Country of Castles

The first all-Wales Sandcastle Building competition

For intergenerational teams

29th April, is the EU day of Solidarity between the Generations and Niace Dysgu Cymru will launching the first ever, all-Wales intergenerational sandcastle building competition.  The competition, to be held the weekend of 12/13th May, kicks off Adult Learners Week, a whole festival celebrating the fun and enjoyment that goes with learning.  We want to see family groups from all over Wales enjoying each other's company and learning something new at the same time.

Wales has over 400 real castles in with walls and towers still standing after hundreds of years and a visit to one of them can teach a lot about building techniques.  We are not expecting sandcastles to last that long, but there will be plenty of things to learn from the team experience as well.  Perhaps Grandad who goes digging for lugworm will be able to show the others the best patch of sand for building or someone will know how to get the sand out of the bucket without breaking the shape.  How will the team plan so that everyone agrees the form of the final castle and how will the work be shared?

Family or other mixed generation teams are invited to build their sandcastles over the weekend of 12/13th May.  The sand castles may be built anywhere in Wales - even in the sand pit if the beach is too far to travel.

There are some great activities that families can do together over the summer, why not try them out even if you aren't one of the lucky prize winners.

Many of our castles and other ancient monuments are looked after by Cadw www.cadw.wales.gov.uk and there are activities at many of their sites throughout the year.  Cadw have donated free entry tickets to some of them as prizes.

At the end of June the magical Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival is held in its very own fairy tale castle www.beyondtheborder.com a wonder filled experience for all ages.  One winning team will be invited to the festival for free to rebuild their sandcastle as part of the festival.

From 2nd June to 23rd September, the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff will be exhibiting the work of Anthony Browne, the children's laureate 2009-11 with activities planned to accompany the exhibition.  A VIP invitation to the exhibition opening and some signed copies of his books will go to another prize winner.

Older team members might want to look out for the Gwanwyn festival of arts and creativity for older people taking place throughout May. Find out more at  www.gwanwyn.org.uk.  The festival has kindly donated a full day of art activity, with a professional artist for an intergenerational group of up to 15 people for another prize.

Even when the weather is at its worst a good book is always entertaining.  Books have been specially selected for reading together by bookseller Hilary Brookes see http://www.barefootbooks.com/marketplace/5301

Rules

Teams may be 2- 5 people, the youngest member should be no older than 11 and we'd like to see a grandparent involved.  Groups who are not related may also enter provided that the age gap between the youngest and oldest is at least 40 years.

Enter by submitting any of the following:-

  • A photograph of the youngest team member with the completed sandcastle, holding a copy of a participating local paper for the week ending 12/13th May (see file below)
  • A photograph of the building process with an appropriate caption
  • A tweet or text capturing the team experience
  • A postcard listing what team members have learned

Photographs may be e-mailed to sandcastles@niacedc.org.uk, photographs and postcards may be posted to Sandcastles, NIACE Dysgu Cymru 3rd Floor, 33-35 Cathedral Road, Cardiff CF11 9HB remembering to include information on how to contact you, text 07717 546296 or tweet including #castlecomp