Something we hear from parents over and over again is that The Hive is unique. Our mix of technology, storytelling and outdoor survival skills is hard to find anywhere else.
So where did this idea come from? How did The Hive begin? We sat down with our founder, Caroline, to find out more...
My son was 10 at the time. He was really into gaming and technology and I couldn’t find outdoor activities for him that were really modern or cool. Everything was slightly twee and a bit nostalgic.
I had the idea to work with a game designer to develop game-based outdoor activities that would bring together nature, outdoor skills, technology and creativity.
At that point, I had also worked in media and education for a number of years and I felt that the perceived disconnect between “nature skills” and “future skills” wasn’t serving children well. I wanted to develop a place where kids could get their hands dirty, learn through doing, and experiment with different outdoor activities through ambitious projects.
The creativity and inventiveness of our missions. We really stretch the realm of "outdoor education" by blending skills that don't usually come together in outdoor education.
There is no other camp provider in the UK where children can be immersed in a film like The Hunger Games, build their own Escape Room, create their own street art installation, or build their own Earth-saving start-up.
The range of skills we cover, our use of pop culture references to make our projects relevant, and our deep focus on project-based learning make us unique. I've had parents say that The Hive is how school should be. Our approach inspires a love of learning because it makes it effortless.
It was a couple of years ago, on a mission called Pucks' Prank. We had a team of children being set designers, builders, costume makers, artists and a team of children being actors: they had 5 days to put together their own production of Midsummer Night's Dream, as an outdoor promenade in the grounds of Eltham College.
The quality of the performances and set was unbelievable. What these children achieved in 5 days and their joy and pride during the performance was so powerful. It made a few of us cry - something I'll never forget.
That's like asking a parent to choose between their children! I don't really have a favourite to be honest. I start developing each mission with the same feeling of anticipation and trepidation.
It always starts with the germ of an idea and I absolutely love the process of taking that small seed and developing it into a story and mission that brings joy to children and helps them explore the natural world - as well as themselves.
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