Sensory Adventures in Lockdownland is our umbrella term for the different projects we've undertaken in 2020 responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, each funded from a different source.
I am immensely grateful for these opportunities, not only to serve our local community and the national (and international) community of families, carers and education professionals supporting some of our most physically and emotionally vulnerable children through such strange times, but to be able to continue to work after losing all our planned touring work for 2020. These projects support my family too, financially and with lots of joy, silly, and creativity. Thank you a million, and stay safe and well.
Julia
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Julia
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Project One: Toddington Village Sensory Trails Inclusive sensory walking trails and activities for my local community. Funded by Farnham Maltings via the Making Theatre in Extraordinary Times programme.
The project went live on the 9th of April, with the first trail becoming active on the 25th of April; the whole project will run for around 9 weeks, possibly longer depending on Lockdown conditions and local needs. Trails include one for early years children around the centre of the village exploring songs, stories and rhymes; a village-wide Pokemon trail, with a treasure hunt element and a weekly physical activity for families to try on a local green space; and a local history trail for those aged 7+. All trails follow social distancing rules, and support family wellbeing and mental health during their 1-hour per day of outdoor exercise. |
In addition, I've been dressing as a giant social distancing unicorn and visiting the local school to entertain the children of keyworkers, as well as visiting children having Lockdown birthdays or just in need of cheering up. Visits involve power ballads, bubbles and lots of galloping - neuroscience shows that people experiencing depression can lack vertical movement to shake up their brains and inner chemistry, so galloping is the perfect antidote!
The project has involved: the local Parish Council, Toddington Community Garden, Toddington St George School, Parkfields School, local businesses - including Childs' Bakers, Bistro Twenty Four, and Delicious Shakes & Deserts, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust, and Shaw Farming, plus all the families hosting Pokemon in the windows of their homes for children to spot - currently there are over 70 to find, aiming for 100 next!
The project has involved: the local Parish Council, Toddington Community Garden, Toddington St George School, Parkfields School, local businesses - including Childs' Bakers, Bistro Twenty Four, and Delicious Shakes & Deserts, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust, and Shaw Farming, plus all the families hosting Pokemon in the windows of their homes for children to spot - currently there are over 70 to find, aiming for 100 next!
Packs include the sensory story for each production, Story Massage outlines, and ideas for sensory art activities to extend the experience.
Suitable for early years and a wide variety of SEND needs, including PMLD. We've had lots of contact from previous audiences keen to relive their theatre experience when the packs are ready, as well as interest from new audiences too. Both productions are available now: Click here. |
Project Two: Interactive Sensory Story Discovery Packs for
Crabby & Be Not Afeard Funded by The Library Presents, Cambridgeshire, two of our productions - Crabby and Be Not Afeard will become video sensory stories with resource packs available for free download. These will enable families/residential settings/schools to follow the stories via pre-recorded video to create their own mini versions of our show. 
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Project Three: Socially-distanced Museum Trails
During Lockdown, we were asked to share some of our practice with colleagues across the Arts and Culture sectors via an online seminar produced and hosted by the Family Arts Campaign; we've been proudly Fantastic For Families since 2016. As a result of this, we were invited by the Family Programmes Team at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to produce and graphic design two socially-distanced sensory activity trails in their grounds as part of their re-opening plans. The trails make use of the site's landscaping and architecture, objects from the museum's collections, and maritime history to engage children in sensory activities and movement games. The trails have been designed to help families feel safe in the grounds and to animate them through play, to feel connected to each other, and to find ways to experience calm at a time when getting out and about can still feel scary and difficult. For more information see here - now available to families for free during October half term. |
Project Four: Strings and Things
Mainspring Arts, supported by AOK Trust, has very generously commissioned us to write a suite of sensory stories to support people with a broad range of needs in processing their experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic and, specifically, the mental health challenges of living in Lockdown. These resources are FREE and can be accessed HERE.
The suite is called 'Strings & Things' and comprises of 6 stories plus Story Massages, accompanied by original songs and sound effects, and uses the very simplest of resources in order to ensure barriers to participation are minimised. It's immensely hard for some families, residential settings, early years settings and schools to be able to access resources at the moment, so almost everything that's needed is made from strings...and things!
The stories have a dramatic style, placing the narrator/facilitator in role to create shared magical first-person adventures, from talking to astronauts on the moon to storm-chasing in Tornado Alley, or, visiting a wildlife hospital to time-travelling to meet King Cnut.
Each adventure focuses on two contrasting concepts and the stories explore these in relation to living in Lockdown; we recognise that for many medically vulnerable people the Lockdown will continue for much longer than it may do for others, and we need to find creative ways to support the exhaustion, isolation, anxiety and frustration this may cause. The concepts will be:
Near & Far - Released 18th May 2020
Caged & Free - Released 25th May 2020
Bitter & Sweet - Released 1st June 2020
Time & Tide - Released 9th June 2020
Rain & Sun - Released 15th June 2020
Stop & Go
The stories are written with the wellbeing needs of caregivers, family members, or education professionals in mind alongside those of the people they love, care for, and/or teach: we're all in this together.
The stories will be released one at a time over a series of weeks and will build into a single resource, starting from the 18th May 2020.
About the music of Strings & Things
Almost all stories feature an original song, recorded in non-studio conditions under Lockdown, that are designed to fit solidly within conventions of specific genres such as country-rock, Europop, etc. The ambition is to re-record them with proper studio vocals at a point in the future when funding and social distancing regulations allow. Scroll down to see the lyric videos for each of the tracks.
With thanks to George Stergiou for the musical arrangement of 'Heart Of The Dove'; Mark Harding for mixing 'Heart Of The Dove'; And, James Kerry for the musical arrangement of 'We're Going To Tell A Tale' and 'The Tale That Was Told'.
Mainspring Arts, supported by AOK Trust, has very generously commissioned us to write a suite of sensory stories to support people with a broad range of needs in processing their experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic and, specifically, the mental health challenges of living in Lockdown. These resources are FREE and can be accessed HERE.
The suite is called 'Strings & Things' and comprises of 6 stories plus Story Massages, accompanied by original songs and sound effects, and uses the very simplest of resources in order to ensure barriers to participation are minimised. It's immensely hard for some families, residential settings, early years settings and schools to be able to access resources at the moment, so almost everything that's needed is made from strings...and things!
The stories have a dramatic style, placing the narrator/facilitator in role to create shared magical first-person adventures, from talking to astronauts on the moon to storm-chasing in Tornado Alley, or, visiting a wildlife hospital to time-travelling to meet King Cnut.
Each adventure focuses on two contrasting concepts and the stories explore these in relation to living in Lockdown; we recognise that for many medically vulnerable people the Lockdown will continue for much longer than it may do for others, and we need to find creative ways to support the exhaustion, isolation, anxiety and frustration this may cause. The concepts will be:
Near & Far - Released 18th May 2020
Caged & Free - Released 25th May 2020
Bitter & Sweet - Released 1st June 2020
Time & Tide - Released 9th June 2020
Rain & Sun - Released 15th June 2020
Stop & Go
The stories are written with the wellbeing needs of caregivers, family members, or education professionals in mind alongside those of the people they love, care for, and/or teach: we're all in this together.
The stories will be released one at a time over a series of weeks and will build into a single resource, starting from the 18th May 2020.
About the music of Strings & Things
Almost all stories feature an original song, recorded in non-studio conditions under Lockdown, that are designed to fit solidly within conventions of specific genres such as country-rock, Europop, etc. The ambition is to re-record them with proper studio vocals at a point in the future when funding and social distancing regulations allow. Scroll down to see the lyric videos for each of the tracks.
With thanks to George Stergiou for the musical arrangement of 'Heart Of The Dove'; Mark Harding for mixing 'Heart Of The Dove'; And, James Kerry for the musical arrangement of 'We're Going To Tell A Tale' and 'The Tale That Was Told'.