The clocks went back during the night and this seemed to play with some of the children's internal timing.... so we had some early birds, but as the saying goes, they catch the worm - in this case the beautiful first rays of sunshine! Suddenly just before breakfast, the whole house shook and there was a long and low rumbling sound. We evacuated the house aware that we had all just survived a strong earthquake! The children were very brave and not at all put off their breakfast which they were keen to eat soon after! We carried on as usual with our first activity - creepy cookery. We decided to do the art activity - making 'Day of the Dead' skull magnets - outside in the bright sunshine. After a lunch of fish fingers, potato and peas which all the children enjoyed, it was time for some children to finish their homework and for others to find something relaxing to do. The sun was shining and the air was warm, so we went for a walk all around the Hazelhut grounds - it took about 30 minutes to circumnavigate the area. We saw many interesting things like a large hole, belonging to a badger or fox.....? When we returned we sat around the campfire site for a Hallowe'en sing song. After a snack, some inventive children made a treasure hunt and the others headed off to seek out the 'gold'. Before we knew it, parents were arriving and it was time to say 'goodbye' and 'see you soon!' to the new and special friends with whom we had shared so much.
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The Hazelhut is bursting with Hallowe'en overnighters and a few day children today too for a weekend of spooky thrills. The children started off their activities by making spiders and spider's webs with James in the kitchen and ghosts in the art room with Ottavia. Then we used them to decorate the dining room for this evening's party. For lunch we ate garden fresh carrots and pasta al pesto. Then the children got down to the nitty gritty of homework hour..... Next it was time to hunt for skeletons in the trees. For the snack we made sugared almonds into ghosts and created dirty plasters from wafers, icing and jam and the children bravely ate them! During free time some children visited the animals, built huts, jumped the skipping rope and played tennis - it was a fabulous day! Finally at half past four it was time to change into costumes and of the lovely children were transformed into vile creatures! At 5 o'clock the party began with a Scottish favourite - dooking for apples! The next game was also meant to be hands free - munching cookies from a moving string. The final party game was an old Mexican favourite - the pinata! After what seemed like a thousand thwacks, the poor spider finally gave way and there were Hallowe'en treats for everyone! Later we had dead men's fingers and pizza for dinner. Now the pumpkin lights are dimming and the children are relaxing by fire - what a wonderful time we have had, but we hope no spooks come in the night......
We opened our doors to a fearless group of children today all aged under 8 years. They took part in many spooky activities such as making spider pizzas! And decorating day of the dead skulls with ghoulish colours...... No one was afraid of eating all the disgusting things we had prepared like severed fingers and used plasters! In fact the children all said that they loved their lunch! And afterwards we all needed some time in the sun to burn off the energy. Then everyone lined up for the creepiest of treasure hunts - finding skeletons hanging from the trees! In the afternoon we went to the art room to make some ghosts to take home and scare our families with. Later we sang some Hallowe'en songs and read a story about a witch. It was wonderful to have such a brave and fun group of children to help us start our Hallowe'en celebrations. We hope to see you all again soon!
It was wonderful to welcome 22 friends to the Hazelhut today for our first ever gleaning day. Gleaning is what happens when the real harvest has been done - a way to prevent waste and share nature's bounty! Everyone helped - big and small. Baskets, buckets and bowls were filled with hazelnuts. Later, some of the group ventured into the chestnut woods and found different treasures! Then at half past 12 the trumpet call sounded for lunch.... Hazelnut pesto, veal in hazelnut sauce and hazelnut biscuits too! A coffee was needed to wake us up again...... .... for a tractor ride between the hazelnut trees! And a trip to the vegetable garden for yet more food!! Later we weighed the hazelnuts - almost 13 kgs! - and bagged them up for the families to take home. The first raindrops only decided to fall at 4pm - we felt blessed to have enjoyed this sunny day and to have met such great kids and wonderful parents - thank you for coming, come back soon!
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