The June Recap: Newsletter 01/07/24

Pinch punch first of the month... Hello July!!!

And hello sunshine!! Oh how alive the world feels with a spot of solar energy, blue skies and a little less grey. So long has it been raining on all of the plants, that now that it has (temporarily) stopped, the explosion of green is quite extraordinary. Even though there may still be plenty hours of grey, us three feel hugely grateful for the warmth we've been feeling recently and hope you've found time to step outside to enjoy it too.

Strawberry season is in full sweet force - look out for cherries, redcurrants and raspberries as our seasonal fruits this month too!

What we've been up to at Ways of the Wild this month:

>> June's Foraging Walk

June hosted our first Adult-only Workshop: a Foraging Walk with our resident plant mama, Katie.

We took to the hill mounds and pathways of Burgess Park to begin our journey into plant knowing. Starting with an introduction into the Honourable Harvest to ensure that we're foraging with our hearts, we followed our curiosities to meet many floral friends.

The Walk finished with some well-deserved cold drinks and food from the park's lovely cafe, a few hugs from some friendly dogs, and some Wes Anderson-inspired videography. It was a great start to what will hopefully be a well-loved addition to our Ways of the Wild Offerings.

>> Wild Celebrations!

This month we celebrated Margot's 6th birthday, Ella's 4th birthday and Ashton's 5th birthday. Each party was filled with scavenger hunts, fizzy games, pond dipping and clay! We made fairy clay houses for Ella's, decorating with shells, petals and sticks. Margot's friends made clay art plaques to jazz up bedrooms or gardens. It was fishing for frogs and making rafts with Ashton and his friends, ending in a Very Serious Fairy Wedding complete with dock seed confetti and clay wedding rings...

Happy Birthday to you all!

If your little one loves the outdoors, please get in touch to discuss forest school party options :) 

>> Father's Day Special & Nature's Palette Community Picnic

Unfortunately we didn't have enough people booked onto these events to be able to run them which is part and parcel of being a small business. It is always a good way for us to find out what people are and are not interested in.

That said, we would still love to host the Nature's Palette workshop (leaning how to extract paints and dyes from plants and minerals) in the future so if you are interested then please let us know! It's a lot of fun and is as captivating for children as it is for adults. Here's a little snippet from a previous Nature's Palette workshop:

What's happening at Ways of the Wild in July?

>> 7th July - July's Foraging Walk

The first Sunday of the month is Foraging day. Join Katie and the gang out on another wild wander through Burgess Park to open the door to the world of plant magic!

>> 28th July - Once Upon A Time - Community Picnic

Join us for a magical community picnic designed to ignite your creativity and nurture your inner author...

Empowering Young Authors: When Esme wrote her book "Through the Eyes of a Tree" it inspired her to encourage more young writers to believe they can write; at school she was told that she wasn't very good but she had a wild imagination and still does!

We will also be joined by Darcey, our talented leader of the workshop's singing circle! Darcey, an artist and singer, will guide us in uplifting melodies that celebrate creativity and self-expression.

No prior writing or singing experience required—just bring your wild imagination, your playfulness and some curiosity!

>> 29th July - 3rd August - Summer Holiday Program: Wild Crafts

Finally! Our Summer Holiday Program arrives on the 29th July with this first week in wild crafts and creations.

We are excited to offer a season of creative workshops for your little ones (aged 5-11 years old) to dive into! Join us in the wood for an immersive summer of creativity and exploration as we journey through Forest School-inspired crafting sessions. Each day will feature a different craft, ranging from nature art, storytelling, wood crafts, natural dyes, clay work and den building.

We've updated our booking system so you will be able to select multiple dates at once. Choose a session, fill out the form, add the date to your cart and select 'continue browsing' to add more dates to your cart.

We are also offering some payment plans so have a look at those too!

For any assistance please don't hesitate to contact us. We are still working out what booking systems work best so we really appreciate your feedback as we want to make our website as easy to navigate as possible.

As always, thank you for your support and interest in what we do. We love all of the connections that we've been making and appreciate every single one of you!

And Finally....we would love to hear from you! We are looking for some testimonials to put on our new website. If you or your child has been positively impacted by our events, please send us your quotes to hello@waysofthewilduk.com

Have a wonderful July <3