Carnets de terrain — the Wednesday outdoor art workshop⭣

Indoors, children tend to draw from memory: a tree is a trunk with a green ball on top. Outdoors, the tree has bark that flakes, a broken branch, a shadow that swings round with the afternoon. You only have to sit down in front of it to see.

Carnets de terrain is a real art course, taught in the field.

Every Wednesday the children learn a technique — line, light, composition, colour — and apply it directly to what is in front of them. Nothing to copy: the subject is whatever is happening around them that day.

The lake, the forest, the river, the vineyards: the location changes through the year, and with it what there is to look at. The same stretch of shore looks nothing like itself in October and in May.

Working on location means learning to choose a viewpoint, to frame, to wait for the light to shift. It also means three hours outdoors in the middle of the week, which doesn't happen often.

• Drawing: observation sketches, watercolour, charcoal. Learning to look at one thing for a long time.
• Photography: framing, playing with light, telling a place in a handful of images. Cameras are provided.
• Land art: making something from what nature offers — leaves, stones, branches — and leaving the work where it stands.

The three answer each other: a photograph becomes a drawing, a drawing suggests an installation.

At the first session every child receives their tool case: a sketchbook, a mechanical pencil, coloured pencils, a Caran d'Ache gouache set and brushes, in a Hey Folks case. It costs CHF 80 in the first year and belongs to the child.

Week after week the notebook fills up: attempts, failures, discoveries.

By June, it tells the story of a whole year spent outdoors.

Mist, a storm sky, rain falling on water: what would ruin an ordinary outing becomes the subject here. The workshop runs in all weathers, with activities to match.

If conditions become genuinely unsafe — thunderstorms, high winds, severe cold — the group moves to an indoor space kept for making.

Everyone works at their own pace, and everyone is properly followed. The year is planned in advance, with a real progression, but the teaching stays alive to the day: if a heron lands at the water's edge, we change the subject.

Three hours outdoors, on the move, carrying equipment — that is what two adults for eight children is for.

The team brings together people trained in art and in working with children. Staff training and our child protection measures are the same across all our workshops — they're set out here.

1. Now: pre-register your child. It's free and commits you to nothing.
2. March 2027: registration opens, pre-registered families first. Registering involves no payment.
3. Between 15 and 30 June 2027: your child's place is confirmed by email, with payment details.
4. Wednesday 8 September 2027: first session, and the tool case.

• When: every Wednesday, 2 to 5pm, during Vaud school term time
• Length: September 2027 to June 2028 — 36 Wednesdays across the year
• First session: Wednesday 8 September 2027
• For: children aged 6 to 11
• Group: 8 children maximum, 2 adults
• Meeting point: Parc de Milan, Lausanne

CHF 170 a month, September to June (10 instalments) CHF 80 for the tool case, in the first year only

The price includes:

• teaching by two adults from the Hey Folks team;
• the cameras and shared equipment on loan;
• all consumables for the year: paper, paints and photographic prints.

Paid in 10 monthly instalments, by invoice. Annual payment also possible.

1. Which language is the workshop taught in? In French — and the team is bilingual French/English. A child still finding their French is genuinely welcome: an instruction can be given again in English when it helps, and drawing what is in front of you needs very few words.

2. Does pre-registering commit me to anything? No. It doesn't hold a place: it gets you the registration link before anyone else, when registration opens. You decide in March, having paid nothing.

3. When does registration open? March 2027. Pre-registered families receive the link a few days before it opens to the public.

4. When is my child's place confirmed? Between 15 and 30 June 2027, by email — so you have the answer before the summer and can plan the new school year. No payment is due before that.

5. How does payment work? The year is paid in 10 instalments of CHF 170, by invoice. The first payment (first instalment plus CHF 80 for the tool case in the first year) is due before the first session. After that, each instalment is settled at the end of the month for the month ahead. A single annual payment is also possible.

6. Does my child need to be able to draw? No. The workshop is as much for children who draw constantly as for those who are sure they can't. You learn to look before you learn to draw, and everyone starts from their own starting point.

7. Are the children outdoors the whole afternoon? Yes — that's the point of the workshop. They work on location, in nature, with a snack break. Please send a snack. Only genuinely unsafe conditions bring us indoors.

8. What if it rains? Rain is part of the subject: we draw the drops on the water, we photograph the reflections. Please send proper clothing — waterproof trousers, boots, a warm layer. In a thunderstorm or unsafe conditions the group moves to an indoor space kept for making.

9. Does my child need a camera? No. Hey Folks lends the cameras during the session. All consumables for the year are included in the price. Only the first-year tool case (CHF 80) is charged separately, and it belongs to the child.

10. Who looks after the children? Two adults for a maximum of eight children, trained in art and in working with children. Every adult working with children provides a special extract from the criminal record and signs our code of conduct. Our child protection measures

11. Do you publish photographs of the children? No photo or video that could identify a child is shared. The form asks separately for your permission for the private family group and for our external communications; you can decline either. We share artwork, landscapes and non-identifying images according to your choices. Our policy on photographs

12. Can my child also do Carnets de scène? No. Our theatre workshop runs the same Wednesday afternoon, indoors — you'll need to choose. Compare the two

13. Can we come on selected Wednesdays only? No. This is built as a year-long course, with progression from one week to the next. That's what lets the children genuinely learn, and the group get to know each other.

14. Why an outdoor art workshop? Because outdoors you don't invent the subject — you find it. The light shifts, the seasons remake the places, and every Wednesday brings something new to look at. It is the best school there is for learning to observe, and observation underpins all artistic work.

15. Can I pre-register more than one child? Yes, up to three children through the same form, with one workshop choice for each. Groups are based on their age in September 2027.

CHF 170 per month, in 10 instalments from September 2027 to June 2028, plus a CHF 80 for the tool case, first year only. One session every Wednesday from 2 to 5pm, outside Vaud school holidays. All materials are included.

Pre-registration is free, with no payment or commitment. It does not reserve a place: it gives you priority access to registration in March 2027. Places will be confirmed between 15 and 30 June 2027. No payment is due before confirmation.

One form lets you pre-register up to three children. For each child, enter their date of birth, choose one workshop and tell us about any disability, health condition or support needs relevant to welcoming them. For theatre, choose the group for their age in September 2027. A second parent’s contact details are optional.

Open the pre-registration form

The information submitted through the form is used to manage your pre-registration, contact you about the workshops and prepare to welcome your child.

Eight places for September 2027. Pre-registered families hear first when registration opens.

Pre-register my child

• Carnets de scène: our theatre workshop, indoors, the same Wednesday afternoon.
• Holiday camps: a week outdoors, every season.
• Adventure days: a day of exploring, on a Saturday or a day off school.
• Birthdays: an immersive party, outdoors, built around a story.