What is Spoonville?

Melbourne's first lockdown saw teddy bears and rainbows appear in windows, now our second lockdown has another activity for children & their families as communities full of brightly painted wooden spoon characters pop up across the suburbs.

Originating in the English village of Winnersh, the Spoonville fad has spread across Britain and is finding its way into Victoria, where spoon villages are sprouting in parks and nature strips.

You may have seen small communities of spoony characters popping up in your neighborhood while out exercising. Well, St Catherine’s is going to join in on the fun of Spoonville by creating our own colourful community in front of our school. All teachers, students & families are invited to create their own wooden spoon/spatula character. The great thing is that you needn’t stop at one… the more the merrier! 

NB: The Spoonville idea has been very popular particularly in Melbourne suburbs. It may be difficult to hunt down a new spoon in your local supermarket as stocks seem to be running very low. If this is the case, please use a timber off-cut or a great shaped stick for your design!

Step 1

All you have to do is grab yourself a wooden spoon or spatula & get creative… it’s as easy as that! Perhaps there is an old one from the kitchen you could use or you could ask Mum or Dad to buy a new one next time they are doing the grocery shop from the supermarket. The possibilities are endless… but there are a few important rules to remember while you’re busy building your colourful character.

• Make sure bits & pieces won’t blow off your spoony person. We don’t want to litter so use lots of glue!

• Make sure your spoony people can take the rain. Clear nail varnish is good for faces. Legs and arms can be sticks from your garden.

As you can see from the photos I’ve collected on my neighborhood walks you can use markers, wool, pipe cleaners, buttons, glitter, ribbons, fabric, paint & even feathers… wow! Remember you have the 2 week school holidays to finish your spoon so take your time, don’t rush & have fun!

Step 2

The plan will be that upon returning to face to face learning in term 4 you can bring your decorated wooden character to school & dress-up the front nature strip with your colourful creation. This will be a fun way to not only brighten up the landscape & cheer us all up but to send an uplifting message to our local community. They may want to join in too!

If you have any questions you can email me at sandra.renehan@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au. I’m more than happy to help.

I know Mrs O’Donnell and all the staff can’t wait to see just how many spoons we can make! We may even make it into our local newspaper… fingers crossed!