WOMAD

The Learning Tree

From United Kingdom

The Learning Tree team delivers fun, exciting, hands-on activities for families ranging from arts and crafts to science and technology letting your imagination run wild with recycled materials.As a team we have now delivered more than 40 workshops to over 3500 adults and children throughout Wiltshire and as far a field as Cornwall and Singapore. To get an idea of what we do click on to our website: www.learning-tree.org.ukThis year at WOMAD we are running family arts workshops based upon world games and stories. The workshop will offer families the opportunity to make either the game Mancala or a fold-away minature theatre to recreate stories from around the world. Mancala is an ancient game played with counters and a series of pits. The rules are simple to understand and yet like all good games can be played at many levels to suit all ages and levels of skill. In the workshop you will constuct your own mancala game to take away and enjoy.Mancala variations are played all over Africa. They are found throughout the Caribbean and on the East Coast of South America having emigrated with slaves during the colonial expansion era. There are also versions in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia ("congkak", pronounced Chon-ka) and the Philippines.The Minature Theatre workshop involves building your own fold-away stage together with scenery and characters to bring to life a story of your choosing.The art of story telling is universal and yet it is a pastime often forgotten in our hectic lifestyles. The miniature theatre beloved by Victorians is an ideal way to re-create our favourite stories from around the world or closer to home.Workshops are designed for family participation and therefore each activity is designed to adapt to the skills of a child and an adult working as a team. Workshop leaders support families by working alongside them. We encourage families to develop their speaking and listening skills, to have a go, make mistakes, learn and above all to have fun.The Team:Sue Smith MCIPD is a passionate lifelong learner. A mother of 3 school age children Sue started The Learning Tree in 2000 while completing her degree in Psychology. The aim of the project is to encourage parents to become more involved in their children’s learning. Building on her own experiences of learning Sue has developed several family learning workshops in many primary and secondary schools in the UK, enabling families to enjoy learning together. The workshops combine up to date research on learning to learn with practical, hands on activities that are fun for children and adults. Karen Hurley is a music specialist with a BA Hons in English and Music from the Open University and a mother of 3 young children. She has considerable experience of teaching Music, English and History in Wiltshire schools to children of all ages. Building on her experience with the Bath Area Play Project and Bristol City Council play projects and Youth Clubs, Karen has developed exciting music workshops. These have been successfully delivered at Learning Tree Family Learning events and children and adults alike have been encouraged to use their imaginations in designing musical instruments and performing.Jim Smith Ceng MIET, is a father to three school age children. Building on experiences with his own children, he has developed and delivered family learning workshops, around science, design and technology, and engineering themes. Chair of governors for a primary school for the past eight years, Jim has first-hand experience of building a successful family learning community. As well as sessions aimed at children, Jim also runs seminars aimed at parents and the wider school community as well as personal and team development in a business environment.