With an appreciation for the amount of space we have to fill for the May event, today’s session was the dry run of the craft activities we are going to put on for the visitors. Having done little Internet research I discovered a site with an easy to make “cup and ball game” involving yoghurt pots, pom-poms, and string. It seemed pretty straightforward and more importantly quick to do so should be appropriate for getting lots of visitors through the activity station. However – and this may just be my cynicism showing – I didn’t think that bamboo skewers and the general public would be a great mix. I can almost guarantee I would get children who were more interested in stabbing each other with the skewers then creating a cup and ball game. Talking with Meg, we decided that instead of yoghurt pots we could use empty paper cups which would be easier to decorate with felt pens than the plastic yoghurt pot would have been, and also could just be held in the hand with no need for a handle. We didn’t have to do risk assessments as such (although I expect that Liz or Neil had to fill out some kind of paperwork) but we self censored our activities based on our expectations of the average visitor.
Meg kindly donated her empty latte cup and we found some string in the craft supplies cupboard to test run a cup and ball. There were no pom-poms in the basket and neither of us knew how to make them so we just scrunched up some string and hoped for the best. The prototype which really well considering it was very Heath Robinson, and I’m confident that with the addition of proper pom-poms the game will be a success. As we are not using bamboo skewers I think what I will probably do is punch holes in the bottom of the cups prior to the event starting – again, this is to avoid the possibility of a visitor injuring themselves.
We also decided to formalise who was doing what on the day and Jo kindly took on the role of scribe and organised the teams on the flipchart. I am uncertain as to whether I will be up to physically running an activity on the day as I will be having my shoulder plate fiddled with a week or so before the event and while I will definitely be there I am not sure how fit I will be. I have asked to be put on the welcome desk on the assumption that I will be able to slope off for a break as and when I need one. However, this does seem to leave Meg without a partner to run the cup and ball game so we will see on the day as to what I end up doing.
The other teams made dolls and masks from toilet paper tubes and card and seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves as they indulged their creative side. Although we didn’t have an official theme as yet we all were thinking along the same lines; the aspect of toys and games being made from readily available materials (for example the Inuit toys made from walrus ivory). Fortunately the cup and ball game is redolent of the Inuit polar bear toy in the archives, which is perfect for the event as we also have a replica which people can play with. We debated whether the replica should go on the object trolley or at the cup and ball game station but decided to keep it together with all the other objects on the handling trolley on the assumption that we couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t “walk off” with a visitor if it were on the station with all the craft materials (especially if Meg was on her own).
I think it would be useful to go back to the event space now we know how long activities take and how much space we need for them. I imagine that each station will have two of the big tables push together so you will seat approximately eight people at a time (not including one or two of us to run the activity).