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
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