From The Ground #18
Today’s From the Ground session was bonkers for conkers! The children’s imaginations ran wild as they transformed our much loved friend: the humble conker, into a bonker creation!
One of the things we love most about the allotment is that it’s a multi purpose space. One doesn’t go there just to garden. It hosts a whole range of wonderful activities, allowing the children to express themselves in many magical ways. This old conker shell made a good glue pot!
Today’s craft session was inspired by the changing seasons, and Autumn is perhaps our favourite out of all of them. The colours are spectacular and the light has a wonderful mystery and magic that’s hard to rival. It offers much excitement for children. Conkers capture their imaginations and epitomise what Autumn is all about. It therefore seemed highly relevant to incorporate them into one of our after school sessions.
The conker critters the children made engaged their hearts, heads and hands. With great passion in their hearts they dreamt up the creations in their heads and built them with their hands.
It’s amazing how far a bit of plasticine, a few pipe cleaners and some glue will go, oh, let’s not forget goggly eyes too!
Be it to make spider’s legs, snail bodies or the wiggly part of a worm, from very basic art materials great creations were made!
We always encourage the children to use as many of the hand tools as possible. It helps build their confidence, knowledge and ability. However, if you value your fingers, then drilling holes in conkers with children probably isn’t for you. Still, they have to learn somehow and so learn they did.
Here’s an interesting conker fact. In 1965 the first World Conker Championships were set up in Northamptonshire and still take place on the second Sunday of October every year. Over 5,000 spectators turn up to watch 500 competitors from all over the world. Prior to the game over 2,000 conkers of the required width (30mm) are collected, drilled and strung. It puts our own effort into perspective, but there might be an opportunity here to start Oakridge’s own knockout conker tournament!
Speaking of which, one couldn’t let the session end without a game of conkers. It was perplexing, and sad, to discover that none of the children knew what the game was. Without wanting to sound too old, it’s a pastime From The Ground has fond memories of playing in the school playground when they were little. Sadly, as with most childhood pastimes, health and safety is like a fun sponge gone bonkers.