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ARCHIVED NEWS:
Ruskington Rascals’ fun
day success!
Ruskington
Rascals’ formidable fundraising team held their second fun day in glorious sunshine at the village
hall in Ruskington on 21 September 2008. The fun day was a huge success and raised an impressive
£1,000. The money will go towards funding the children’s Christmas party
and to purchasing educational equipment for the playschool.
Bites to Banquets – new catering service for
children’s parties
The
team behind the ever-popular Kiosk in the Park in Sleaford’s Boston Road
is now offering an exciting new children’s party menu under the banner ‘Bites to Banquets
– Kids’, as well as a range of children’s lunch box options. For more information contact
Bev Jenkins on 01529 410522.
Beevor Bands’ Christmas Concert
At
the Lawn, Lincoln, on 21 December at 7.30pm with a visit from a very special guest in a red suit! Call 01522
5539183 for details.
Meet Louis!
No, not Louis Walsh of X Factor fame, but the star of Lincolnshire County Council’s
transitions programme. The Council has just ordered 600 of these puppets for schools so that
every child making the move from pre-school to Reception/Year 1 will now have a friendly face to show them round and answer
their questions. A little Louis (3/4 size) will also be on hand in the council’s nursery settings to help pre-schoolers
settle in! To see Louis’ ‘X factor’ for yourself, visit www.thepuppetman.co.uk!
More Kids' Lincs winners!
Our large woolly hat had to be relieved from competition-entry holding this issue because of the
number of entries! Hurrah! This time we commandeered a rather elegant and capacious bag to do the honours. Here then are the
winners. Many congratulations to them all!
The Trunki competition
There are four Trunkis in the Trunki family. The winner is Mrs P Boydon, who lives in Baston.
The Butterfly & Wildlife Park competition
Long Sutton is the place to be for a fun outing among the animals! The winners of a family ticket are: Kathrine
Krongulec from Nottingham, Phillip May from Ancaster, and Charlotte Minns from Hull.
Usborne book vouchers
All the entries to this competition honouring Usborne's fab That's not my... series for younger children, which was
to find the most amusing way to finish this sentence 'That's not my car, it's ...', were brilliant. But the one that struck
a chord most among the judges was from Brita Bevis of South Rauceby, who wrote: 'That's not my car, it's my husband's;
my teenager daughter's; my toddler's; their grandmother's and grandfather's; the dog's... in fact, anybody's but mine - I'm
just the chaffeur! Brita wins £25 of Usborne vouchers.
Thank you to everyone who entered and also to The Wildlife & Butterfly Park, Trunki and Nikki Lee of Usborne books.
A great new group coming soon – Hubbles at the Hub! Book now!
Sleaford's Hub (aka the National Centre for Craft & Design) is launching this autumn a brand-new group for parents, carers
and the under-5s. Set up by the friendly team behind the Hub's excellent education programme for schools, playgroups and
preschools, the idea behind the group is to introduce pre-schoolers to carefully planned, free arts and crafts activities
within a craft and design setting.
The first session is on Wednesday 17 September from 1030–1200
(maybe swing by the Hub's cafe for lunch afterwards?!). To book your place, please call the Hub on 01529 308712 or
email Jane Lismore at janelismore@thehubcentre.info
AC Williams coach trips this summer
Ancaster coach and travel firm AC Williams has recently launched a fab programme of day trips and mini-breaks for all
the family this summer.
Ones that particularly caught our eye in the Holmes household take place on Tuesday 12 August (a trip to Drayton
Manor Theme Park and the new Thomas Land, prices including admission start from £11) and Sunday 24 August (a trip
to Whitby by double-decker, prices from £10).
Other trips lined up include Longleat Safari Park, Rand Farm
Park and Cromer Carnival. For more information, please call Wendy on 01400 230491 or visit www.acwcoaches.co.uk
Bevloir Firework Champions competition winners
Congratulations and well done to Poppy Abbott of Great Gonerby and Robin Elliot of Fulbeck, both winners of
a family ticket to last weekend's Belvoir Firework Champions at Belvoir Castle. I hope everyone had a great time!
The
weather could have been a little better behaved, but for us, it certainly didn't take away the enjoyment and sheer amazement
from the displays.
Fireworks have certainly come on in leaps and bounds, especially from my memories of an errant
catherine wheel coming unstuck from the washing-line post and – still whirling and sparking – chasing my grandfather
up the garden, eventually coming to rest up his trouser leg. Ouch! That's right, kids, fireworks are safer – and far
more awe-inspring – in professional displays!
Denim at the Hub – the place for a fashionable few hours entertainment!
Last Friday saw the official opening of the Hub's exhibition for the summer, Denim – the fabric of our lives.
It's a brilliant exhibition that weaves together the story denim has played over the centuries.
From workwear to catwalk
staple, from political statement to homespun make-do-and-mend, this exhibition celebrates all that is good about this everyday
mainstay of the family wardrobe.
Walking into this exhibition is like being in Selfridges or Top Shop and I came away
with loads of ideas for (as yet untried!) denim-related craft ideas where I can use my (ahem) now-too-small denim that has
been long-destined for the ragbag!
Bringing the whole exhibition into focus is the first part, displayed in the stairwell,
of local students' work in denim, which shows more than anything that denim truly is the fabric of our lives.
If you
come away feeling super-inspired like we did then there are the family workshops taking place at the end of July. For more
information, please call the Hub on 01529 308710. Definitely one for the bored fashion-conscious teenager this summer!
New arrival at the Butterfly and Wildlife Park
Say T'wit-h'llo to Baby, a Eurasian Eagle Owl chick, hatched in April and the newest addition to the brilliant Butterfly
and Wildlife Park's aviary.
Baby isn't the only new addition – the Park has lots of new attractions this
year, not least a great new informative website and a walk-through aviary of tropical birds! (Soft-billed, you'll be
pleased to hear!) For more info and directions, visit www.butterflyandwildlifepark.co.uk
Are you a competition winner?
We've gathered all the entries from the spring issue, jumbled them up in a random fashion and popped them into an equally
'random fashion' item – a large woolly hat – from where we pulled the winners' details! Here, then, are the winning
entries:
A pair of Fun Farm tickets go to (drum roll, please!):
Brooke Hattersley, Grantham
H Louth, Grantham
M Ainsley, Bingham
L Bailey, Grantham
Tara Ellis, Lincoln
Clare Grainger, Grantham
Charlotte, Philippa and Alex Whelan, Boston
L North, Grantham
Sam Warrener, Sleaford
M Wainright, Grantham
Congratulations and have a fantastic time!
...and a lovely Vita Audio R1 DAB Radio goes to:
Lynda North from Grantham – happy listening and thank you for your great suggestion for an idyllic summer day out.
Thank you
Thank you very much to the competition sponsors – Fun Farm (at Grantham, Lincoln and Spalding) and Vita Audio –
and also to everyone who entered. There'll be more great competitions for you to enter in the summer issue of Kids' Lincs
magazine, due out in early June.
Newborn news at Rand Farm Park
Spring is in full swing at Rand Farm Park with lots of new lambs being born. But the sheep are not the only ones going
to be busy with the young ones.
Surprise the heifer calved a bull calf called Democrat last week, and the week before
that, Crackle, one of the donkeys, had a foal called Milo. Not to be left out of the fun, the Gloucester Old Spot pigs have
had some 'very pretty piglets'!
Why not swing by and see them for yourselves? Call 01673 858904 for more info and opening (or should that be visiting!?)
times.
Olli the signing monkey returns!
Garry Slack, the Stamford-based signing practitioner and author, has just published his latest book. The follow-up
to the critically-acclaimed Learn to Sign with Olli, Learn to Sign and Cook with Olli helps children
of all ages to improve their communication skills through the use of sign language whilst they learn about food and how to
prepare it safely.
Learn to Sign and Cook with Olli received excellent reviews in the April edition of the magazine of the supermarket
chain, Somerfield, and in many educational magazines such as Early Years Educator and Nursery Education Plus.
Sign language has become mainstream and is used within schools and by speaking parents to communicate with babies and
young children. Many schools now teach signing as part of their curriculum.
Track a copy down at your local
library or good bookshop, or call 01780 767398, and see why Nursery Education recommends Sign with Olli in its top
ten resources for special educational needs!
Something very special – Makaton Signing workshops start in May in Stamford
Learn to sign the Mr Tumble way as Makaton Signing classes come to Stamford!
Makaton uses speech and
gesture, facial expression, eye contact and body language, and it's a great way to spend some quality time communicating
with your baby or child and learn over 100 signs.
What's more, Makaton sign language and other baby signing approaches
have been shown to support language development. So, next time you wish your child could tell you what's wrong, they
might just be able to let you know!
Find out more about Makaton at www.makaton.org and to book your place on the next course, contact Lesley Nicholl on 01780 767766.
Polish up on your cricket skills
Now the cricket season is upon us and the air is echoing to the thwack of leather on willow of a sunday afternoon,
you might be a little tired of balls being hit over the fence or the heads knocked off rose bushes during the all-important
domestic practice sessions. No matter!
There's plenty of space to hit for six at Grantham's Indoor Cricket Centre,
just off Dysart Road. Warm up your batting and bowling arms at an open net session on Saturday mornings from 11.00–1.00pm.
Everyone aged 12 and upwards is welcome and the cost is £5 per person. There's also a shop if you need to stock up on supplies,
which is open in the week too from 2.00–6.00pm and when the nets are open. Call 01476 560610.
How to have a retro Saturday morning!
OK, so it's the cinema again, but this certainly beats Champion the Wonder Horse and is something my mum and dad would
have done on a Saturday morning. Kids screenings, again at the Odeon in Lincoln, are chosen especially for children
take place every Saturday and Sunday morning at pocket money prices. What's more with every child ticket you get a
free adult ticket. A fab treat! This weekend it's National Treasure: Book of Secrets. For more info, visit www.odeon.co.uk
Extra-sensory experiences – a morning at the hub, Sleaford
The hub (or the National Centre for Craft & Design to give it its full title) at Sleaford is a place I've always meant
to go to, but never got round to. Well, after a quick reccy this morning, I'm really kicking myself for not having gone sooner!
The hub's current main exhibition is Departure: New explorations in print. This thoroughly interactive exhibition
encourages visitors (including, of course, children!) to scratch, paint, feel and interact with the exhibitions. From
scratch-and-sniff and magic paintbrush wallpapers to a 'moveable feast' table for four, to the wallpaper projection where
the pictures move and tell little stories, there's lots to really fire your child's imagination. In parallel with the exhibition
the fantastic education team at the hub have organised activities for children of all ages that link in with the exhibits.
If you can't make it to the hub's exhibitions or purpose-built workshops then the hub can come to you. It's rolling
out the hub on the road. Its education officers will bring its programme to your playgroup, school, preschool or nursery
– usually for no fee.
To find out more, just head down to the hub, which is open between 10.00am and 5.00pm Monday to Sunday and bank
holidays, or visit www.thehubcentre.org. It's got a great cafe and shop too!
A milestone moment – the last thousand copies of Kids' Lincs magazine
to distribute this week – then onwards to Issue 2 and the Summer Holidays!
400 miles or so added on to the car's mileage, a knowledge of south Lincolnshire's highways and byways that a Grantham
cabbie with 'the Knowledge' would be proud of and with an ever-growing to-do list to make next issue bigger and better than
the first, I am now proud that Issue One of Kids' Lincs magazine is out there! Hopefully it will have made a
few people's lives a little bit easier and thank you to everyone who has helped distribute copies in their groups,
nurseries, playgroups, surgeries, shops and other venues, and to everyone who has written in so far with your excellent ideas
for days out. All are really valuable additions to a much-improved listings section in Issue Two – just in time for
the school summer holidays! Thank you to everyone too who has taken the time to feedback their thoughts. Keep them
coming! This feedback is really important for making Kids' Lincs magazine a useful resource for families in
south Lincolnshire. So don't delay! Whether you want to tell us what you thought of Kids' Lincs very first issue, get
yourself listed in our classified directory or advertise your services, or indeed find out where you can get a copy of Kids'
Lincs magazine's Summer issue due out in June, then please just drop us a line at ruth@kidslincs.co.uk
Don't forget, everyone who broadcasts their views and sends us feedback or a suggestion for a great day out is entered into
our fantastic competition to win a Vita Audio R1 digital radio!
Sitting comfortably with an excellent new babysitting service
For us, with family living a fair few miles away and and not always wanting to rely on them for babysitting duties, it's been
absolutely brilliant to hear about Sitting Ducks babysitting agency.
Set up by a registered childminder (and
therefore fully trained in first aid etc and CRB checked) with an amazing amount of experience, particularly with children
with special needs, and just the best CV I've seen from from an independent nanny or childminder that our family has used
in the past, the Sitting Ducks babysitting agency's number is definitely going to be on my speed-dial this summer!
Kyley and her team will travel up to 20 miles out of Grantham and her fees are a very reasonable £6 per hour until midnight
(then £7 per hour). This service is seriously good! Find out more at www.sittingduckservices.co.uk
Contact telephone number for Tumble Tots
Given the popularity, and rightly so, of this energetic scheme for children from six months to seven years, it's highly likely
that lots of people have been calling the number I incorrectly added to the listings section of the magazine. Apologies if
you are one of the people who have been trying to get in contact with Tumble Tots, or indeed if you have the phone number
that was listed.
The correct number for Tumbletots is 01778 394391. You could also visit www.tumbletots.com
Cool, kid-friendly coffee cafe
A new discovery for me is Luxury Polyester in Grantham's marketplace. A cocktail bar by night, and cool, kid-friendly
coffee cafe by day with big windows to watch the world go by, it's the closest I'm going to come to a swanky night out for
the next few weeks! (The doors are a bit narrow for a buggy, but that can be forgiven because of its evening-time alter ego!)
Joules – not kilo, not jewelry, but posh clothes (again – sorry!)
The latest Joules catalogue dropped through my letterbox last week and quite a few bits and pieces caught my eye. Although
it's a bit annoying that their children's wear starts at age 3 and not before, there's more than ever to hanker after. (Think
quirky Boden and you're almost there.) If you'd prefer to browse the Joules collection before you buy, then make Gente
Bella in Watergate, Sleaford a stop on your shopping list. See Joules' website at www.joulesclothing.co.uk or call Gente Bella on 01529 307761
Never work with animals or children...
Well, that's the advice, apparently! Willingly taking a preschooler and a cat to the vet's for the cat's booster vaccinations
could have been a complete recipe for disaster. Especially as I went with the intention of it being a good learning experience
for the young man...While it did have its moments, ok, seconds of near disaster where the boy wanted to do some water play
with his beaker, it was actually a great experience. He got to colour in a picture of a hamster, which was produced with lightening
speed at the first sign of F's impending tinkerdom, then witness his pet cat being extremely brave for her boosters, and he
got a sticker! How happy was he!? (And me! I got the cat microchipped too for only £15.) Hats off and thank you to everyone
at Foxhall vets in Ruskington for being far more prepared than I was and making it all go so smoothly. Call them on
01526 833555 or visit www.foxhallvets.co.uk
Libraries in Sleaford, Ruskington and Grantham will have new opening hours from 1 May.
Grantham Library will be opening half an hour earlier each day at 9am, close at 6pm on Mondays and Tuesdays, and
then at 7pm until Friday. Saturdays it is open from 9am until 4pm.
Sleaford Library will open 9am until 6pm on Mondays and Tuesdays also, is open a half day on Wednesdays from 9am until
2pm, then as per Grantham Library.
Ruskington Libary, I understand, has sadly had its hours reduced. It will be closed Mondays and Wednesdays, open Tuesdays
from 10am until 2pm, Thursdays from 1pm until 6pm and on Saturdays from 10am until 1pm. To find out more, visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk
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