Summer of Growth: Fun in the Sun (with a Drum)!

The Summer of Growth Programme has been a hit so far! Working with the talented Jose Rojas, Dandelion, the Granton Community Garden and more, we’ve had a blast introducing our young people to the outdoors and percussion. We’d like to thank the council for this opportunity. Check out below a recap of our fun in the sun!

Trip to the Botanics

The programme started July 11th at the Royal Botanical Gardens.
On the first day we surpassed our goals and helped 20 young people explore the Botanics together.
It was a great day in the sun. We played Botanic Bingo, where we kept our eyes peeled for pollinators, birds, squirrels, and rare plants! We had so many bingos from our talented treasure hunters. Some highlights of the day were seeing the ponds, bees, the herb gardens, and finding the black grass. It was a great day, and surprisingly not a single child had been before so it was a great learning experience and excursion. At the end of the day we found some sprinklers that the young people enjoyed so much we had to run back to catch our taxis home! Extra thank you and congratulations to a volunteer and worker who came to help on their birthdays.

West Pilton Picnics with Jose!

On July 18th we headed to West Pilton Park where we had a lovely (but hot) afternoon in the sun with Jose. We had an amazing picnic, with homemade Nigerian Jollof rice, yogurt, and plenty of healthy snacks and water to keep us going on such a warm day.

It was our first day with the drums that Jose, Andreas and Dave built for the young people. They’re called Cajons, and these ones are a special adaptation of Peruvian Cajon Carnivales so the young people can walk and play at the same time. The young people learned about Claves, an ostinato beat that is like the binding beat across the entire song. Clave means key, and it is the beat equivalent of a musical key.
We learned how to hit the drum in different spots to make different sounds, and how to play dotted rhythms. The young people were so excited they were sad they couldn’t take the drums home yet. They have to wait until September!

Playing in the Rain at Granton Community Garden

On the 25th of July we headed to Granton Community Garden. Lisa was an excellent tour guide and showed us how to identify onions, potatoes, currants, pumpkins, lavender, and all sorts of herbs! We feasted on berries and apples fresh from the garden, and saw the chickens hang out in their own personal garden!
Unfortunately the weather didn’t hold and we started to get soaked, so we all hid inside the gardening shed where we played drums with Jose. Inside the shed we learned how to do drum solos! We also had a great lunch, this time with fried rice, chicken, and fresh fruit.

Fun and Food at Lauriston!

On the 1st of August we headed to Lauriston Farm out by the Forth!
It had such an Ama-zing view of the sea, with rolling hills down to the water. We made sure to wave to Fife. At Lauriston we got to explore the edible garden, discovering purple peas, chocolate flavoured mint, edible flowers, and more. We were so excited to see such a beautiful space and play drums under the Gazebo with Jose. We learned more about how to play dotted rhythms with Jose, and had a lunch of African pies. After lunch and exploring the garden, Jon taught us how to spray paint the drums. The young people came up with such creative designs, full of flowers, bubbles, balloons, hearts, and even a sneaky monster or two!

We are thankful to Dandelion, Jon, and Jose for teaching us so much about the outdoors, drumming, and painting. We look forward to seeing them at the end of the month for a percussion workshop and meal in the evening.