Archive for the ‘Play & Lend’ Category

Our new play sessions at the Bulwell Riverside Centre on Main Street/Coventry Road are proving really popular.

The sessions include free after-school activities for older children and daytime play sessions for babies and under 5′s which cost just £1 per family.

Click here for a full list of play sessions at the Riverside or to find out more.

We also run play sessions for children of all ages at other venues in Bulwell including outdoor play sessions at Bulwell Hall Park woods.

For a full list of play sessions for children aged 0 to 5 please click here

For a full list of play sessions for children aged 5 to 13 please click here

As you may know, we’re now running regular play sessions at the new Bulwell Riverside centre on Main Street/Coventry Road in Bulwell.

The new sessions include:

Play & Lend session for children aged 0 to 5 years
Every Thursday from 9.30am to 11am
Costs: £1 per family

Join in with fun play activities specially designed for little ones, run by our experienced playworkers and volunteers, whilst you enjoy a coffee and a chat! Plus, you can borrow toys and games to take home in-between sessions for just a few pence.

Baby Play session for babies aged from 0 to 14 months 
Every Tuesday from 1pm to 2.30pm
Costs: £1 per family

Join in with fun play activities designed exclusively for babies whilst meeting other parents and carers.

After school session for 9 to 13 year olds
Every Monday from 3.30pm to 5.30pm
FREE

A free session for 9 to 13 year olds designed to give children a fun, safe place to meet their friends and join in with a whole host of activities including games, sports, arts and crafts.

After school session for 5 to 13 year olds
Every Thursday from 3.30pm to 5.30pm
FREE

A free session for 5 to 13 year olds designed to give children a fun, safe place to meet their friends and join in with a whole host of activities including games, sports, arts and crafts.

For full details of all our other sessions please visit our 0-5 years section or our Over 5′s section.

We held our first ever session at the new Bulwell Riverside on Tuesday 1st November.

It was a special play session for babies and as you can see from the pictures, a lot of fun was had by all!

Nine parents came along to the session and you’re more than welcome to join them next week – we’ll be holding a regular play session for babies aged under 14 months every Tuesday from 1pm to 2.30pm at the Riverside.

It’s never too early to start playing with your baby – as well as helping you to bond with your little one, play will help your baby to develop skills such as speech and language as they grow.

Plus of course, our baby play sessions are a great way to meet other parents and carers with young children.

You’ll also find us at the Riverside on Thursday mornings from 9.30am to 11am – where we’ll be running a Play and Lend session for 0 to 5 year olds. Our Play and Lend sessions include lots of fun activities for little ones run by experienced playworkers and volunteers. Plus, you can borrow toys and games from our toy library in-between sessions for just a few pence a week.

Each session costs just £1 per family.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Just a reminder to let you know that our regular term-time play sessions start again on the 12th September.

To find out more about all our services including play sessions for children aged from 0 to 14 please visit the Services section of the website or feel free to get in touch.

Many thanks

We’ve got a story in today’s Nottingham Evening Post about the free resources we’re creating with families and artists from the Nottingham Contemporary art gallery.

Click here if you’d like to read the article in full

As the article mentions, these resources should be ready by October and will be available for families to borrow free of charge from the toy library.

The idea behind the resources is to make it easier and more fun for families to play in their local woods – like the ones we use at Bulwell Hall Park.

The resources are part of our Play on the Wildside project – which includes free play sessions for children aged from 0 to 14 and also monthly family sessions, designed for the whole family.

Yesterday, artists from the Contemporary worked with 9 families with children aged under 5, to make storygazers – which they then used to search for stories in the trees. As you can imagine, it was a wonderful way of bringing the woods to life for little ones.

Click here to find out more about our Play on the Wildside sessions

We’re launching free Play & Lend Woodland Sessions from Wednesday 4th May to give children aged under 5 the chance to enjoy playing outside in nature.

The new sessions are part of our Play on the Wildside scheme which aims to provide outdoor, nature inspired play for all the family.

Shockingly, only 21% of children play outside in the street or an area close to their homes now, compared to 71% of children from the last generation – according to research commissioned by the national organisation Play England.

We’re trying to improve on that figure by giving children safe ways to play outside.

The first session will take place at Bulwell Hall Park on Sandhurst Road in Bulwell on Wednesday 4th May from 1pm to 2.30pm.

Sessions will then be held every Wednesday at the same time and venue.

The sessions will give under 5′s and their parents and carers the chance to enjoy playing outdoors whilst introducing their children to the natural world around them.

Activities will be run by our qualified and experienced staff and will include nature-inspired arts and crafts and outdoor games.

Our Play on the Wildside project is being funded by the Big Lottery Fund through Natural England’s Access to Nature Programme for 2.5 years. As part of the project, we also run after school and holiday sessions for 5 to 13 year olds on Bulwell Hall Park.

We’re also launching Play on the Wildside family sessions from Saturday 14th May which will be held every second Saturday of the month to give families the chance to enjoy the great outdoors together – as a family.

To find out more please call Jane or Steve on 0115 975 3898.

We’re very excited to say we’re launching a brand new project on Friday 1st April called Play on the Wildside.

The project will offer ‘nature inspired play for all the family’ and will include regular nature-based play sessions held at Bulwell Hall Park. It’s being funded by the Big Lottery Fund through Natural England’s Access to Nature Programme for 2.5 years.

Activities for 5 to 13 year olds

Play sessions will include regular outdoor play sessions for 5 to 13 year olds. These will run during term time on Wednesdays and Fridays from 4pm to 6pm and on Saturdays from 11am to 3pm. During school holidays sessions will run on Wednesdays and Fridays from 11am to 3pm. Sessions start on Friday 1st April and will include adventurous play, woodland and nature crafts and games, campfire cooking and lots more muddy fun!

All sessions will be run by our experienced play workers.

Children are welcome to come along to these sessions at any time but because of the nature of the activities, we ask that all children take home a membership form to be filled out by a parent or guardian before they attend their first session.

Coming soon – new sessions for under 5′s

The project will also include ‘Play & Lend Woodland Sessions’ for children aged under 5 and their parents and carers. These will be held on Wednesdays from 1pm to 2.30pm. The first session will be on Wednesday 4th May but you’re welcome to get in touch with us now to find out more.

Coming soon – new play sessions for all the family

Plus, the project will run monthly family sessions which will be held every second Saturday in the month. The first session will be on Saturday 14th May but once again, feel free to contact us before then if you’d like more details.

The monthly family sessions are a chance for the whole family to get outside and have fun and activities will include exploring Bulwell Hall Park, making bird boxes, family challenges, nature trails, making things to take home and trips to other nature-rich venues in Nottingham.

To find out more please call Jane on 0115 975 3898 or email jane@toy-library.co.uk

Download our  Play on the Wildside Flyer

Have you ever made something for your children to play with?

Did your parents or grandparents have a great idea for a plaything or game that didn’t cost the earth?

We’d love to hear about it!

Toys can be expensive and many families just can’t afford to keep buying new ones, that’s why the Toy Library was set up 30 years ago.

However there are also many ways to make playthings, fun activities and games for next to nothing. Children have been playing for a very long time before there were mass produced toys.

Do you have an example of something you’ve made or used for children to play with using everyday items or your local environment?

Whether you’re a child, parent or grandparent – or if it’s something from last week or 50 years ago, why not share your idea with us?

Some common ideas are making sock puppets, threading pasta necklaces, cars made of big cardboard boxes, hopscotch, walking along without stepping on the cracks in the pavement……. We know there are thousands of others and want as many as possible.

If you have an example to share with us, please tell us in the ‘Leave a reply’ box below or send your ideas and pictures to ideas@toy-library.co.uk