This summer, a new garden with fun outdoor workshops for kids launches at the historic Stellenbosch wine farm
Spier, the historic Stellenbosch wine farm, has launched its new Elemental Play Garden: a safe and beautiful outside space where families can explore, dream and play. Adjoining the farm’s historic Werf (farmyard), the Elemental Play Garden is just a stone’s throw from Vadas Smokehouse & Bakery and Spier Farm Café.
Conceptualised by landscape architects Ed Brooks and Danielle Croly, focusing on indigenous plants and using local artisans and materials, the garden is divided into quadrants representing the four elements: water, air, fire and earth. Intersecting all four is a spiralling waterway that symbolises the Fibonacci Sequence – a set of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. Many patterns in nature follow this rule — such as the spiral shape of a seashell, the arrangement of leaves on a branch, or the petals of some flowers (such as daisies and sunflowers).
Features of the garden include a slide landscaped into earth mounds, a tunnel to crawl through, a Charl Conradie wind sculpture and a swing bridge. The water in the Water quadrant has been treated and is safe to splash about in – perfect for hot summer days.
Safe & Fun Workshops for Kids this Summer
This summer, the Elemental Play Garden will host workshops for kids on Saturday mornings.
Each costs just R100, starts at 09:30 and will last roughly an hour. COVID-19 precautions will be in place, and a maximum of 12 kids permitted per workshop.
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MAKE A FIRE, AND COOK WITH IT
In the Garden’s Fire quadrant, the Farm Cafe’s Chef Hennie will teach the kids how to build the perfect fire. Under his guidance, they will then make their own stokbrood, braai a sosatie and finish with the most delicious s’mores. For ages 8-14.
- When: Saturday 7 and 28 November
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CREATE YOUR OWN KITE
In the Wind quadrant, kids will listen to a story about a beautiful breeze before letting their imagination take flight by creating their very own kite to take home. For ages 8-14.
- When: Saturday 14 November, 5 December
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BUSY BEES, BIRDS AND OTHER CRITICAL CRITTERS
As kids explore the Earth and Water quadrants, our very own gardening guru, Megan McCarthy, will explain the important role that bees and other critters play in the garden. The kids will then learn how to make an insect house and make their very own bird feeder to take home. For ages 6-12.
- When: Saturday 21 November, 12 December
