River Project: Ham Families at Ham Children’s Centre

Orleans House Gallery has just finished delivering a series of workshops at Ham Children’s Centre which ran throughout August, for families with children aged between 3 months and 3 years, and 4 and 7 years. For four weeks running families had the chance to come and participate in workshops every Thursday and Friday, led by artists Louise Bourns and Hazel Adams, based around the theme of the river. Using a variety of materials including clay, paint and collage, families explored the animals and wildlife that can be found along the Thames riverside, and were encouraged to think about their local river environment.

The workshops saw children, together with their parents and carers, creating animal puppets, river creature mobiles, shell flags, frog masks, stick rafts, beetle hats and badges, and celebratory bunting. They experimented with a range of techniques from printing and bubble painting to clay and 3-D modelling. A particularly popular workshop saw families creating their own boats from boxes and decorating them inside and out with foaming waves, pirate flags, sails and anchors, before setting sail to ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’! Over the four weeks of the project, families worked together to create large collaborative works, including a river printed onto material, and an underwater world with handprint fish. During each session we sang river and animal inspired songs and listened to stories relating to rivers and water.

On the third week of the workshops, intrepid families had the chance to come on a walk along the river. Using a specially created river walk checklist, they spotted horses, butterflies, bees, boats, clouds and reeds. Children also used magnifying glasses to get a detailed look at patterns and textures in plants. As we walked, we collected natural items such as pinecones, leaves, feathers and sticks, which were then used the next day to print into clay and create imaginative river creatures.  

The workshops were a great success with over 50 families participating over the course of August; we hope to return to ham Children’s Centre soon!