Holiday Clubs our Top 10 Days Out in Brighton, Hove & Ditchling

Our holiday clubs run in Brighton, Hove & Ditchling all year round (except Christmas where Santa gifts us a little break!). The days are so much fun for both kids and the staff! Full of fresh air, play, friendships and laughter all outdoors in green spaces. We've run so many different activities with so many great kids, rain or shine, that it's hard to pick our favourites but here's a little snapshot of some top moments. If you'd like to know more about the format of the day, how to book, timings and costs then please click HERE. 

Easter Egg Special

We love the changing of the seasons and being outdoors all year round! By Easter Spring has Sprung, flowers are beginning to bloom, birds start nesting and the Easter Bunny is about doing its rounds to help celebrate! In our Easter special we make time for chocolate egg hunts, nature scavenger hunts, crafts and games. We divide the kids up into groups with their friends and set them off following the bunny around the park on a hunt to find their teams coloured cubes. The more they work as a team and find cubes, the more they could cash in for choccy eggs at the end, yum! 

Water Day

This is a summertime favourite, especially in August time! We get out the giant slip n slide and the kids get a chance to slide are far as possible either with the giant inflatables or without! We also fill up the super soakers and have a giant water battle, naturally the instructors always seem to come off worse! Then plenty of energetic games to dry off in time for home. 

NERFEGEDDON 

NERF is a popular choice especially with the slightly older boys & girls. A younger, safer version of paintball. Using soft foam darts and playing tactical games such like capture the flag or team battles. The kids get to play out some serious action roles as they duck and dive in and out of trees, high fiving teamates and protecting their base from invasion! We keep it lighthearted and fun with plenty of breaks for woodland games in between rounds. 

Campfire Cookout

Nothing beats a bit of outdoors cooking round the campfire! We like to keep it simple with tasty treats that the kids can learn and remember for their next camping trip. S'mores, dough twists, toffee apples, pineapple cinnamon, mexican hot chocolate, the list goes on. We like stuff that gets the kids excited to sit round the camp fire, toast their food and chat with each other; feeling the magic of how a fire brings people together! We also like options with plenty of alternatives for those with dietary requirements and allergies so all are included and can achieve making something special. 

Nettle Tea Brewing 

Our members try out a range of bush craft and survival skills at the clubs. One of our favourites has to be showing the kids how to pick nettles and brew them into a healthy vitamin C packed tea! Definitely not something most kids are used to and its nice for them to understand a little more about the many uses of different plants and demistify the stinging nettle, turning it into a plant with many values rather than something to avoid! In this club we introduced the kids to the storm kettle and some fire lighting techniques and safety. We donned the gloves, picked some nettles and then boiled them using water made from the storm kettle. Mixed reactions to the tea of course with some big thumbs up and some down but you tried something new and learnt a lot on the way, thats the real reward!

Minecraft vs Wildcraft Day 

We well know the draw to screens and video games is a strong one. Some of the latest games are really fun to play and so immersive that it's hard to pull yourself away. We want to try and help find that screen time vs nature time healthy balance! Rather than viewing video games as a negative, we see it as a positive way to engage the kids interest and imagination outdoors. So you've built a village and tools in the minecraft universe? Very impressive! Now how about we try our hand at building a shelter in the woods a bit like in your virtual village? Lets build a bow & arrow, fencing, tools, bowls, wells for water too? The limit is you imagination! Lets give it a try and all this time spent outdoors lifting wood, building shelters, crafting in the fresh air is really helping our physical and mental wellbeing too! A perfect combination of imagination, fresh air and teamwork.   

Harry Potter Witches & Wizards Day 

Similar to our interest in the video game world we also love our books and stories! Stories have connected us for generations, sharing them round the camp fire and engaging the imagination on so many levels! It's only natural that one of our favourites is Harry Potter and there is so much magic to be found in the woodland world. We show the kids some basic whittling techniques using peelers and we craft our own magic wands together from freshly cut hazel. Once they are sanded, decorated and have their official magical elements its time to cast our pretronus spells in a game of dementor tag. After this we grab our brooms and head down to the quidditch pitch! There may also be a chance for some potion making in the afternoon with severous snape! 

Bubble Wands & Circus Skills

This is a day full of fun & laughter! Our lead instructor Mook is shows off his circus skills and teaches the kids how to swing poi, balance spinning plates, throw & catch diablos, hula hoop and so much more. Plenty of diverse coordination skills and physical movement alongside play and trying new skills. After plenty of practise we take some time to sit down and craft our very own giant bubble wands. We experiment with blowing the biggest bubbles and of course chasing & popping them too! A lovely relaxed day where everyone tries something new and makes plenty of memories. 

Pokemon Adventures

A couple of our instructors grew up in the 90's and have fond memories of Pokemon themselves, so to see it becoming popular again excitedly gave us the inspiriation to combine our love of the outdoors with Pokemon! Pokemon has quite a few ties to nature with its elemental powers such as fire, water, grass, rock and a lot of pokemon are inspired by living creatures, so it gives us quite a bit to explore! We mix craft of making your own pokeballs and favourite pokemon with the energetic gameplay of our own game called Pokemon Stack Attack, which is based on a popular Indian street game called 'Lagori'. Before you know it the kids have learnt a game from a different culture, crafted and played all day in the woodland engaging the imagination and plenty of social skills. A big thumbs up from us! 

Annual Stick Championships 

A yearly event for us at The Outdoors Project where we host a variety of woodland games and skills in celebration of the humble stick! We work on our basic whittling skills by crafting a Viking baton which will be used in our Viking game of Kubb; a popular lawn game once played by the vikings and has a bit of a gruesome history which of course the kids love to hear about! Throughout the day each member has the chance to search the woodland and find a stick worthy of entering into the "best stick" competition. We have categories such as "most awesome, most beautiful, most powerful", where nominations are chosen and then the winner of "best stick" if crowned and gifted the coveted 'golden stick trophy'. All very tongue in cheek and good fun! We'll finish off with exploring why animals camoflauge, play with some camo paint and natural camo ourselves. Then the 'instructor hunt' will begin; where the some of instructors are hidden in the woodland camoflagued and the kids have to try and find them in teams! 

There are so many more days to choose from and even though we love some of the above themes, our members and staff will have their own favourites because of the different memories, experiences and friendships formed that makes them extra special. We have plenty more new activtity days outdoors to look forward too and we hope to see you out there, just bring your spirit of adventure! 

"My son has attended after school club Outdoors Project and holiday clubs for the last 3 years and is a massive fan! He recently celebrated his 10th birthday with an Outdoor Project party - it rocked. Organisation was super easy - takes place rain or shine and the kids had a riot. Thanks!!!!" Miriam W 2020.