One of our favourite local green spaces here is Coronation gardens. Named for the coronation of Edward VII, the site was bought by Leyton Council in 1897 and it opened as a ‘recreation ground in 1902. Labelled ‘a disagreeable eyesore’ by the Leytonstone Express and Independent in 1903, the Council used a £1,000 grant to transform the area into the beautiful landscaped area that it still is today.
There are plenty of things to do here including finding our way around (or chasing each other around!) a mini maze, which is just the right size for little people, running around the bandstand or drawing chalk pictures on it (the bandstand is covered so especially handy if it rains), watching squirrels collect, eat and store (mostly eat, actually) acorns, chasing pigeons and, in the autumn months, kicking leaves! I will probably blog about all of these things at some point but today’s post is about one of Mushroom’s favourite games at the moment.
After being introduced to the concept by a lovely dad we met in the park one afternoon with his son (hello Yomi and Elijah, if you’re reading!), Mushroom likes nothing more than to pretend he is in the jungle hunting tigers. We play this game in the park, on the way back from nursery and, in the supermarket (that took me by surprise. He asked to get out of the trolley, then suddenly shouted ‘tiger, run!!’ and well, ran off. Um).
Coronation Gardens has a real jungle, as far as Mushroom is concerned. He tiptoes towards the rose garden, saying ‘Shhh’ and holding a finger to his lips. He negotiates his way around perilous flowers and through thorny bushes before breaking into a run, shouting ‘Mummy, quick! Tiger wake up!’ and collapsing against me, laughing before stopping for a snack. Hunting tigers is hard work, don’t you know.
If you look really closely, you might be able to read the commentary on the bottom of this slideshow!
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