The long, hot school summer holidays end this week in a rush of sorting pencil cases, squeezing sun-kissed feet into new shoes and the shock of trying to leave the house before 8.30am.
Early September can come as a mixture of regret and relief as the normal routine reasserts.
For children who love the long days of freedom but find some parts a tiny bit boring, there were many holiday sessions to entice them off screens and into hands-on activities.
One project which has run throughout the six-week holidays in Eastbourne is a collaboration between the Grow Eastbourne community allotment and garden project, and the prestigious art gallery Towner Eastbourne.
More than 100 children from five to 16 took part in creative open-air workshops with renowned ceramic artist Katie Spragg on Grow Eastbourne’s two sites: a garden near Langney Community Centre and the allotment at Gorringe Road.
It was part of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, funded by the Government, for families who receive benefits-related free school meals.
The final session, in late August, was at the allotment, looking at sensory aspects of nature as Katie showed the children how to make bells to hang at the site and catch the breeze.
Starting with a simple cube of solid clay, they rolled, pummelled, imprinted leaves, painted and carefully threaded wire to create the bells, which will be fired in a kiln and glazed.
A child’s eye view
(Names of all children have been changed)
It was Ben’s second time at the allotment. The ten-year-old was ahead of Katie’s instructions on moulding the clay because he remembered doing it at school.
“It’s one of my favourite things, clay,” said Ben, as he expertly worked on the round lump, quickly shaping it with his thumb into a bowl shape.
Mason, 13, said he loved being at the allotment because it was outdoors: “It’s so much fun”.
Knowledgeable Finley, 12, noticed the abundance of tomatoes, courgettes and raspberries growing on the plot. “We have some of these in my garden,” he declared.
Jack, a six-year-old livewire, sat on a tree stump and paused briefly for thought when asked what he thought of the allotment. After looking around, he said: “Interesting! I mean, there’s a spooky tree there,” pointing to the stark outline of some leafless branches.
Five-year-old Ava carefully balanced tomatoes, purple runner beans and a green pepper in her cupped hands, still marked with streaks of red clay.
She said: “We eat lots of vegetables. I like them because my mum likes them. The clay was good. It was nice and squidgy to play with. I like the way it was a bowl to start with.”
And six-year-old Sara said her favourite part was peeling the leaf off after painting so you could see the shape left in the clay.
On cue, Mother Nature dropped an apple right into the middle of the picnic rug as the children sat in a brief interlude of calm, chewing their vegetable wraps for lunch.
The artist
Katie Spragg, who is a tutor at the Royal College of Art, uses clay combined with animation and installation. She’s interested in exploring our relationship with nature, how humans and plants co-exist and how nature thrives beyond the ways we try to order it.
Katie’s mission to show appreciation for nature in urban spaces seems apt at the Eastbourne locations.
At Langney, six sessions were on the green space opposite the community centre where volunteers with Grow Eastbourne, which is funded by the National Lottery, are creating a circular garden, near blocks of flats and a housing estate.
And two of the sessions have been at the project’s community allotment Gorringe Road, complete with greenhouse, polytunnel, summerhouse, rows of sweetcorn and tomatoes, plants dripping with peppers and mounds of raspberry bushes.
Katie said: “Working outside definitely changes the dynamic. There are no barriers, so being in the space with plants and nature means the children can go and grab something.
“At Langney, they drew a map and made models of what they would like to see in a community garden. There were things like a mud kitchen and a water slide!
“There have been moments of great focus and then wildness. It’s felt like they have responded really well and it seems like they were having fun.
“I’m always pleasantly surprised by children’s capacity to engage with big subjects – I have really enjoyed it.”
Sally Lee, Grow Eastbourne project co-ordinator, said: “The sessions were magnificent! It was a total delight watching the kids revel in harvesting and eating food at the allotment.”
:: In East Sussex, there were 80 providers running HAF sessions for children this summer. After expanding across the country last year, the Government has pledged to invest more than £200 million a year in the scheme from this year until 2024.
The Government says that research shows school holidays can be difficult for some low-income families who may be less likely to go to out-of-school activities and could face social isolation.
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I can’t think of a more useful and natural way for children to experience nature. Both practical, educational and at a less conscious level formative for their future relationships to their environment. The piece is perfectly balanced with narrative and visuals … Brilliant …
Thank you so much for taking the time to write Brian – it means a lot! Best wishes, Rebecca