Rain, the dene and school children. What fun!

Who loves drawing? I don't. In fact I'm terrible at it. I always used to get the creative guy in my class to do my art for me. Oh yes. I cheated at school. But only at art. Promise. As a general rule (in my job, not life before anyone gets offended) drawing and colouring in is normally accompanied by a mass of very excited primary school children. Hence the calming clip of a fox before I delve into the chaotic (yet fun) world of working with kids.

Over the past few weeks I have had the privilege of working with Class 15 from Atkinson Rd primary in Benwell. Now why does Benwell ring a bell? I would hope its because you've all taken note and have instantly thought of Benwell Dene. Well this was the plan with the kids. We did some mammal-y sessions at school and finally when I asked for a mammal example, I was not told eagle, owl or snake. That was the hard part over. Next was the visit to Benwell Dene to ooooh and aaaaah over the new pond dipping platform and to discover what mammals might be lurking in the dene. It all went rather well I think. The rain was lashing down but the kids all braved the weather and filed out of the school gates and into the dene. We were a little wet but our enthusiasm could not be dampened (Ba!Bom!). Off we set to look for tracks and trails (planted by me) and to 'crack the code' (wingdings, I love you). So yup, take 22 kids, in the wet, in a park. What do you get? Lots of muddy bottoms. Not great for the moms and dads when they got home. But so so so great for me. Never have I seen such anctics. Yes, my risk assesment covered 'slips, trips and falls' but not flying through the air superman-style or just how high kids could bounce. Hilarious. Best part of the day.

But anyway, what I am trying to get to is the drawing. The last phase of the Benwell Dene project is to put up an interpretation board, telling all and sundry about the fanatastic wildlife that can be found in here. This is where the drawing comes in. Once we were dry and warm back in the classroom, I got the kids to draw me mammals that they think might be found in the dene. Some wanted to draw rats which, while technically right, I didnt think would raise the dene's profile too much. Here are a couple which I think are just brilliant, weird or just downright disturbing. I'll leave you to decide which one falls in which category.