Friends of the Farm kicked off the year
with some fun and games at Kid’s Sweet Talks at the Mangere Bridge Library in
January. Attended by around 20 children plus
their parents/ caregivers, Kid’s Sweet Talks was an opportunity for younger
members of our community to share their ideas for making Mangere Bridge an even
better place to grow up.
Friends of the Farm member and school
teacher, Dawn Wood, began with the story of Lester and Clyde; two frogs who
realised how idyllic their home was after a short adventure in the wider world.
Young faces came alive as the children listened. This story led into a discussion about
rubbish and what affect it has on our community and wildlife, especially with
us being so close to the sea.
After sitting still, the children were
excited to move around and get their hands dirty, sorting a large pile of
rubbish dumped onto the library floor.
We were impressed by how much the children already knew about recycling
and composting. However, many were unaware
of the options for disposing of soft plastics in our community (through the
Oddbits stall at the Sunday market, or through Pak ‘n Save and The Warehouse).
The children then talked about and recorded
what they love about Mangere Bridge and what they’d like to see happening in
our community. Top of their list of loves
were Ambury Farm (and it’s animal residents), Mangere Mountain, the Library (with
special mention of the wonderful children’s librarians- Loren and Suzie), the
market, the waterfront and school.
Kids Sweet Talks generated creative and
inspiring ideas for our community, including cooking classes, more sand and a
tidal pool at the beach, and a kid’s carnival.
Children also want more beach clean ups and a marine sanctuary for our
waterfront! Some of our youth even put
up their hands to help make some of these ideas happen.
After all that hard work, the group was
ready to tuck into some afternoon tea.
The DIY fruit kebabs were a hit, as was Natasha’s jelly sculpture. A brilliant example of looking at rubbish as
a resource, Natasha had filled plastic fish (used as soy sauce containers at sushi
bars) with yellow jelly, and placed them in a pond of blue jelly - eagerly
slurped up through straws.
We all thoroughly enjoyed our first Kid’s
Sweet Talks and would like to make this an
annual event, alongside our adult Sweet
Talks gathering held in May. Thanks to
everyone who came and to the staff at the Mangere Bridge library for being so
welcoming and hospitable, and for asking us back!