Crafty Behaviour 2019

There was lots of fun, new things to learn and stunning creations on show when 32 Play & Childcare workers attended BAND’s ‘Get Inspired – Crafty Ideas’ training day at St. Werburgh’s Community Centre, in March.
The day ran as a ‘round robin’ so all participants were able to take part in the 3 x 1¼ hours workshops on offer:

• Kite Making & Wind Wands led by Guy from The APE Project. Participants used simple construction techniques and readily available basic materials to produce a fantastic range of technicolour flying wonders, guaranteed to have them running into the wind!
• Animation led by Elizabeth from BAND. Participants used Plasticine, toys & props, free download software and materials to create wonderful short stop-motion videos. Finished pieces ranged from space adventures to snowy heartbreakers – we think Aardman will be keeping an eye on this.
• Block Printing with Rachel from The APE Project. Using simple printing blocks with easily available materials, tools and inks participants produced a glorious array of prints and designs.

Best part of the day? – ‘being able to do it all for ourselves and get a feel for the activities’, ‘whole course very creative, the knowledge was very useful for working with children’, ’everything was very interesting, I learned so much’.

BAND’s Craft Skills training courses aim to offer Play & Childcare workers access to a range art/craft activities that can be delivered and developed/adapted in settings to children of all ages and abilities with appropriate levels of adult preparation and supervision. Getting 30-40 Childcare & Playworkers together for a Craft Skills training day always creates a great ‘buzz’ with workers firing ideas off each other and networking.

BAND’s thanks go to The Tony & Audrey Watson Charitable Trust who funded the training day in March. We are fundraising to be able to deliver more Craft Skills training events later in the year but would love to know what activities you’d like to see on offer. Please email any suggestions to: training@bandltd.org.uk using the subject ‘Crafty Ideas’.