*Example photo provided by Cultivating Well-Being
Our family Willow Nesting Ball Making & Trout Brook Exploration workshop, facilitated by registered horticultural therapists, will take place at the South Portland Public Library (main branch) and on Trout Brook Nature Trail, just down the road. We’ll walk from one place to the other, about a half-mile walk from the library to the trail. Parking is available in the library parking lot.
The session will begin in the library with tea and a short slide presentation before creating willow nesting material balls. Once the nesting material balls are created, we will walk to Trout Brook to hang them in the trees and shrubs and explore the nature preserve.
Each family member will leave with one nesting materials ball to either take home or to hang in the woods at Trout Brook.
Learn:
About wild words and why they are important.
How to make a ball woven from willow to contain bird nesting materials.
Why connecting with nature gives humans a sense of well-being.
What we can do to support human health while supporting ecological health.
Explore Trout Brook and hang your woven willow ball.
Colleen E. Griffin, HTR has been practicing horticultural therapy in Southern Maine since 2018. She has worked with children and adults with developmental and intellectual challenges and teens living with substance abuse. Colleen conducted therapeutic horticulture classes at Dempsey Center for Quality Cancer Care in Lewiston and South Portland.
Laura Simonds-Rumpf, HTR is a registered Horticultural Therapist and is currently on the board of the American Horticultural Therapy Association. She has served many populations including those living with dementia and their care partners, veterans, people with brain injury, and those with developmental & intellectual challenges.
Together, Laura and Colleen founded Cultivating Well-Being through Therapeutic Horticulture.