiling water would have been poured if attackers had got in!
After the necessary stare down the well, we headed into the castle to the small museum area where the children were mesmerised by the short film about the castle's history - particularly the bit where Henry VIII chopped off a couple of his wives' heads. We talked about Mary (Henry's daughter) who was at the Castle when she received news that she was to be made Queen, explored the costumes and played with the interactive displays, before heading to the walled walk way.
Being a bit of a breezy day we imagined what it must be like to walk along these walls without the safety of the railings, as they did back in the day. We played at defending our castle, shooting imaginary arrows through any gaps we could find and explored more of the features of the castle (arrow-loops, decorative chimneys, windows and toilet shoots).
We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the shade of the castle walls and played at archaeologists in an activity set up by the castle team. Then we went back into the Great Hall to take a look around the Lanman Museum, before heading outside and drawing a 4 minute sketch of the workhouse without taking our pen off the paper!
On our way out of the castle, two of the castle staff approached us to comment on what a great group the children were. Always nice to hear and we totally agreed!
Finally, we walked round to Pageant Fields Park for a bit of a play before heading back to the castle ready for home time.
Snape Maltings
After meeting on the lawn by the concert hall, we headed for the short walk alongside the river and reed-beds to the Barbara Hepworth sculpture, Family of Man. We heard about Barabara's life, looked at some of her other work and then used our hands and bodies to explore the amazing piece of work in front of us.
Then, given a bar of soap and a dinner knife, we worked at carving our own sculptures, all of which were given a name by the end of the activity.
"Eye of God" by E, aged 9
"Witch's Face" by B, aged 6
"The Lady with the Soft Hands" by M aged 5 and Duncan
"The Door of Time" by L, aged 8
After a spot of lunch and a run around, we headed round to the Britten Studio to enjoy a singing workshop with acappella group, Apollo 5.
Then we talked about Henry Moore and explored his Reclining Figure before creating our own ink sketches. And finally looked at the head sculpture of local artist, Laurence Edwards, discussing the process he goes through to create the distressed look, before using clay to create our own heads.
Clubhouse Carnival
Once we'd all arrived, we joined together on the rug to say hello, welcome new members and to sing our first song together: We are happy. We played percussion instruments whilst we sang and moved our bodies, setting the tone for a fun and not too serious day.
With everyone loosened up we then watched two short films - one about the origins of 'carnival' and one which focused on the world's largest carnival in Rio. We then got to our craft activities, making and creating shakers and creating our own masks and costumes using cardboard, feathers and streamers.
After a quick tidy up we, came together to learn a samba routine before making our way to to the park for a picninc lunch and play.
On our return, we were met by samba drummer (and Clubhouse parent) Jon Halls who led us in a drumming workshop before leading us through the streets of Bealings on our very own samba parade.
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