Welcome to the August issue of our monthly online newsletter for children and families, produced by the Children and Family Work team at YMCA St. Paul’s Group.
We strive to create positive outcomes with children and young people in their communities, and provide support for families with nursery, day care, holiday and year-round programmes.
Take a look at the sections below to learn about what we will be up to across our various children and families services in August.
National Play Day: Wednesday 3 August
Play day is the national day for play, it is celebrated each year across the UK on the first Wednesday in August.
It is a celebration of the children’s rights to play and campaign the highlight of the importance of play in children’s lives.
Play is essential for physical and emotional growth, and when children play, it boosts mental, intellectual and educational development supporting the growth of social and behavioural skills.
At Jumpers we celebrate children’s play daily.
Notting Hill Carnival – August 27 – 29
The Carnival takes place every year over the August bank holiday weekend. When people came to Britain from the islands of the Caribbean in the 1950’s, they were often seen as outsiders’ and viewed with suspicion.
The Carnival was designed to showcase Caribbean culture and help people from different communities and backgrounds get to know each better. The event was so successful that it was voted one of the ‘icons of Britain’ in 2006. Every year, over a million people visit the Notting Hill Carnival to watch the parades and enjoy the music. Colourful costumes, steel bands and street food are all popular elements of the Carnival.
Staff and children will be participating in activities related to the carnival over the coming weeks, including creating masks and dressing up in colourful clothing to celebrate carnival.
Welcome to the YMCA SPG team!
Holiday active fun!
From Monday 15 – Friday 26 August a variety of workshops for children under 10 will be delivered by Jade Groves.
These include Street Dance, Ballet and Gym Kids. Each workshop lasts for 1 hour and 45 minutes and the cost is £8.00 per child.
These sessions are available to book on Mindbody.
Autumn term now available to book
The autumn term for gymnastics and mini gym resumes on Tuesday 06 September. The courses will be delivered on Tuesday-Thursday during term time. The timetable is now live and ready to book – register now to grab a spot!
Looking to book a children’s birthday party? Our kids parties at YMCA South Ealing, including party host and food and drink, are ideal for under eights. Party bookings are available on Saturdays, 12.30 – 2.15pm or 3.00pm – 4.45pm.
A dedicated party host is there to keep the kids entertained and to set up and clear away afterwards, meaning you can just relax and enjoy the party!
Take a look at our South Ealing children’s parties page for further details.
Summer holiday fun!
There are still some spaces available to join us over the summer holiday 1st August- 18th August 2022 (Mon-Thurs) 8:30-5:30pm. So if you haven’t booked its not too late and we would love to see you!
Y Kidz will be providing fun indoors and outdoors. We have a great space at our main YMCA site on Forest Road in Walthamstow.
Children will be involved in a range of fun and engaging indoor and outdoor activities such as small team games, messy play, storytelling, trips to the local park, mindfulness, arts and crafts, music and dance, and lots more. There will also be sports and lots of other fun activities incorporated into our daily timetable.
Visit our website to book your spot.
Look forward to seeing you all 🙂
Based at the YMCA Hawker in Kingston, the Pod is a two storey soft play centre open seven days a week for indoor play. Costs are just £5.00 per child, including one adult, and can be booked on the Mindbody app, or at Hawker reception. Visit our Pod page for full details, and to make a booking.
With activities and equipment for all ages up to 11, babies, toddlers and children can be active, use their imaginations and let off steam in a fun, safe environment. The Pod has everything a child needs for an energetic, creative, interactive indoor adventure!
The Pod has 4 sessions Monday-Wednesday, 3 sessions on Thursday and Friday, and 1 session on Saturday and Sunday:
Monday-Wednesday
9.00am -11.00am
11.00am – 1.00pm
1.00pm – 3.00pm
3.00pm – 5.00pm (August only – September times are 3.45pm – 5.45pm)
Thursday and Friday
9.00am – 11.00am
11.00am – 1.00pm
1.00pm – 3.00pm
Saturday and Sunday
8.15am – 10.00am
If you don’t wish to pre-book and fancy dropping in at any time during the day you’re welcome. Please pay at reception. You do not have to adhere to the above set times. For instance you may fancy popping in at 10.00 or at 12.00
The other sessions can be booked on line or you can walk in and pay at reception.
The Pod closes at 3.00pm on Thursday and Friday and at 10.00am on Saturday and Sunday for private hires.
Join us for a fun launch event to celebrate the opening of YMCA Hampton Preschool
To celebrate the opening of our community preschool, we have got a great launch party planned! Anyone with a child 5 or under is invited to join us from 11.30am-1.30pm, Friday 2 September. There will be face painting, family Zumba a bouncy castle and much more! Please register if you would like to come along – we’d love to see you!
T 020 8979 1884
E info.whitehouse@ymcaspg.org
We still have spaces for 2-5 year olds to join us from September – visit our website for more details, or follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YMCAHamptonPreschool
Join us for a Health and Wellbeing Fun day for the whole community at YMCA Hawker
Sunday 4 September, 10am – 2pm
We’re planning a to wrap up the long sunny days with a fond farewell to summer 2022 at YMCA Hawker with our family fun day on 4 September.
There will be taster sessions of our gym classes, BBQ, a bouncy castle and lots of more fun on the field!
- Kingston Stragglers Running Club will be running their River Relay with Hawker the end of the run. The River Relay is a baton relay run over five stages from Boveney to Kingston-upon-Thames, finishing at the Hawker Centre. Mixed teams of 5 people. All team members must be at least 18 years of age. This distance is approximately 26.5 miles – just over a full marathon! River Relay :: The Stragglers Running Club
- Finishers (and all visitors on the day) will welcome the chance to rehydrate and have a spot of food from the BBQ
- Kumon will provide a chance to see how additional learning classes can really help your child’s learning
- Playball who introduce young children to constructive and enjoyable sport participation through various age-appropriate programmes.
- Tennis and the Hawker Jets Tennis Academy will provide some drop in opportunities on the day to try tennis
- Khalsa Karate will provide some Karate demonstrations
- There will be an opportunity to try some of our exercise classes tbc – Yoga, Line dancing
- Our Café will be open
- You can try Paddle boarding
- RBK Bikeability
- Fire Brigade
- Children’s Activities
- Gym challenges
- Membership offer 1 day guest passes
Visit our hellosummer webpage for details of this event.
Wednesday 24 August 2022 – 4.15-6.15pm
Explore all the things plants need to grow; earth, air, sun and water, and enjoy the sensory elements of the Children’s Garden at Kew during one of their quiet sessions.
The Children’s Garden will be closed to the public to allow children with special educational needs and disabilities, like Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or sensory processing needs, and their parents or carers to have a more comfortable visit.
During the quiet sessions, fewer people than usual will be permitted, ensuring easy access to avoid potentially stressful queues.
You will also be able to share your visit with others who better understand your child’s needs.
Why not try out some great science experiments this summer?
Here are just a few fun ideas:
Lava Lamp Experiment
You will need:
- Vegetable oil
- Water
- Food colouring (primary colours)
- Alka seltzer
This is how it works:
- Fill a cup half full with water
- Add food colouring
- Break the Alka seltzer into 3 pieces
- Fill the glass ¾ full with vegetable oil
- Pour in the coloured water
- Drop 1 piece of Alka seltzer into the glass
- Watch the lave lamp emerge
Lemon Volcano
You will need:
- Lemon
- Large plate
- Food colouring
- Baking soda
- Pipettes
- Lolly stick
This is how it works:
- Roll the lemon for a few seconds to ensure the juice circulates
- Cut the lemon in half and place both halves onto a plate
- Use a lolly stick to make small dents in the flesh of the lemon
- Fill each pipette with food colouring (3 colours is a good combination).
- Drip food colouring onto each lemon
- Pour baking soda on top of each lemon
- Watch the volcano erupt!
