Today we went to one of our local toddler groups at a local community centre. It was the perfect way to keep warm, have fun, make friends and burn off all that extra energy we seem to have. Plus was nice to have some adult conversation too.
There was a large room set up with lots of activities for the children to explore. The usual kitchen area was a huge hit with Noah and Isabella, they loved pretending to make food and drinks, putting things into the washing machine and general kitchen duties. The dolls house also caught their attention, playing with the little wooden figures and making up conversations with them.
Noah loves to dress up and he immediately saw that there was a dressing up area and he dived straight in. From Fireman, to police man and then eventually a Dinosaur- he was in his element trying everything on. I loved the role playing he was doing whilst wearing the different outfits.
There was also various cars and mats to play with, building bricks, a teepee you could hide in, walkers and bouncers. It was like being in a toy shop – so much choice for the children and plenty to keep them occupied for the morning.
Towards the back of the room was an area sectioned off, and in this area was the ride on toys. We had tractors, scooters, wheelie bug and scuttle bugs. This area was great as both Noah and Isabella loved scooting about and burning off some energy in here. Plus it was safe for them to do so without the worry of running over crawling babies.
The climbing frame appealed to them both, and they were straight in. Climbing, sliding and generally pretending to be monkeys, it was the perfect size for them to be able to explore on their own. Although Noah the dinosaur did get stuck a few times.
A table set aside is for organised craft, and I was told that each week there is a different activity. This week we made poppies, Isabella dived straight in and didn’t need any help from me. She’s very independent and was happy to sit there and do her own masterpiece.
There was a separate quiet calm room where the children could go if they needed to relax or just take some time out. The room was filled with brightly coloured toys, books, mats and other engaging objects to keep their minds and hands active.
Towards the end of the session, everyone comes around as a group to sing songs with one another, and it’s also a chance for the children to also sit down and have a snack too.
Everyone was extremely friendly taking the time out to get to know one another, it was a lovely atmosphere and was made to feel very welcome. Plus the refreshments were great, and you could easily sit down with a drink whilst still supervising the little ones.
