Crafty Explorers - the next leg...

A great post by Daniel Raven Ellison summing up the huge effort that he, Helen and the team have made on the Crafty Explorers project since the start of the year.

Some details on the project for you, taken from Dan's blog:

Over the last few months I have been working with an outstanding team on Crafty Explorers, an innovative project to improve the health of children aged 5 and below. A response to the Knee High Project design challenge that is run by the Design Council and funded by Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, Crafty Explorers is a friendly and affordable place for families to make clay creatures.

The pop-up shop that we opened to trial our ideas in Nunhead (Southwark, south London) was a massive success. Parents reported that we were having a positive influence on the physical and mental health of their children, as well as helping them to connect with nature and learn new skills. Many families came back several times over the six weeks that we were open and a few visited us daily for periods. This is high street, popular and engaging “learning outside the classroom” and “fieldwork” that we have linked to local schools, but is independent of them.

The pilot shop is now closed, but the project lives on. This week we present our research, ideas and plans to the Knee High Project panels. With a blend of skill, hard work and luck we may just get through to the next stage of the design challenge. This will give us some added support to help bring Crafty Explorers to the next level.

Fingers crossed for the next stage of the challenge...

Crafty Explorers now open

The Geography Collective along with City Farmers and Explorer HQ have moved to the second stage of a Design Council competition for social enterprises called ‘Knee High’. The name refers to the age group which this project targets: pre-school children or those in Early Years.

The second phase of the competition has enabled the funding of a ‘pop-up shop’ or more accurately perhaps an activity centre which is located in the London Borough of Southwark, in an area called Nunhead, which is close to Peckham.

Nunhead Corner
26 Nunhead Lane
Southward
SE15 3QR

Dan Ellison and Helen Steer have worked amazingly hard to get the premises up and running in such a short time scale.

For five weeks, the shop is open the usual shop hours, and welcomes children of all ages, but particularly those who are young explorers and their parents.

The concept is really simple, and is beautifully executed.

The shop is decorated with the distinctive and rather wonderful art of Tom Morgan Jones, who also illustrated the Mission:Explore series of books, which are for sale.

Visitors to the shop are given a tray with a ‘workflow’ printed on it, and the crafty Fox logo of the Crafty Explorers. A lump of clay and some natural materials, which include senna pods, pine cones, feathers and other sculptural shapes can be added: some are free of charge and some are available for a cost, or appropriate donation.

There are also ‘boggly eyes’ which turn any piece of clay into a creature. 

Each crafty creation has its moment of glory as it is photographed, and added to the 'wall of fame'.

Once the creature has been named, parents and children are then given three challenges using a combination of stamps. The mat that was used to mould the clay on is folded to become a mission booklet, which is used to record the adventures.

At the rear of the shop, a huge map of the area drawn by Tom is used to show the visitors the open green spaces which are nearby. The site is ideal for this, as there are a number of parks, greens and other open spaces within easy walking distance of the ‘shop’. On returning, children are given a stamp and asked to put a sticker on the large map to show where they completed their missions.

Coffee and snacks are available to purchase at a very low cost, and you can enjoy the crafting or a hot drink, while sitting on the most awesome grass covered tables and chairs.

I visited on the first day of opening, and despite having had no real advertising, there was a steady stream of curious people through the doors.

For more details about what the Crafty Explorers get up to over the next five week, visit them at:

You can also follow what we get up to on Twitter @CraftyExplorers

Crafty Explorers

I've blogged before about the involvement of Explorer HQ colleagues with the Design Council's Knee High Challenge.
Our CRAFTY EXPLORERS pop-up shop is opening soon in Nunhead, London, and you can follow what we get up to on the new TWITTER FEED.

In a couple of weeks we are going to be opening a pop-up make, take and explore shop for families in #Nunhead. Follow us to find out more.
— Crafty Explorers (@CraftyExplorers) January 20, 2014

Knee High Project - also coming in 2014...

One of the many strands to my life is as one of the directors of Explorer HQ.
This is a company that has grown from the original formation of Mission:Explore, following a late night phone call between Daniel Raven-Ellison and myself many moons ago...
We've now teamed up with various awesome people, and over the last seven(ish) years have got to the point where we are working on a range of interesting projects within the UK, and individually further afield...

One of the things we've got up to this year is to involve ourselves in the Knee High Project

The Knee High Design Challenge is a partnership between the Design Council, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, and the London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth.

We believe there is an urgent need for more innovation and experimentation in the design of early years services. Children are still starting school without a fair and equal start in life, and we want to do something about it.

We have challenged people from across the UK to come up with new ideas for radically improving the health and wellbeing of children under five in Southwark, Lambeth, and eventually beyond.

We are now funding and supporting the best ideas over the coming two years to see them develop into new services, products, environments (or anything else) that really make a difference.

We heard this week that we are through to the next round of the project, which means that we will have some additional support to prove that our concept of providing a fixed venue where we will work to Make, Take and Explore with under 5's is one that is worth supporting further.

Here's a video made by Dan which has more information about our idea...
There are lots of other great ideas as part of the challenge, so fingers crossed that we can continue to make progress through the project...



A Make, Take & Explore Den for the Knee High Project from Mission:Explore on Vimeo.
In 2013 the Design Council in partnership with Guy's and St Thomas’ Charity and the London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth set a design challenge:

"We are looking for fresh ideas with the potential to radically improving the health and wellbeing of children under five living in Southwark and Lambeth."

After speaking with children, parents, teachers and a range of experts we have been developing the following response to the challenge....