VERY YOUNG FRIENDS OF WEST BANK PARK

DEVELOPING CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT IN OUTDOOR SPACES

As told by Catherine Heinemeyer, Storyteller

Once upon a time in the suburbs of York. . .

Every Thursday morning at 10am a group of parents, grandparents, childminders and pre-school children gather at a statue of Queen Victoria in a wooded suburban park. The Very Young Friends of West Bank Park, for that is who they are, then head off to some corner of the park: it might be a particular mound or tree in the woods, a picnic bench in a clearing, a bramble-lined path or a grassy area under pines and willows. The children sometimes lead the way – they have their favourite places and they remember where they last went to look for pinecones, or hide from their mums.

The group then gets down to the morning´s main business, which varies according to the season, and the imagination of whichever adult is leading the group that week. The children are members of the park community, just like the birds and squirrels, and their task is often very much like those of the animals: building a nest or a den, gathering food, making and following tracks. Or it might be a wee bit more artistic, making a mobile out of autumn leaves, perfume from petals or a beautiful pair of binoculars out of toilet rolls. Or then again, it might be doing something to take care of the park – planting, feeding birds, painting nest boxes. Or it might be just for fun: doing ´laundry´ with old rags, basins of water and washing lines hung between the trees, playing ´shop´ with crab-apples, beechnuts and some rusty old kitchen scales.

In any case, most of the children spend half the time doing their own thing, running around and stamping in puddles, scrambling over exposed tree roots. The main thing is, everyone has had a good time working and playing together in his or her own ´home´ outdoor place. If it happened that the activity was not particularly popular, it doesn’t bother anyone because it didn’t involve much planning, and resources were mostly free. Bits and pieces of household rubbish, ´treasures´ found on the woodland floor. Each family pays a pound a week into the kitty, but most of it gets saved up for the odd party or trip somewhere.

After the main activity, the group settles down for a picnic snack. Then bells are rung by one of the bigger children to signal a very important part of the morning, ´Story Time!´. The story will be simple and often made up by the teller to suit the season and the children’s recent activity. If they have been painting tree trunks with water, it might be the story of Tom Badger who goes to the end of the rainbow to collect colourful paints to decorate his friends´ houses. If they have been laying trails, it might be two stick people going out for a night walk, with shiny stones as their guide, before being put to bed in a blanket. As before, the older children sit in rapt attention while younger toddlers strain to race away into the hedge, so the teller gets them to ´paint´ along with Tom, help lay the trail or put the sticks to bed – anything so as not to disturb the older children’s concentration!

By this time, for at least half the year, the group is getting chilly. So they stand up for some songs. The running-stamping-moving kind are the best: the Hokey-Cokey, One Finger One Thumb, and a whole repertoire they have developed with warming up in mind. One final ´goodbye´ song, and it’s off to the playground, then home.

The adults in the group don’t spend much time talking about their beliefs about early years education, as they are busy playing. But they have a general, unspoken agreement on certain things. That, for example, little children should go out in most weathers, get dirty, trip up and get stung occasionally, play without needing toys, feel at home in woods, know which berries you can eat, watch birds nesting, be conscious of the seasons, and act in their own stories. They keep a blog to remind themselves what they have been doing, and whether or not it worked well, as well as to share photographs. This is also a resource for the following year – when the same month comes around again they can look up the activities that went with it last year. They also get ideas from other sources, on or off-line, but only the blog contains ideas that specifically work well in West Bank Park, with its own unique layout and community of tree and plant species.

The good thing about a parent and toddler group is that the parents themselves are responsible for deciding what the group does, and what is appropriate for those particular children in this particular place. There are no blanket health and safety regulations and no curriculum requirements. The council is very supportive and publicizes the group, as well as providing the services of a friendly Parks Officer for the bulb planting sessions, ideas and bigger projects.

At this time when children’s understanding of the environment is so crucial, and early years education is changing so dramatically, the Very Young Friends would be keen to make contact with other similar groups and share ideas. They also invite any early years practitioners looking for ideas for outdoor activities to have a look at their blog at www.westbankparkkids.blogspot.com.

Have a look at the handmade outdoor soap recipe and some quotes from the group.

Story told by Catherine Heinemeyer, Story Teller

Storycatch supported by City of York Council (Inclusive Arts, Arts & Culture) - July 2010