Keeping children entertained through the long school holidays can be pretty difficult at times. It can also end up being really quite expensive if you’re not careful.
Luckily we’ve been having a lot of free fun as a family this summer, thanks to Coca-Cola ParkLives.
We discovered Coca-Cola ParkLives last summer, and were really impressed with the variety of family-friendly activities that they had on offer in Swansea.
So before the school holidays had even started this year I popped on to their website to see what they had going on to keep us all entertained this summer.
One of the events that I spotted was a family fun day in Dunvant park.
So one day last week we hopped on the bus and went to off to have some fun!
As part of the fun day there was a kite making session which I signed the children up for online. We made a beeline for that activity as soon as we arrived and the children were quickly immersed in making and decorating their very own kites.
The ladies who were running the event were absolutely lovely.
They put the children at ease straight away, helping them with their designs and generally being really encouraging, guiding them to come up with their own ideas for decorating their kites.
I was really impressed with how simple the kites were to put together, but how great they looked once they were done.
It was also lovely to hear that a lot of thought had been put into making the activity as environmentally friendly as possible. There was no plastic involved; most of the kite was made out of different papers which can all be recycled.
Once the children had made a kite each, and then another one each, they decided to see what else was going on as part of the family fun day.
Nerys had a blast jumping along a sort of inflatable platform on a space hopper. I wasn’t sure how long it would keep her entertained for, but she played there for ages and had so much fun.
There were quite a few other children playing at the same time but there seemed to be enough space hoppers available so that everyone was happy. And the platform itself was big enough that there was space for all the children to bounce around.
While Nerys was busy bouncing Rhys went off to join in with a bit of a football session, and then found some friendly ParkLives session leaders just about to set up a game of boules.
After watching them play a game and learning the rules he was desperate to have a try himself.
Once Nerys spotted what he was up to she came running over to join in too, and they had a great time playing a couple of games together.
They may have changed the rules slightly and used some interesting throwing styles, but they had a lot of fun. One of the things I love about these kinds of events from Coca-Cola ParkLives is the opportunity it gives the children to learn some new skills.
Over the last week or so we’ve also been along to a football session in Brynmill park which both children really enjoyed.
Nerys wasn’t sure to start with, and I think felt a bit nervous about joining in, but the session leaders were really friendly and let her take her time to relax and join in.
Once she got stuck in though she had so much fun and I loved watching her, and seeing that she seems to have a bit of a natural flair for football.
We also went along to a really lovely family yoga session run by Delyth from Free Self Yoga for Coca-Cola ParkLives.
The session was at 9 in the morning and was a brilliant way to start our day. We were made to feel really welcome and with it being a family session it was nice and relaxed and no one seemed to mind when the children got a bit lively and loud.
Rhys and Nerys both tried really hard to follow Delyth’s instructions and were eager to show her how well they could balance in tree pose.
There are so many benefits to doing yoga and going along to a class is a great way for me and the children to learn more about it and practice the poses that we sometimes do together at home.
Now I’m off to check out what activities we can pop along to in the last few weeks of the holidays.
I’m hoping to take the children to another football session after seeing how much they enjoyed the last one, and I would love to do another family yoga class together before school starts up again.
You can find out what activities are available in your area and sign up for sessions on the Coca-Cola ParkLives website – www.ParkLives.com
Disclaimer: this is a sponsored post with ParkLives, but all word, photos and opinions are my own.