From Tiny Seeds to Big Ideas

Spring has sprung, and just as the seasons change throughout the year, our After Schools clubs have been exploring themes of growth in order to encourage the kids to see how much they also grow and learn over the space of the year. Miriam, our Senior After Schools Club leader, shared:

“The theme of growth stemmed as an idea after one of the children in my club asked me to record their heights to see how much they grow over the time they spend in club. This got us thinking about how we can help the kids recognise all the areas they can grow in, not just physically, but mentally, socially and emotionally as well.

In both the Junior and Senior clubs, we started with a time capsule activity. Each child wrote about their favourite things at the time, what the weather was like, and what they think will be different in 6 months’ time. We locked it away, and it won't be opened until the last week of club in June 2026, just before our summer holidays.

We then measured each child up against the wall and took note of their heights, so we are going to see how tall each of us gets across the year. We talked about what helps someone grow as a person, and what might hold them back. After sharing ideas, we drew the outline of two of the kids in club, one named Ms Excited to Grow and the other Mr Does Not Want to Grow, and filled them with all the things we came up with. It was great seeing all the kids get so involved in what makes someone grow vs what stops someone from growing. They came up with all different ideas, ones that me nor any other adult in the room could come up. One of the outlines quickly filled up with all the different ways we can grow, and we still refer back to it today.   

On another day, we challenged ourselves to try new fruits and vegetables or retry some that we didn't like the first time. All the kids loaded up their plates with different fruits and veg, and gave each one a try (whether it was covered in chocolate or not is irrelevant). One girl was so excited about trying new foods that when she went to the Juniors club to collect her brother, she was telling Lorna all about it which just shows the impact of something we can consider small at times.  

We then built on what we had learned about growth by exploring how plants grow, and what they need that we also need. Each child planted their own seeds to look after and help grow over the coming months, as well as planting some beautiful flowers to fill the back area with some bright colours.” 

Lorna, our Junior After Schools club leader, shared:

“The stand out moment for me, would be seeing the love and attention the young people gave to their plants. One young person even started the trend of giving her plant a hug and a kiss every day to help it grow!”

Our wonderful weekly volunteers, including those with us for the year through the European Solidarity Corps, also noticed how invested the kids became in the theme and activities, sharing:

"They all were mad into the gardening, I've never seen them all take part in one activity together like that! The kids love to go out and check on the plants and see if they're growing each day.” 

It’s brilliant to see the enthusiasm and creativity from the children, and perhaps a good reminder to us all that we have the opportunity every day to make choices that help us grow and flourish.