A visit from the Easter bunny!
The weather certainly smiled on us all this half term! How many times has Easter weekend been a wash out in the past?! It was so lovely that the bank holiday weekend stayed clear, sunny, and warm.
The great weather meant that there were plenty of opportunities for the Basingstoke Hive to get out and about and build up those ever-important daily steps! I’m still trying to consistently do more than 10,000 steps a day, but it’s hard, especially now we have a new Disney+ subscription at home!
Anyway, this year the Basingstoke Hive (led by me, Ben) combined with the Andover Hive (led by Estelle) wanted to create an ‘Easter Eggstravaganza.’ Our Hive families really liked this idea, and we were delighted to welcome 18 looked after children, 3 birth children and 11 accompanying adults. Wow, what a brilliant day! It’s a good job we had a wheelbarrow full of Easter eggs, so there were plenty to go round.
There was a wide range of ages so we had a packed schedule of activities to keep the babies and toddlers entertained as well as the older children and teenagers. The day began with…chocolate of course! We had hidden small bags of Mini Eggs around the trees and fallen wood in the Crabtree Plantation. Laughter could be heard floating through the trees as the bags of eggs were found by children and adults alike. It was wonderful to see the group helping each other to find the last (very well hidden) bags of chocolate. Everyone ended up with some goodies, although I suspect some may have found more than one bag!
With the help of a lady from the Basingstoke Hive we moved on to a brilliant game of ‘Guess the Number of Eggs in the Jar’. This was great fun and became quite strategic as we saw teams forming to spread the guesses over a range to maximise the chances of winning the jar and its contents as well as a cuddly toy. Well done to the winner who guessed 129 (only 3 off the actual count of 131!)
Time for a scavenger hunt! Families and teams set out through the woods with a list of items to find and tasks to complete. The winners arrived back a respectable 16 minutes after setting off. There were small prizes for all and the winners chose a Frisby set as their prize. Well done to everyone who took part, the feather wasn’t an easy thing to find, but everyone triumphed!
We finished off the day with Estelle leading us to an adventure play area where energetic acrobatics and climbing skills were shown off and those who wanted to, enjoyed the zip wire. For those of us who needed a rest, it was time for a relaxing picnic and some social time together.
The day drew to a natural end with families leaving full of chocolate and happy memories. It was lovely to see such a great group of young people and adults come together to enjoy a fun and relaxing day where they could catch up with friends and make new connections too.
Needless to say, by this time the wheelbarrow was empty!
Horse riding is the best!
It’s safe to say that many families don’t have access to horses on a regular basis but several of our children had expressed an interest in seeing a horse, and perhaps even riding one.
Estelle has a paddock with horses and helped make this wish a reality by opening it up and giving children the chance to come and meet these amazing animals up close.
A group of children came out to groom the horses and learn about the care they need, in exchange for a small amount of work around the paddock. A bit of moving sawdust and shovelling manure. Someone once told me how good manure is for your roses, it’s not so good for your shoes though!
Then it was time to put on our fluorescent jackets and riding helmets and help out for a ride around the local village. I led a horse and tried my best to keep up but I’m actually afraid of horses!
The children on the horses had a great time while I just tried to stay calm and make sure the horse didn’t chase, headbutt or eat me! (I’ve been told a horse can’t eat a person, but I am not sure I believe them…)
The ride out was great fun, and I can report back the adults, children and horses all made it back to the paddock safely. The children had a brilliant day, with one young person saying “I love this, horse riding is the best!”
What an amazing Easter half term. Thank you to everyone who contributed, we can’t wait for the Summer holidays now!