“A Day With The BarrowBand”
Singing and Dancing Workshop
The BarrowBand runs interactive and creative workshops in schools and community centres.
The purpose of the day is to highlight healthy eating- particularly fruit and vegetables- and the benefits of dancing creatively.
To begin we introduce ourselves to each group and explain the subjects we will be exploring in the workshops. We usually get the children to identify various fruit and veg and talk about what they like to eat to get them going.
We conduct two parts of the workshop, one is fine art and one dance based.
In the first, children learn a song or songs from our repertoire and create dances to perform with the band at the final performance.
Then the art workshop is based around making colourful fruit and vegetables which will be used to decorate our barrow at the event.
The performance is usually conducted in the school hall at the end of the workshop day to which we would suggest parents and the wider community could be invited.
Here are some rough guidelines to a day in your school with The BarrowBand. We are flexible and can work in different environments, please let us know if you have any questions.
Age Range: Suitable for all primary aged children, particularly appreciated by primary 1-5.
Group Size: Between 20 and 40 children per session.
Workshop Length: 45min minimum.
Materials: Colourful paper and pens and pencils.
Room Requirements: A large hall or empty classroom for dance workshop, a space with tables
Barrow Width: We have a large fruit and vegetable barrow which performs with us during the show. Sometimes we have difficulty getting it into the school so we ask you to check that there is an entrance at the very least 84cm, preferably 90cm or 33 inches minimum width.
Activities: We spend the morning (and afternoon) holding a series of workshops and complete the day with a performance by The BarrowBand that includes all the children’s work.
Note: During the performance, with the school’s permission, we like to give out fruit and vegetables to children who correctly answer ask questions about the information in the songs.