EMILY'S BLOG
Hello my name is Emily and I am Visually Impaired. I like writing, drawing, painting and being creative.
I have been going to Hook & Loop Collective (previously called The Velcro Collective) events since I was 11. I am now 14 and I volunteer for Hook & Loop Collective.
In my own words I would describe the events as fun and enlightening. You get to meet many new friends and do fun outdoor activities.
The most recent event was on May the 18th at Crickley Hill Country park.
When I first arrived we heard some peaceful calming music played by Zariq.
The instrument was a Sape’ which is a traditional Malaysian instrument with strings.
Zariq walked around the circle to let us touch the Sape’. The first part of our creative journey was to explore our environment.
The first part of our creative journey was to explore our environment.
We walked around and picked up objects such as beechnut cases, a piece of wood that looked like hoof, pieces moss, small flowers and lots of sticks.
Nothing growing was picked out of the ground so the activity was environmentally friendly.
Louise then introduced Branch to the group and we played a game. Similar to twister, two people held brand and we called out body parts.
Then whoever was holding branch had to balance her on that body part.
If it was possible we could run underneath or jump over the top.
Caz and Hannah (who had volunteered to decorate branch) picked some objects to fix on. I can’t remember exactly what they put on branch but they did manage to balance the hoof shaped piece of wood on using a hammock made from string.
Zarik played the Sape’ again and at the same time we talked about turning branch into a magical, mythical bird. We created a story.
“She [branch] is rainbow coloured with some golden feathers and has a long rainbow tail. She is quite glittery, with a long neck.
She has soft feathers and sounds like a clicking hummingbird but she also has a squark that can be heard for miles.
She lives at the end of the rainbow or maybe in woods, she makes a nest of sticks. She moves majestically, elegantly, silently as she glides and soars.”
We then decorated our own pieces of wood with coloured ribbon, bells and string and flew them around. Listening to calming music. Some people carried branch round and we created a beautiful colourful line.
After we had finished, we all got together for a hot drink. I got a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows it was delicious!
I found the activity super fun, exciting and creative and can’t wait to continue creating branches magnificent story.
