Holiday Fun in Strathmore Park

The two Strathmore Park Community Centres hosted six days of free, fun activities for kids in January. Held on Tuesdays outdoors at the Raukawa Reserve and Thursdays at the Strathmore Park Community Centre, up to 25 young people attended each day, with a range of games and activities on offer.

Circus Tricks and Skateboarding

Learning circus tricks was a feature of the programme, with balancing, pyramids, hula hoops and juggling part of the outdoor and indoor days. Skateboarding was a real hit with many of the children. Skater expert Craig Paul Terris was a superb, enthusiastic instructor. 7-year-old, Ehan and  9-year-old Arsalan, rated skateboarding “the best of all”, and both said learning to juggle was fun!

Potting plants, painting terracotta pots and doing mosaics all possible thanks to Bunnings Lyall Bay’s community programme.

There were also many happy parents, thrilled to see how much fun their children were having learning new things, “My son is very quiet, and he’s been out of the box and enjoying the fun”, one parent, Ali said.

“My son is an only child so learning to get along with others and playing with other kids is important to us,” another parent, Jo says, “The shy children are willing to participate and cheer each other on”.

For 10-year-old Amelia, it was the flower headbands and being shown how to do weaving that stood out. Making new friends was top of the list for some.

“They support me when I’m nervous trying new things,” one child said.

Special thanks to Jennifer Mason, the Strathmore Park Community Centre Coordinator, who organised the entire programme, “I am thrilled with how successful our first effort to run a holiday programme was. We had incredible volunteer support to make this happen. Street East Church were a major help in providing packed lunches each day,: she says, “I am delighted that around 50 kids came to at least one of our days.”

A similar programme is planned for the April school holidays.