some left over Tiny! peoples

a few stray shots to liven up a Samhain week of some of our Tiny! adventurers from Buxton Festival Fringe activities in 2010 and 2011

A Winter Celebration

In a joint project between Dame Catherine Harpur's and Weston-on-Trent Primary Schools and the National Trust at Calke Abbey, Creeping Toad is leading workshops building up to a Winter Celebration at Calke Abbey on Saturday 3rd December

With funding from Awards for All, we will be running workshops for youth, toddler and other groups, and drop-in events for the general public in both villages. Here we will make lanterns (and maybe flags) celebrating "what makes our village - or the Calke Abbey estate - special" building up to a procession through the grounds of the estate on that December Saturday

A full programme of workshops will be posted shortly, meanwhile below are details of a session for volunteers or people interested in meeting the tehchniques we will use in other sessions (welcome even if you can't join in at other times!)

We are also looking for more musicians or drama groups who might like a space for a short cameo, or mummers with a play to present. Contact me if you'd like to be involved!

Pop-up Theatres

First images from this week's "Pop-up Theatres" workshops for Buxton Museum and the Enlightenment! project

Wycoller Country Park

Through rain and wind and sunshine, three days of workshops at Wycoller Country Park near Trawden in Lancashire with the delightful Whitefield Infant School

Link: The Lancashire County Council site seems to be tying itself in a know so try this one for images and information on the Park: Wycoller Country Park

WALKING SONG

Watch out for

            foxes in the woods

Watch out for

            robins on branches

Watch out for

            butterflies on the flowers

Watch out for

            rabbits in the grass

Watch out for

            owls in the hollow trees

Watch out for

            bats in the caves

Watch out for

            mice in the roots

Watch out for

            squirrels in the trees

Watch out for

            birds on the branches

(8 of us, call and response)

Rain coming down from the sky,

Leaves blowing in the wind,

Our feet are stamping on the ground.

River splashing into the pond,

Trees creaking in the wind,

Birds are singing to us,

And we are slipping on the ground.

(Alisha, October 2011)

Waking your masks

The third of this selection of worksheets from the Talking to the Earth collection - drama and story suggestions for bringing masks to life...These worksheets accompanied my first environmental art book Talking to the Earth, copies of which (with lots more activities!) are still available from myself or the publishers, Capall Bann

Other worksheets have been released (other posts today) and a fishy set back in August: watery worksheets

Enjoy!

Trickster Masks!

This activity was designed to create masks that changed as you wore them - from the simplest of transformations with tissue cocoons being ripped off to reveal butterflies, to olds and flaps that opened (treebark, revealing owl faces) or whole masks that changed from animal into human.....

These were inspired by the masks of the North-west coast Native American cultures....

The worksheet is from a set that accompanied the book Talking to the Earth. The book -with lots more activities! - is still available from either myself ( Toadsite for books ) or the publishers, Capall Bann

Eagle transformation mask
(source: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth101/redistribution.htm)

Our Trickster Mask worksheet

Worksheets to download

Here are the next three Talking to the earth worksheets. These worksheets are part of a set of 20 that accompanied my first environmental art book, Talking to the Earth published back in 1995. There are still copies of the book available - visit my website for more information ( Toadsite for books ) or try the publishers, Capall Bann

Some of the other sheets can be found at this posting

Masks made using these techniques

Big heads - from sheet 19, still to come!

And here are the next set of worksheets - "masks"