Christmas Countdown

Date: 6th Dec 2019 @ 6:36am

Another 2 weeks has passed, and we are well and truly on the countdown to Christmas.  It’s always a very exciting time in club as children enjoy parties and special treats from school but it can often be quite a testing time for club due to winter bugs, terrible weather and dark nights.  Saying that, our out of school staff have, as always, managed to keep your little ones entertained and out of trouble.

St Luke’s have developed a newfound love for performing with children creating their own dance shows as well as acting out scenes from the musicals and recreating a wedding (with a very handsome puppet in place of the groom!)  They have also spent a lot of time constructing and building inspiring structures out of wooden blocks.  Children demonstrated excellent teamwork whilst creating some inspirational structures of relevance to themselves.

Bishop Wilson have got the ‘bingo bug’ with children concentrating hard in order to win prizes as well as enjoying a movie night with Nachos. Biscuit decorating was also a big hit with the children.

Over at Rivacre children are coming to terms with a lack of their favourite outdoor games such as football, skipping and outdoor hide ‘n seek.  Instead they have been busy challenging their peers and staff to games of pool.  Connect four has become fiercely competitive in breakfast club with Tom still being the reigning champion although the year sixes are close to stealing his title. Rivacre has invested in some new small world animals and dinosaurs that have gone down a treat with the younger ones.  The jungle animals have not only found their way into the jungle jigsaws, but they have also inspired children to have a go at making the accompanying jungle noises.  In a similar vein their dinosaurs have brought out the ‘T-Rex’ in some children as they create a prehistoric world and chase each other around the hall like in the movies!!

IQ-Pro puzzler has been an instant hit with children and staff alike with everyone racking their brains to get the little pieces in the tray into a pyramid – so difficult yet fun at the same time.

A donation of fancy-dress costumes at Huntington has allowed for hours of fun with even the older of the children enjoying a spot of dressing up.

Children at Woodlands couldn’t wait for Santa to come so have had an advance on a couple of their presents.  After several unsuccessful deliveries (who tries to deliver a package to a school on a Sunday afternoon??!!) children were finally treated to a marble run which has created hours of enjoyment for all (and hours on their hands and knees looking for marbles for the staff!) 

Having had their eye on a Barbie Dream House, a number of children decided to create a Dream House of their own using some large and unwanted cardboard boxes.  Little do they know that Barbie has had an upgrade and there is a brand-new house in the hall ready and waiting for them.

Towards the end of November, the more creative amongst us enjoyed taking part in a number of St Andrew’s Day inspired arts and crafts creating flags, Nessie monster puppets and Scottish piper bookmarks. 

Woodlands children continue to enjoy their painting sessions and have just about proved themselves sensible enough to reach for the glitter as we get stuck into our Christmas crafts.

This week children have been making advent calendars, masks, snowman window art, jingle bell bracelets and paperchains.

Parkgate have already reached for the glitter it seems and have gone one step further by making some dough ornaments ready to paint and hang on their tree in the coming week.

Children at Huntington have enjoyed group discussion about how different religions celebrate Christmas and have watched lots of videos on YouTube to explore these celebrations. In true British tradition, children have all written their letters to Father Christmas and have promised to leave him a mince pie for when he visits their house. 

Over the next couple of weeks, we have even more seasonal arts and crafts to look forward to including felt stockings, Christmas cards, reindeer food and fir cone decorating.  Despite most children hating them, we will be making mince pies (it has to be done) and will soon be preparing for our out of school Christmas Party.  With many of our children taking part in school nativities and productions over the coming week (and some of us being lucky enough to get a sneak preview) we really want to wish them the best of luck, we know they are all very excited to be on stage in front of their parents.

This is our last blog of the year so all that’s left for me to say is Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. See you all in 2020!!