Tails on the Playing Field (2014-06-30)

It was a nice evening so we decided o meet on the playing field.

People played, climbed and ran around until we held our News Circle: Oliver made a wooden knife at District Camp; so did Daniel; Lena went for a walk in the woods with her cousins on Sunday; Polly made a new friend at camp; Izzy borrowed Minty the squirrel from Beth; Freya got loom bands on Saturday; Matilda made friends with Beth and Talia at camp where her sister was sick six times; Nia had No News; Rana went skateboarding with Rayan; Rayan has loom bands; Emily made animal poos out of clay on camp; Millie got a Syrian hamster two weeks ago called Star who is white with beige on her head; Debbie sold her handicrafts at the Pegasus Jamboree craft fair; Flora went on the Pioneer walk on camp which was really wet and long and then was not well and had to come home; Connie went for a walk at the cousin's new house and swam in the river; Millie-Maye went to Xanthe's house today and has started at the Unicorn School where there is a girl called Lily-May which is confusing for the teacher; Xanthe sung sea shanties Ahoy! Sing for the Mary Rose at the Town hall as part of the Magdalen College School Arts Festival; Joe went to Rahan's house on Sunday; Ivo has a wobbly tooth; Dylan played football in the rain at District Camp and didn't care, the rain gave him a private swimming pool in his tent; Pip tripped and grazed his knee; Rafiq showed us his amazing starship made from a bionical; Tim lit the campfire at camp from soaking wood in heavy rain.

We played a game of Tails.

We held a Circle where Emily explained that we were going to send a thankyou letter to the Scouts at Horley for letting us use their campsite,

and eat the popcorn she had made.

People did handstands and cartwheels.

We played a game of Octopus.

We held our Closing Circle and surprised the parents by finishing early, so people hung around and played in the bushes.

Leaders: Debbie, Rana, Emily, Tim
Elfins: 19

District Camp (2014-06-27)

District Camp was at Horley Scout Camp again.

On Friday night we settled in and had a fire after the children were in bed.

On Saturday we went for a walk, and it rained heavily. We got back for lunch which we held in the marquee.

We had to pitch a couple of new tents due to leaks.

The weather cleared and we did activities: we saw had a talk from the amazing Amate Animalia (Love Animals) who showed us some of the exotic pets they have rescued including a fruit bat, a skunk, snakes, chameleons, spiders, African hedgehogs and a baby meerkat.

We did whittling, clay modelling, wool weaving and willow sculpture.

After supper we had a Merrymoot and Campfire (lit in the rain!), which I sadly missed as Flora had to be driven home with a temperature, though I got back for the staff fire.

Sunday morning dawned fair.

After breakfast we carried on with activities and went on the Wide Game, though we lost a family due to sickness.

The theme of the Wide Game was Roal Dahl stories.

We met Violet Beauregarde.

Who had to be de-juiced

by the Ooompa Loompas.

We met Mrs Twitt

and had to retrieve rice krispies from Mr Twitt's beard.

We had to rescue something from Matilda's porridge before the Trunchbull came and caught us.

We met Charlie Button and found the Golden Tickets.

We helped the cricket find his teeth, though he then threatened to eat us!

Finally Mr and Mrs Fox gave us sweets!

We then went and packed up our tents, finished our activities and had lunch before Closing Circle.

The Sunny Sunday made up for the very wet Saturday.

Parachute Games (2014-06-23)

We started the session with some running around until there was a call for Octopus which was led by Emily.

We held our News Circle: Polly is going to the beach on Saturday; Natty is going by ship to the Isle of Wight to stay in a house near the beach; Morrigan went to Tuesday School and Toddlers group; Xanthe made sweets oand went swimming on Sunday; Millie-Maye is going to the Unicorn School tomorrow; Flora and Connie gave joint news: they went to Florence Park Eightieth Birthday Festival and with Connie's cousin Flora had six goes at naming a giant fluffy hedgehog which they won by naming him Spike when his name was Spiky; Louise made a date cake; Jay brought his sister's giant frizby; Rafiq's kitten ate his news; John went to the Tandem Festival and found a four leaf clover but lost three things but the good luck was he got a free icecream which was not for sale; Daniel went to London; Oliver rode a pony at Florence Park Festival; Arran could not remember his news; Emily has Tayberries and Raspberries on her allotment; Molly's class did a treasure hunt and found chocolate coins; Izzy went to London for her grandad's birthday; Imogen went to a festival and got a hair braid; Ivo had a haircut on Sunday; Kique is getting a kitten; Dylan brought a book of all his football stickers; Joe's sister is having her birthday in two days; Tim went to Florence Park Festival and was behind the man who got the last beefburger.

We discussed whether to play Parachute games inside or out and decided that Shark Attack and Washing Machine would not work well outside. We all had at least one go at Washing Machine and Joe's shout for Mushroom was "everyone holding a parachute".

We had a quick play outside.

We came back in for a circle and sang Little Rabbit Froo Froo before holding our Closing Circle.

Leaders: Tim, Emily
Helper: Louise
Elfins: 20
Woodchip: 1

Campfire Cooking (2014-06-16)

Everyone arrived promptly, we numbered off, though were not very good at it, so will have to practice.

We walked to Jack Straw's Lane.

We collected wood and made a fire, Magnus decided we needed a log to sit on.

Tim cooked pop corn and then Emily cooked the tortillas, which Lisbeth and Ranna spread with jam.

We ate strawberries and marshmallows. A big dog came and made a fuss, although some were scared he did behave himself. Matilda slipped into the river and got wet to her middle, but she was quickly rescued by Morrigan's Dad. She was very upset but everyone was very kind.

We tidied up and doused the fire.

We walked back to school, so slowly that the faster ones were calling the last ones slowcoaches from the school gates.

We finally held our Closing Circle, sorry to the parents who were kept waiting.

Leaders: Tim, Ranna, Emily
Helpers: Lisbeth, Zoe, Patience, Morrigan's Dad
Elfins: 26
Pioneers: 2

Scrap Models and Paper Planes (2014-06-09)

Whilst people arrived I collected the last District Camp forms Ranna led a game of Octopus.

We held our Circle News: Connie's Mum is back from hospital after a an operation which mad three holes in her, one for the camera, she is well! Imogen has some new clothes; Iona watched TV on Saturday; Millie-Maye had her birthday and Xanthe gave her a Build-a-Bear called Lotte; Xanthe went to a Hedgehog talk by Hugh Warwick; Rayan decorated a cake and the flat for her Mum's birthday; Izzy has a Restaurant Week at school and on Thursday will feed the grown-ups African food; Matilda went to her Dad's baseball barbecue and ate two much cake; Lena is going to visit old friends who have moved away and is staying over night; Freya's grandparents brought around some friends who have adopted an African foundling; Yasmine has a new Kitten; Polly went to the beach on holiday; Ranna really enjoyed her birthday, she also has to go to hospital for an operation; Molly had an Egyptian day at school and they had egyptian activities including making a pyramid; Kique is going to have an extension to the house; Oliver's grandad from New York came to stay; John went to Oliver's Dad's birthday party; Joe is looking after a cat for three months; Louise went to the outdoor pool at Hinksey; Dylan is backing Italy in the FIFA world cup; Arran made slime, a slime T shirt and mask; Zoe made a film of the Divestment March; Pip told us how he had defaced some pictures of footballers and Harry Styles; Rafiq hurt his foot cycling; Jay has the same shoes as John; Ivo is getting into the football sticker craze at school; Natty brought in a shield to show; Tim went on Camp with Connie, Flora and Ellie.

Al, who organized the Fossil Free Future session has sent in this petition. Zoe toook a video of the demo.

We had a brief discussion of the options and it was decided to go straight to the making, with the option of flying paper aeroplanes outside.

Everyone got very creative with the junk modelling.

We held our closing circle.

Leaders: Tim, Ranna
Helpers: Zoe, Louise
Woodchips: 1
Elfins: 25

Fossil Free Future (2014-05-19)

Whilst people arrived Debbie led the choosing and playing of Dead Ants.

A lot of people attended, but we still held a News Circle, even though Tim had forgotten the biscuits! Tessa went badger watching in Wytham Woods on Friday; Iona played football yesterday; Feya went strawberry picking on Saturday; so did Rayan; Izzy went to a great party for her dad in a barn; Lena helped at the Wallingford Food Festival; Kique had No News; Ivo had a nose bleed in karate and has a Messi football sticker (very rare); Joe did a fourteen lap fun run in Cutteslowe Park; Xanthe played croquet; Millie-Maye is excited that her birthday is soon and may have her ears pierced; Connie's brother's toe nail fell off at Dancing; Millie planted carrots in her own vegetable patch; Debbie showed us the skirt she made for Millie, she is now making a dress; Al is starting a new job tomorrow; John went to Wood Festival; so did Mati who got three glitter tattoos; Imogen climbed a tree in flip-flops and slipped and scraped her ankle; Molly watched Frozen and sang us 'Let it go' supported by Natty; Arran is back from his travels in Sri Lanka where he stroked a baby elephant and Morocco where he played with wild baby tortoises; Jay played football on Saturday; Daniel got crystals from Wood Festival; Oliver listened to music and got a wooden sword at Wood Festival; Ellen, a District Fellow at Oxford University, joined us to tell us about climate change; Dylan is up in arms that the line painters have painted a rounders pitch on the football pitch at school; Magnus went to Wood Festival and chipped wood which was as exciting as watching teachers do maths; Natty brought in a Speckled Wood butterfly he had caught; Polly showed us a model dog in its home which she bought at Wood Festival; Matilda went to her cousin's and then to the London Aquarium and hopes to go to the London Eye for her birthday treat; Pip met a creeper, a spider and a skeleton for the first time in Minecraft; Tim is tired due to staying up too late doing a parquet floor.

We discussed whether to play outside or do our tee shirts and which to do first. There was a rush for outside.

We came back in and Ellen led a session on Climate Change.

Tim gave out the Tee Shirts from last week, please wear them if you go to the March on May 31st, meeting at Radcliffe Camera.

We held our Closing Circle.

Leaders: Ellen, Tim, Debbie
Helpers: Al, Lizbeth
Elfins: 24
Pioneers: 2

Tee Shirt Making (2014-05-12)

We played Dead Ants as people arrived.

We held a News Circle: Flora made a house for a Fimo creature she made; Connie has been making a Minpin house; Rayan is now at level four in swimming; Ranna is pleased that Rayan now has a bike; Daniel went to the cinema on Saturday; Olly had two friends over after school and they went to the park; Annie, a pioneer, joined us as a helper; Xanthe had her ears pierced last Monday; Debbie made Millie a skirt; Millie is going to do Sleeping Beauty at Ballet with Xanthe; Izzy went to Pizza Express for her mum's birthday and went to a museum; Lena went to the library on Saturday; Kike did a back flip from the sofa; Matilda had her cast off today; Rafiq's cat has had kittens and his tooth came out whilst he was eating a drumstick; Joe demonstrated that he has learnt to do the Worm dance move; Ivo has been studying Anthony Brown's book Into the Forest and he was picked to read out his blurb; Nia has no news; Molly went to Dancing on Saturday; Natty has a Sling Rocket which he showed us; Freya watched a film; Imogen showed us a toy; John went to see Annie Stanton at the Story Museum; Al is organising the Fossil Free Future demonstration; Jude went to the Park with a friend; Dylan had no news; Jay has an Olympic sweat band; Molly has started Rainbow Loom bands; Tessa went to the goldfish bowl and bought two goldfish: Waves and Aqua; Iona had a desk tidy and had to give some stuff away; Tim used all his compost in a new flowerbed.

We decided to play a game of Octopus before starting on the Tee Shirts.

We held a circle to give out the shirts and crayons. Tim explained that the Woodcraft Logo should probably feature and that crayons would have to be shared as we did not have enough for everyone to have their own set.

We held a Song Circle and sang Little Bunny Foo Foo, Black and White, Bumble Bee before launching into Charlie was a Pigeon and a rousing Closing Circle Song.

Leaders: Tim, Debbie, Ranna
Helpers; Jeff, Annie
Elfins: 23
Woodchip: 1