Parents and carers are required to attend with their children, they tell us that they enjoy mixing with other families who have similar life experiences.
Woodland Warriors is an outdoor activity company, that helps children of different age groups and from different backgrounds to learn basic life skills, through outdoor play. Sessions take place at the Memorial Park in Wickford, Essex and we have children aged from 4 to 16 attend.
The outdoor setting helps to relax the mind, body and soul, enhancing endorphins within the brain to relax and relieve anxiety and stress. This provides a foundation, from which to learn and enhance life skills such as: self-confidence, making and maintaining friendships, self-regulation of emotions and gives an appreciation for the natural world. The parents who come along have also expressed how they find the time outdoors, mixing with other parents who have similar life experiences, to be very therapeutic and have likened it to an outdoor parent support group.
Throughout the sessions, children will be able to participate in a wide range of activities from balancing and using core muscles on the tree swing, to climbing rope ladders and trees. They will develop problem solving skills, learn about the creatures and their interesting lives in the undergrowth and above the canopy, and there will be opportunities to make tools, learn how to safely make fire, and identify animal tracks. No two sessions are the same, with different activities each week.
Woodland Warriors takes place:
Age Range 6-18. Three sessions per week – Mondays for ages 6-11, Tuesdays for ages 12-18 and Friday day-time group for all ages, who are not currently attending school.
Venue: Rose Court, Russell Gardens, Wickford. Take a look at their Facebook page to see the workshop and the amazing items they help you make. www.facebook.com/gweniems
Create a beautifully decorated item each week, such as a mandala painted terracotta pot, a pen holder, keyring or coaster.
You do not need a diagnosis of anxiety or autism/adhd/dyslexia/dyspraxia etc. to attend this group. If you feel it will benefit your child/teen’s mental health and help them to make friends, then please book them in. We keep the sessions small, with a max of 5 children/teens, plus parent/carers.
We will provide biscuits and water and tea, or coffee for adults. A parent/carer is expected to stay with the child/teen during the session.
The cost for each session is £6.50 per child, which includes all the materials. Some sessions are just for 1 week and some run over a number of weeks, if the craft project is more complex. A 1 week session is £6.50. We are able to offer the sessions at this reduced rate as the costs are subsidised by MyOTAS.
We are delighted to offer yoga classes, specifically designed for young people suffering from anxiety, to attend with their parent/carer.
Age Range: 11 to 18
Where: Shotgate Community Hall, Wickford – Thursday evenings
About Yoga and mindfulness
These sessions include stretching, movement, breathing and relaxation combined with sound, rhythm and sensory integration techniques. Mindfulness is having awareness of what’s happening internally and around you in the moment. It is the practice of being receptive to your emotions, thoughts, behaviours and physical state which can help to process events from your external environment. When distraction takes over, regulating the state of mind becomes more of a challenge. We can use mindfulness techniques to learn how to regulate their breathing patterns, balance energy levels, remain calm, as well as relieve any physical and emotional tension, giving a greater sense of control over the mind and body.
The benefits of Yoga and Mindfulness include:
