Under 5's Messy Play launches at the paper garden
I first visited the Paper Garden when it was inside the Printworks. I attended a community celebration with my two children. We had a great time making pizzas and sawing wood. I thought to myself, what a wonderful place to have so close to home. I instantly knew this was something I wanted to be a part of and I got speaking to the Paper Garden Manager. She told me there was a job opening for a Youth Coordinator and that I should apply for it. I applied and after interviewing, I was offered the job.
What connected me to the Paper Garden was the nature and community work aspect of it all. I have always had a passion for working with young people and families and the community in general.
I’m a local mum living in the area, and I knew I would love to offer more to the community and I was in a position now to do so. I started with the Generator programme working with young people in the local area. Eventually, alongside this, we managed to source funding to run my own Under 5’s Nature Explorers Club. This has been one of my biggest goals to do, because it is so fundamental to be able to offer a safe green space to families who don't have access to a garden.
The sessions have been a great hit with many families in the area. We have been exploring sensory play, using our touch, smell and sight. Sensory play has encouraged learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. The garden has been in full swing, planting and potting, watering and lots of wheelbarrow fun! Our amazing mud kitchen has been very popular in making mud pies. We have also explored making homemade paint, nature photo frames, ice paints and using dry foods to design our easter egg cards.
The Under 5's Nature Explorers club has helped form relationships, find support, and for families and carers to connect with their children and each other.
Here are some quotes from some of the families after attending the sessions so far:
“Afii we are so grateful for this club you have created”
“I have been telling all my friends to come because this is just a great space” “I can’t believe this is on our doorstep, it’s so much fun”
“The kids love coming every week”
I hope here at the Paper Garden we can keep offering versatile sessions to local families in the community.
Notes from the Garden
I wake to a bright crisp winter’s day. Finally … after weeks of storms ravaging the country.
As the year ends we are reminded of the magic and beauty that our gardens bring, as places to come together and celebrate, even in difficult times. This year it has been challenging not to be taken over by fear and despair, with extreme weather events being mirrored in different ways across the world, from floods to droughts; with the most recent political events; with wars destroying land and displacing entire populations; and with the constant increase in the cost of living creating ever more inequalities between those that have and those that do not.