Leaders who help create a creative day

Karen and Nichola’s job is to devise and plan a whole range of innovative and creative activities for the children to have a go at.

Sometimes it is arts and crafts, which require preparation, setting up and putting away, or it could be musical sessions with singing and playing a host of different instruments, and they also organise trips out, such as going to the seaside.

Karen and Nichola also come up with themes to provide meaning and structure to their projects, such as World Ocean Day, so the children can engage with ideas about caring for our environment.

Special days like Father’s Day also provide a focus for attention and, this year, the Activity Leaders encouraged children to make a card for their dad and bake a cake to take home. For Armed Forces Day on 28 June, the children will be learning about servicemen and women and making flags.

We also celebrate all faiths at Chestnut Tree House and this month we recognise the importance of Ramadan.

The overall aim is to have lots of fun and make special memories, no matter what the child’s condition. There is always something sensory for those children who are not as mobile, or who have conditions which impair their sight. So, for example, the Activity Leaders often fill trays with things like shaving foam and uncooked pasta, so the children can experience felling different textures and sensations.

Chestnut Tree House, in Dover Lane, Arundel, cares for over 280 children and young adults from 0-25 years of age with progressive life-limiting conditions.

For more information on Chestnut Tree House visit the website www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk