Day Two and a different set of children – and expectations. We foregathered for games to let off steam and then separated for different activities. De Bron Primary School kindly provided the venue. The First Camps Bay Scouts once more obliged by helping.
This time we worked more on the idea of description filling out the picture in books, and concentrated on the five senses. It takes a lot of work to move on from the merely factual in children’s writing to something with more depth. Our time was limited in this case, but the resulting story appears at the foot of this report. We travelled in unexpected directions when somebody suggested a holiday for the family in Germany – which provided some challenges to the collective imagination!
We also featured Gcina Mhlophe’s lovely book An African Mother Christmas, which brings back memories of her own childhood in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in KwaZulu Natal and family trips to Durban to buy Christmas clothes.
My Family:
We are five in my family – my parents, my brother, my sister … and me!
Mostly, my family is nice. My brother kicks me sometimes, and I punch him. But I like my brother and we sometimes play rugby together. He shouts at me sometimes, but he also helps me with my homework. My dad looks a lot like Michael Jackson and I think my mom looks a lot like Rhiashna. My sissie sings quite well and my brother raps and does beatbox.
My family likes to eat. Our favourite food is vegetables like carrots and onions and potatoes. We sometimes have pizzas as a treat – really cheesy and greasy and lekker, and our best is malva pudding for dessert!
My granny tells great stories. My favourite is the one about the golden bear.
My grandfather and I play chess and read books in Afrikaans.
My Aunty likes to work in the garden and she is also a good cook. She gets hot in the garden and hungry in the kitchen! People around us are quite noisy but we are quiet.
My uncle is quite noisy, though. is fast and furious in his black and white Mustang.
Once, I won a big competition. We all went on a holiday. Mom and Dad and my sister and brother and I. We went to Germany and France – and the best place was Paris! If I ever win a competition again there are many places I’d like to go to – New Zealand, Italy, Hermanus and Gansbaai.
We went on a plane. It was amazing. They show you where to sit – and if you are lucky, you get to sit beside a window. There is TV and sometimes gaming on the little screen in front of you.
I packed my best clothes for the holiday and we had a very fun time, but nothing lasts forever! We had to come home after two weeks. The worst thing was that when we told everybody about our adventures – they didn’t believe us!
