A summer of holiday activities for the local community

We had a fantastic summer of holiday activities at Kids Inspire. This year we held exciting and fun Lunch Clubs every Tuesday morning for six weeks.

Coordinated and managed by our Community Engagement Team, our Lunch Clubs are an opportunity for meaningful holiday activities for kids living in the Essex area. Alongside each holiday activity is the opportunity to enjoy a nutritious lunch, make new friends and receive encouragement to push themselves out of their comfort zone.

What are the highlights of community holiday activities for kids?

With all the elements combined – activity, lunch, friends- our popular holiday activities encourage children to work on their communication and social skills all while having fun and learning new skills!

• during the summer we had 96 attendees over the six different sessions!

• 97% of our young attendees told us that the activity made them feel happy!

A summary of the community fun!

Thanks to Romany, our Community Engagement Liaison Worker (and Jack Petchy Scholar!) for writing this overview.

Week 1 - Problem-Solving

We kicked off the summer with an excellent morning led by Essex Outdoors, the session focused on problem-solving skills. Children took part in challenges like the pipeline game, stilt races and blindfolded sledding. All of these activities tested the children’s analytical skills as well as their ability to work in a team. Most children had not met each other before the session, but this didn’t stop them from developing a strong team! We had some amazing volunteers join us for the day, thank you to the team at Baker Labels and everyone else who helped.

Week 2 - Slime and science

This week was a blast! Quite literally! Sublime Science joined us for a morning of rockets, lemonade explosion (by mentos), and sherbet making! Nathan the scientist even demonstrated how to make objects fly. This session was educational for the children with many of them raising their hands and answering Nathan's questions all about science. I think we may have some future professors on our hands! We wrapped up the session by making some super gloopy slime, the children absolutely loved this. We had help from Stonebond and more Kids Inspire volunteers. (This was also very handy for the cleanup!)

Week 3 - Football!

We got physical! We left Kids Inspire HQ with our football kits on and headed to Chelmsford FC’s training site. We had the fantastic Louis and Simeon teaching the children a range of football skills for the morning. Children learned how to dribble, shoot and pass the ball. They kept us adults on our toes on this one!

Our wonderful volunteers and the fantastic people from Utilize just couldn’t keep up with the kids! We then ended the session with two games of football which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. After a morning of exercise, lunch was definitely needed. An offering of delicious sandwiches, fruit bowls, and even a little caterpillar cake hit the spot. Exercising is a fantastic way to destress and look after your wellbeing, this session highlighted how important physical activity can be.

Week 4 - Travelling Zoo

We got wild this week with a visit from eight different species of animals! The fantastic Exotic Explorers, Travelling Zoo hosted an educational morning teaching the children all about different animals. We saw a fluffy tarantula, some tiny tree frogs, a very big tortoise, a pair of rare stick insects, two lovely giant geckos, a super fluffy skunk, and an incredibly long snake! The session ended with watching the barn owl demonstrate its flying abilities. The children learned all about what the animals eat, how long they live for, and their natural defence instincts. What a fantastic opportunity! Thank you to DG International for sitting with some of the children and encouraging them to take part when they felt a bit worried about some of the animals! It was lovely to see some of the children’s confidence grow and take part in the activity. Everyone was really brave.

Week 5 - Taekwondo skills

In this session, the children were taught a range of Taekwondo skills by the skillful Carly* from ‘This Girl Kicks’. As part of the session, they practiced a range of skills such as kicks, hits and defence moves, as well as learning how to count to 10 in Korean. The children loved being active and learning more about this exhilarating form of Martial Arts. Exercise is a great way to support your mental health as well as your physical. While exercising your brain releases endorphins which can help us to calm down and feel good, this is another reason we encourage children to be active during our Lunch Clubs!

* Noteworthy, Carly has represented England Taekwondo at many international tournaments since 2006!

Week 6 - Bushcraft

Our final week was also a brilliant way to wrap up the fun! Essex Outdoors visited once again this time with a session of bushcraft. This activity allowed children to test new skills as well as to work in teams - encouraging them to socialise with other children and our wonderful volunteers and from Utilize.

Essex Outdoors taught the children how to build a fire - which the children had to forage the sticks for and then they learned how to safely light the fire. We then, as a team, all made some delicious bread dough to cook on the fires; the children really enjoyed making and cooking their own snacks. We finished the session making some wooden slab medals, which definitely deserved after a summer of hard work! 

Everyone had a fantastic summer, meeting new people, learning new skills, and having fun. The children’s feedback speaks for itself:

 “Lunch was delicious”

“Thank you for a lovely day”

What was the best part of your day?

“Making Friends”

“I enjoyed testing new skills”

“Meeting the animals”

Thank you!

These amazing holiday activities for children in the local Essex area couldn’t go ahead without the support from the entire team at Kids Inspire, our amazing volunteers, and of course, importantly our funders – Utilize, Sage, Gadsby Wick, Great Baddow Parish Council and Fisher Jones Greenwood.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make these days so special for all the children.

We are excited to announce we will be running a spooky themed Lunch Club in the October half term so keep your eyes peeled!