Thursday, 25 June 2009

Videos Uploaded from Father's day.....

Videos of the Father's day activities are now online for viewing!

The first video shows a young girl taking part in our mystery box game, guessing what natural materials were hiding inside the boxes!



The next video shows 2 of our triumphant den builders taking time out inside their new den:




The final video shows the willow weaving workshop. Participants were able to make exciting willow creations with expert tuition from Redstone Willows



The residents from Greenfields in Winsford who visited the park for the day took their own photographs. We asked them to capture what they enjoyed most about playing in the natural environment at Lyme Park. The results were great!

Wednesday, 24 June 2009

Den Building on Father's Day - Photos added....

The consultation events held on 21st June at Lyme Park were another resounding success! We managed to talk to dozens of visitors about the proposed new play area. Eveyone we spoke to is very positive about the project, and we have gathered some interesting ideas to include in the new designs!

Once again the den building was a popular activity - children (and parents!) loved getting involved. It was great to see all of the children making new friends and building a series of dens together. Some of the dens had doors, some were only big enough for one person, and others were more sculptural than functional!

We also uncovered some wildlife - the children were fascinated with Mr Toad after they found he had moved into their new den!




Many families also took part in a treasure hunt around the site for the proposed new play area:

Friday, 12 June 2009

Father's Day Events Taking Shape!

Groundwork staff will be at Lyme Park on Father's Day delivering activities for the next consultation event. We will be providing a day of fun activities for all families, so please come along and join in the free workshops!

Sunday 21st June
10am - 4pm
Lyme Park Timber Yard Area

Activities will include den building workshops, treasure hunts in Crow Wood and sensory games.

Professional willow weaver Christine Redstone will also be at the event, running a series of hour long weaving workshops. Children and adults of all abilities will be able to work with Christine to produce sculptural fish, dragonflies, baskets, bulrushes and leaves.

Participants will also get a sneak peak at design ideas for the new playscape!

Monday, 1 June 2009

Den Making Workshop Builds Design Ideas!

On Friday 29th May, Groundwork Cheshire staff spent the day at Lyme Park carrying out consultation with visitors about the proposed new playscape. As part of the consultation, parents filled out questionnaires about play with their children, who then took part in den building workshops.

Children of all ages got involved in building dens, using fallen wood from the estate to make a series of exciting structures. The children then used balls of coloured wool to weave in decoration. Some children enjoyed this so much that they created large weavings between logs, trees and tall grass!

The photographs, comments and questionnaires will be used to inform design work currently taking place. The general project design concept seems to be very popular; one participant said that building dens and natural play "is just more fun isn't it?".