Under 5s Out and About is a well-loved community group open to all young children and their families. It meets in all weathers at the entrance to Reffley Wood in Kings Lynne. The group started when parent volunteer, Amy Ranger teamed up with a newly qualified member of staff from her local Children’s Centre. They were looking to help set up a new community project as part of their training and Amy suggested that they try starting up an outdoor parent-child group.
Amy explains: “My daughter, Olivia, was 18 months old at the time. She had really enjoyed attending the local ‘prams in the park’ and other outdoor events but there weren’t any regular outdoor activity groups meeting in the area.” Amy then began work with the children’s centre to organise a regular outdoor meet-up. She adds: “We wanted to do something different – something that didn’t involve technology or the usual toys in a church hall.”
With no budget and no resources, they contacted the Woodland Trust to ask if they could meet in the nearby woods and were happy to be given permission to use the space. Just 15 people attended the first session, which Amy created around the theme of ‘nature detectives’. For 12 weeks, she worked with the children’s centre, hosting one meet-up each month.
Each month, Amy picks a theme – recent examples have included frogs, gingerbread men, and winter woodlands – and then builds a host of activities around the idea. She says: “I always include a walk and at least one craft activity.”
Most craft activities make use of free, natural resources from the forest itself such as bird feeders made from pinecones and a group weaving made using fallen leaves and twigs. Amy has been working with several local businesses to help fund the sessions and purchase more equipment. Parents also make voluntary donations at the end of each session, although most of the planned events are still free.
A grant from the local church group helped to pay for Amy’s public liability insurance and a nearby business, West Norfolk Glass, has agreed to help with printing trail materials and leaflets. The company has also donated £100, which she will use to buy a trolley for the group.
Support from the community has also meant that Amy has been able purchase a set of bug-hunting equipment, which will be useful for several sessions in the future, including the recent ‘insect adventure’ trail. The insect adventure walk included a bug hunt using magnifying glasses and bug pots, a bug hotel made inside an old tree stump and crafts including printing and making insects using wooden pegs.
The local community has been instrumental in the group’s success. As well as the financial grants, Amy receives support in the form of donated materials including wool, cardboard and other items. She says: “We have people of all ages joining in, from new parents with prams to older people with grandchildren.”
Older children are welcome to join in with the events during school holidays. Amy has also received help from the ’s Norfolk subcommittee, which helps by providing additional staffing for busy events, such as the Easter egg trail.
Amy believes that the outdoors sessions help teach children to value the world around them. “I hope to teach children to respect nature while they are enjoying the space. I like to think that if they learn the joy of these spaces that they won’t grow up to be destructive teenagers in the future.”