Stories everywhere and other adventures

optimistic toad

Stories, masks, monsters and puppets

Creeping Toad training courses this summer

This blog has been quiet for a while but now with spring on the horizon and toads in the ponds, it’s is time to start posting events for y’all to join in with - maybe

There are two training courses are growing on the Toad horizon just now
Courses like this are aimed at teachers, rangers, environmental education specialists, playworkers and, really, anyone who is looking for activities to deliver to a group of children (or families) along creative environmental themes
Workshops aim to offer participants the chance to experiment, to experience activities for themselves and to talk about resources, workshop patterns and the tricks that make for effective delivery
If you want to find out more about the content of a workshop, you are welcome to contact me, (creepingtoad@btinternet.com) if you want to book or make a booking enquiry, please contact the organisers.

If you are interested in hosting something similar in your own area, 

contact me at the creepingtoad address

collecting a knight's tale

Stories Everywhere
4th July 2018, Dartington Estate, Totnes
Organiser: Wildwise: http://wildwise.co.uk/training+.php?nID=18&n_start=0
This workshop will include activities that can be used to help groups of all ages use language to explore, enjoy and celebrate their environment.   We will play with words: creating stories, poems, instant adventures and terrible tales.

found objects and treasures map an adventure

A day to enjoy words, this workshop encourages participants to find “adventures everywhere”…anywhere. It will offer activities designed to draw inspiration from simple observation, fostering confidence in participants own skills and encouraging innovation within supportive activity structures. The activities used will also allow ideas to merge as a number of short activities flow together to give longer more intricate adventures

The activities used here have been tried and tested with family groups, on adult events and with school children – often in situations where Literacy is an issue and activities are needed that remove worry and fear and encourage simple enjoyment of words
Rates:
£80 | £95 | £120 *
* rates for individuals / voluntary-charitable organisations / businesses

finger creatures and head animals

Puppets, masks and monsters
5th July 2018, Dartington Estate, Totnes
Organiser: Wildwise: http://wildwise.co.uk/training+.php?nID=18&n_start=0
a day finding characters, making characters, turning ourselves into wild and wonderful things: a mixture of working with found and natural materials with alternatives using more traditional materials.

boggarts will keep an eye on our making

Our activities today will start with some first principles in puppetry, those little tricks that can turn just about anything into a character to send off adventuring, before moving on to improvising with piles of twigs, leaves and mud. As the workshop progresses we will add more intricate ideas, looking at shadow puppet landscapes and movements, at mask forms that lend themselves to a whole ecology of characters and  wonderfully strange creatures who can wake up a wall of rocks laughing
The programme will include

• first puppets: ideas for instant animation
• improvising with natural materials: add string and a lump of clay and we’re off!
• straightforward activities to incorporate into other sessions needing few materials
• essential shapes and techniques to apply in other situations
• more intricate forms of masks, puppets and shadow puppets for more determined workshops or public events
• building giants: processes for making both big puppets and mosntrous masks

Rates:
£80 | £95 | £120 *
* rates for individuals / voluntary-charitable organisations / businesses

toads adrift in a village pond

Stories for the great outdoors

Stories for the great outdoors

or maybe

fir ye gurt ootseid?

 April 22nd 2016, 

Glenmore Lodge, Aviemore

 

this little character appeared on an earlier session

WildScotland are running their excellent “Art of Guiding in the Great Outdoors” training programme again this year. Here programmes can suit everyone from beginners to experienced group leaders, “allowing them to understand their guests better and to enhance their experience of the environment in which they operate”

I am involved in the “day modules” section where you can book on for individual sessions (rather than the whole programme) including such delicious treats as “Gaelic in the Landscape”, “Introduction to Bushcraft”, “Wild Stargazing”(with the delightful Rupert Hutchison). There are lots more: follow the link to become over-excited… And you could spend a day with me looking at some Environmental Storytelling

spinning stories out of scraps and found materials

“Stories, whether traditional or newly written, offer people an emotional, creative and intuitive way of engaging with the world around them. Well told, stories offer an audience ideas and experiences without dictating how they should feel or what a story should mean, encouraging listeners to value their own reactions to the places they encounter in a Guided Experience. This module will work with both established traditional stories and techniques to use in developing new stories with a group.”

During the day we will experiment with traditional stories, exploring ways of remembering and of telling and of making a story your own. We will wander, exploring as storytellers, gathering elements for stories from woods and weather, the stone beneath us, the sky above and just about anything that saunters past

Date: April 22^nd 2016 in Aviemore

Cost: £95 + VAT

To book: contact Wild Scotland

Tempted? I hope so!

See you in the mountains!

 

come away with a story to tell

 

Imminent excitements! Training courses with Creeping Toad

I'll be working at the two events below delivering my own particular (peculiar?) take on environment education, inspiration, play and frivolity through creativity…..

21 -22 February 2015: Annual Festival of Outdoor Learning 

at the Hollowford Centre, Castleton, Derbyshire

This two day event is a delight. Always worth visiting for new ideas, new friends and a striking setting. I'm there on the Saturday with two different sessions:

Morning: Finding Stories

Spinning new stories, wild tales and improbable characters out of found materials. Working indoors and out, we'll look at techniques to use with groups to build stories to tell, practical hints and useful themes for ourselves as leaders and additional activities to give ourselves the confidence to weave new stories on the spot

Afternoon: Wild Books

Capturing moments: new stories, precious memories, ongoing diaries. Simple book-building activities combining quick art activities with writing and reflection to allow people to make their own personal records of adventures, discoveries and inspirations

For details, booking, etc follow the link:

Hollowford

18th March 2015 (during National Science Week)

Stories out of Science

 using science outdoors to inspire literacy

~ bringing English to life in the school grounds

~shake up your science teaching at KS1 and 2

 ~ stir some new thrills into your writing workshops by finding the adventures in life cycles, the poetry of landscapes and the drama of natural processes

9.30 to 3.30 at Stibbington Centre (PE8 6LP)

Activities will include

•       the poetry of natural processes

•       a world of adventure in a single stone

•       activities for quick poems drawn from skulls, bones, shells and found objects

•       turning life cycles into dramas

•       …and more

 For details and to make a reservation at £60 per place (Cambs LA) or £70 others, contact CEES on tel 01780 782386 or email

mailto:cees.stibbington@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

If there are any problems with getting through to people, just come back to me

e

Wildlife Interpretation: Creating great visitor experiences

(I am not involved with this workshop but Susan is a valued friend and trusted colleague and I reckon this is worth shaking your leaves and feathers over, so why not go along?. O, and the pictures are mine and included 'cause I like colourful blogs!)

gratuitous wildlife pic!

Wildlife Interpretation: Creating great visitor experiences

A workshop arranged by the

Association for Heritage Interpretation

Old Moor RSPB Reserve, Barnsley, S73 0YF

Tuesday 17^th June 2014, 10.00am – 4.00pm

Susan Cross –  Interpretation and visitor experience developer, TellTale 

Ivan Nethercoat – Training Manager at RSPB

I said I liked colour,
I didn't promise relevance!

How do we help audiences engage with wildlife sites and have enjoyable and meaningful experiences? There can be challenges associated with interpreting wildlife that moves, disappears, changes with the seasons, and doesn’t behave how we might wish!

This workshop will consider the particular issues associated with providing interpretation at wildlife sites and highlight some interesting recent developments in the field including:

• Visitor segmentation - and what understanding different motivations for wildlife experiences means for the interpreters.
• Developing good practice guidelines for wildlife interpretation – an initiative by Forestry Commission Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage
• Investigating visitor attitudes to using smartphones to enhance their experience of nature reserves

There will also be an opportunity to hear about the role of interpretation in the RSPB and to visit the Old Moor reserve.

The workshop is designed for anyone interested in communicating with visitors at wildlife sites: interpretation professionals, countryside rangers, people engagement or education officers, site managers, etc.

The day will include presentations and activities, and provide inspiration and ideas that you can put into practice for your visitors right away. There will be opportunities to meet with, share ideas, activities and information with others who undertake similar work.

Susan Cross, the lead trainer at this workshop, is one of the best-known specialists in visitor experience and interpretation in the UK. She has spent 25 years building memorable connections between people, place, and wildlife. Her consultancy, TellTale, has advised and worked with a huge number of bodies from National Parks to the National Trust.

http://www.telltale.co.uk/

Venue, Cost & Enquiries

RSPB Old Moor is a wonderful wetland and centre with a wealth of birdlife. The site lies about 5 miles from Junction 36 of the M1 and 7 miles from Junction 37 of the A1(M). The railway stations of Wombwell and Bolton-on-Dearne are 2 and 3 miles away respectively, and Barnsley about 4 miles away

For more information go to

http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/d/dearne-oldmoor/about.aspx

The cost of the event is £80 for AHI members and £100 for non-AHI members (including lunch and refreshments). Places are limited to 20. 

Attendance on this course is worth two points for those working towards full membership of AHI.

For bookings and enquiries contact the Association for

Heritage Interpretation at 54 Balmoral Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4PG by telephone on 0560 274 7737 or by email to admin@ahi.org.uk.

Storytelling, mountains and wonders

Storytelling workshop

Glenmore Lodge, Aviemore, 

6th April 2014

ancient woods and deep pools will share their stories

Every year I do a lively day of tale-telling, riddles, and wild lies  as part of the Wilderness Guide Training Programme.

These are cheerful, busy days where we draw inspiration from the world around us to compose new stories, play with poems and finally find our own ways of remembering and retelling traditional stories

A day of excitement, laughter and challenges!

While this is part of the bigger Guide Training programme, you can book for just the single workshop (follow the link to find out more). Or why not make a weekend of it as that same weekend features other day workshops?  This year includes Gaelic in the Landscape, Wilderness Cookery and Astronomy

(this last is to be highly recommended - it is a very interesting day and two years ago we ended the workshop late on the Saturday night watching Saturn through a telescope and lying on the grass identifying constellations with mobile phone apps.) 

Festival of Outdoor Learning

The Annual Festival of Outdoor Learning

Hollowford Centre, Castleton, Hope Valley, Derbyshire

 22nd and 23rd February 2014

finding stories

I've been doing workshops at these gatherings for a few years now and they are always lively, cheerful events. Excellent opportuntieis for meeting people, catching up on old friends, making new ones, exploring ideas and having good-natured arguments with people

I am only there on the Saturday  doing workshops:

• the Value of Tiny Things
• Finding Stories (details below)

there might be crows too Tiny to photograph!

 Other excitements from a very busy programme include:

• working with special needs students
• circular map making
• Biomimicry: learning from nature's genius
• trainer in a rucksack

…and lots more!

Tiny lanterns might
light a small corner 

The conference often sells out (and at only £75 for the weekend, it's a bargain - the fee includes 4 workshops,a cocommodation and food) and workshop spaces need booking.

Follow the Lindley Trust link to find out more - and come and join us!

 My workshops:

Finding stories

A lively session spinning new stories, wild tales and improbable characters out of found materials. Working indoors and out, we'll look at techniques to use with groups to build stories to tell, practical hints and useful themes for ourselves as leaders and additional activities to give ourselves the confidence to weave new stories on the spot.

The Value Of Tiny Things

Two main themes coincide in this workshop: the sheer excitement a lot of children (and older people!) find in working on a small scale and the practical limits on what equipment we can carry with us. So, with a guide to "make nothing bigger than your own hand", we'll set off to explore some Tiny Worlds with pirates and goblins, castles, treasure maps, tiny books terrible, tiny monsters. There may be even a fleet of very small ships on a very small pond

Tiny Pirates meet a Tiny mermaid

Building networks: Burrenbeo conference 2013

The official details of this year's Burrenbeo conference are pasted in below. I was at last year's event and it was rich and delightful. Good company, a wonderful setting and lots of thought-provoking sessions. so if you fancy a trip out to the west of ireland and the spectacular limestone landscapes of the Burren in July...sign up!

Place-based Learning – building a network?

Kinvara July 18^th-20^th 2013.

Building on the success of the inaugural Learning Landscape Symposium Apathy to Empathy – reconnecting people with place in 2012, the Burrenbeo Trust are hosting an intimate networking event this year for place-based educators, teachers, parents and anyone with an interest in place-based learning and/or learning in the Burren. 

This event aims to:

•                provide a unique opportunity to network with other place-based educators from Ireland and beyond, exchange ideas and experiences

•                hear from some leading practitioners both nationally and internationally

•                continue the momentum from our biannual symposium in 2012 and build towards our planned 2014 event

•                explore Ireland ’s ultimate learning landscape, the Burren.   

This event will feature interactive workshops in community venues in Kinvara village as well as field trips to the Burren, cultural events and much more.   It will start on the evening on the 18^th, the workshops will be throughout the 19^th, and there is an optional fieldtrip on the 20^th.  

Workshop leaders include:

Anita Goodwin tbc (http://www.outdoornation.org.uk/)

Gordon MacLellan (http://creepingtoad.blogspot.ie/)

Sam Moore (http://www.totemdevelopment.co.uk/)

Chris Chapman (http://www.changeexploratory.com/)

Michael Ryan (http://www.lit.ie/)

Gordon D’Arcy

Katy Egan

Sophie Nicol

Zena Hoctor

Shane Casey

….more workshop leaders to be confirmed shortly.

Cost: €70 (€60 for OAP/Students, €55 for Burrenbeo Trust members). 

Bookings are now open by contacting trust@burrenbeo.com and 091 638096 or downloading the attach form and sending it back.  Places are strictly limited and bookings will be on a first come first served basis. 

The full programme will be released shortly; keep an eye on www.burrenbeo.com for more information.

The Burren, Ireland ’s Learning Landscape - An Bhoireann, Tírdhreach Saíochta na hÉireann

Supported by the Heritage Council

Mountain tales

Mountain tales

a day of storytelling and storymaking in the Cairngorms, 

Sunday April 14th 2013

last year, this little character entertained us

an environment full of starting points

 As part of a weekend of activities on the Wilderness Guide Training Programme, I will be leading a story day at Glenmore Lodge

My day will include chance to:

• experiment with ways of making up stories with groups,   
• using the world around us - the world your wilderness walk has taken you through - to shape new stories         
• draw instant poems from weather, landscape and moment       
• techniques for learning and telling traditional stories

Make the most of those round-the-fire evenings…..

This weekend also includes workshops on natural navigation, astronomy and Scottish geology and landforms by some very exciting workshop leaders. (Watching the rings of Saturn through a  telescope on a cold Cairngorm night was one of my highpoints of last year!)

Each workshop lasts a whole day and you can book in for one day or two - or if you are inspired, perhaps you will do the whole training programme

For booking details and prices contact: http://www.wild-scotland.org.uk/pages/contact-us/

the wider horizon, 2012

Biodiversity excitements in Derbyshire!

Lowland Derbyshire Biodiversity Partnership Forum 2012

17 November 2012

9.45 - 16.00

County Hall, Matlock
A programme of talks, workshops and displays showing how you can get the message about biodiversity across to a variety of different audiences in fun and imaginative ways.

Free but places need booking

Visit the website: www.derbyshirebiodiversity.org.uk

More information:

Get the biodiversity message across!

In our world of 24 hours-a-day media, and with many demands for our attention, we need effective and imaginative ways

Each year the Lowland Derbyshire Biodiversity Partnership holds a themed Annual Forum for partners and community groups. This year that theme is about Communication.

Our event will look at a number of imaginative ways being used to encourage others to appreciate and respect nature, or to become active volunteers or members of local groups.

The workshops on offer will be wide and varied. You can pick up to three, so it’s easy to try out different activities in a safe environment and learn from experienced practitioners. Details of the workshops are on the next page of this flier. Please select your preferred choices of workshop when you complete this booking form.

By the end of the event, we hope you will be inspired to try out some different ways to communicate your passion for nature to others. The workshops are designed to give you a range of different techniques to take back to your work or voluntary projects, so you’ll be contributing to the ‘educational’ part of the Lowland Derbyshire Biodiversity Action Plan, too!

There will be plenty of opportunities during the day to share experiences amongst like-minded individuals, as well as to meet other groups and individuals within the county.

How much does it cost?
Attendance at the Annual Forum is free, but places must be booked in advance using the attached form.

Who is the event aimed at?

The event is aimed at partners, parish councils, landowners, schools, volunteers, community groups, students and anyone else who wants to find out about different ways of communicating a biodiversity-related message. Anyone can attend the event, but priority will be given to organisations in Derbyshire, or who are already part of the LBAP Partnership.