Spring Term '23 Report

What did we get up to at our after school clubs this term?

Our after school clubs feature different activities every week, from the high energy games of Nerf and Wide Games, to lower energy or static activities like our Roald Dahl's George's Marvelous Medicine-inspired potion making. Alongside these main activities is always a good playground game like Manhunt (Hide & Seek meets Tag) and Grandma's Footsteps, loved by kids and instructors alike.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the activities our young adventurers got up to in the spring term of 2023 at our after school clubs.

Welcome Week

We introduce the term's activities, rules of the club and then get straight to the fun stuff - Wild River crossing strategy game, Bottle Run & Shoe Detective

Focus areas: Exercise, Outdoors Play, Social Skills, Communication Skills

Session aims: Being playful about serious issues is important work. It may just be playing games on the surface but can teach so much more: social skills, interaction, strategy, bonding, teamwork, life skills, risk taking and friendships. Play is how children learn and have fun!

Deer Baubels

We'll be thinking about animals and making treats for our furry and not so furry friends. Deer Baubles are necklaces or tree hangings that you can leave outdoors for animals to snack on over the spring months to help sustain animal diets and health. You can also wear them and snack on them as trail mix when out on a walk or camping trip. Easy to make and handy in a survival situation too.

Focus areas: Nature, habitat, craft animal kingdom. Social & Community care & environmental

Session aims: A nature-based session discussing native animals, eating habits and the seasons. Using hand eye coordination & tools, make a simple reusable wildlife/child feeder. Positive environmental stewardship skills.

Wiggly Worms & Bug Hunts

We'll start with a craft-based activity - bringing to life some wiggly worms using a household items & fun decorations. Then we investigate the wriggly & sometimes creepy creatures we can discover around the playground using our magnification pots.

Focus areas: Nature, environmental, hand eye coordination, art and craft, social

Session aims: Getting creative & crafty, and being amazed at the magic of bringing our worms to life. Learning more about the environment around us, how to be more sustainable and exploring our local playground wildlife.

Nerfageddon

Grab those Nerf blasters and let's play! This term we'll be running 2 weeks of Nerf - Week 1: Hunger Games, Week 2: Man Down

Focus areas: High & Low Energy Gameplay, Teamwork, Physical exercises, Nerf

Session aims: Teamwork, storytelling, imagination are important features of our Nerf sessions. We practise sportsmanship skills, understanding it's about having fun not necessarily the outcome as well as high physical activity, lots of running, ducking and dodging!

Shelter Build

Bushcraft shelter building inspired but ancient methods and modern skills, considering how to stay warm, dry, and crucially where to put your toilet, cinema & hot tub, when taking shelter in the wilderness

Focus areas: Bushcraft skills, Fire safety, Shelter Build, Teamwork, Coordination, Nature Play

Session aims: Connecting with some key ancestral survival skills. Teaching how to safely takerisks and understand how our natural environment supports this.

George's Marvellous Medicines - Potion Making

Bringing literature to life by exploring the book George Mavellous Medicines by Roald Dahl - Storytelling & Potion Making

Focus areas: Literature, science, tactile play, imagination, story telling

Session aims: Imagination, storytelling & roleplay help make learning new skills exciting, immerse us in the activity and create an atmosphere of adventure!

Randomiser

The power is in your hands. Choose wisely. Inside the Randomiser this time are 3 games - Tanks, The Grid, and Prey & Predator - which ones will we play? The power is in your hands!

Focus areas: Fun, teamwork, social, problem solving, hand eye coordination

Session aims: A bit of theatrics and fun! Keeping all games a surprise until a volunteer child chooses one and introduces it to the group. An emphasis on creativity, imagination, outdoors play, exercise, fun & games

Way of the Viking - Runestones & Code Breaker

Starting off with the Viking alphabet, it's up to the kids to see if they can break the code left behind by the Vikings. Then, 'what are runestones?', 'how were they used?' & 'let's make our own!'.

Focus areas: History, Vikings, traditions, art craft, hands-on learning

Session aims: Understand some of the history of the Vikings. Develop code-breaking logic skills, in a fun setting. Being creative and realising what we've learnt to create artifacts made from clay

Dr Seuss - Oobleck Slime Making

A nice & messy slime making session guaranteed to be gooey & gross. Set to Dr Seuss's famous story, "Bartholomew and the Oobleck"

Focus areas: Art and crafts, storytelling, literature, science, hand eye coordination

Session aims: A tactile, sensory activity, being creative and playful. Combining play with the context of a story/meaning/purpose, and learning that trying to control nature doesn't always go down well!

Wide Games

A huge range of mini games, from popular ones to something completely new: Ultimate Tag, Kick the can, Spiderman tag, Ferryman, Magic trees, Space ball & Zombie Apocalypse

Focus areas: Exercise, outdoors play, social skills, communication skills

Session aims: Being playful about serious issues is important work. It may just be playing games on the surface but can teach so much more: social skills, interaction, strategy, bonding, teamwork, life skills, risk taking and friendships. Play is how children learn and have fun!