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Birthday party at The Messy Place

We had a little party in The Messy Place in Bishopbriggs for the little lady’s second birthday. We decided to have it in The Messy place for a number of reasons. The main one though is that I wanted to have a fun celebration with her toddler friends but really didn’t want to have it in our …

Back Bouncing & Rhyming

We went back to bounce & rhyme for the first time in AGES this morning. There’s songs & rhymes & stories & lots of other babies & toddlers. It’s still just as entertaining for the little lady as it’s always been. And it’s free. The groups are in libraries all over Glasgow. You can find …

Play Town Soft Play

We took a wee trip out to Bishopbriggs to meet a lovely mummy & toddler friend last week, and thought we’d all check out Play Town Soft Play whilst we were there.

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The Play Area

The baby/toddler area is pretty good. There’s a little ball pool, quite a few toys, a soft see-saw & an area to clamber up & round to get to the slide. It’s easy enough for a toddler to get round, and there are plenty toys to entertain a tiny tot too.

The main play frame is great. There are 3 levels with bits to freely run around and a couple of slides, one of which ends in a big ball pool. There’s also a mini flying fox & quite a few different bits to climb around.

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This was the first time my little lady ever wanted to play by herself in a soft play area :’-( so it gave me a slightly different perspective than I’ve had before. (I know, I’m becoming ever more obsolete with each passing day.) Anyway, the play frame is not huge, but a toddler (well, most toddlers – at least ones who haven’t the climbing abilities of Spiderman) can run around the different levels without getting to the big slides. That meant I could sit and have a chat, obviously whilst paying attention. It also meant that I could actually unclench a little and let her run around without worrying too much.

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It was quiet when we were there. But it was a midweek morning when schools were in so that’s not surprising!

The Food

The food is pretty standard soft play food – there’s sandwiches, toasties, paninis, potatoes, soup… The usual suspects. The kids menu is not what I’d like to see, but I say the same thing about pretty much every soft play we go to. We had a panini, which actually was quite nice. It’s pretty reasonably priced too.

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The Cost

It was £3.50 entry for us. It’s £4.50 for kids ages 4+ and £1 for babies up to age 1.

The Verdict

It was the perfect soft play for the toddler at this age (21 months). It was clean & the staff were friendly. I actually really liked it, and so did my little lady!

Play Town Soft Play is at 30 Wellington Road, Bishopbriggs

The Messy Place in Bishopbriggs

Sadly The Messy Place is now closed.

We’d been meaning to check out The Messy Place in Bishopbriggs for ages. I’d heard great things about it & so we met our toddler & mummy friend there for some messy play time.

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The Messy Place is exactly what it sounds like it’s going to be. Messy play for kids up to age 6. Very messy, in fact. But in a really good way. With the exception of painting & play doh, it’s pretty much all the stuff that I want my little lady to be able to do, but that makes such a mess we tend not to do in the house.

Each week is themed. It was construction week when we went along, so there were lots of diggers and trucks and spades and other construction themed toys in each of the play trays. As for the play trays… There was play doh, painting, a water table, sand pit, ice tray, craft table, and a tray with wood shavings to dig around in. So much for the kids to do. It really is fantastic.

There is a class structure. So there’s free play for most of the time, followed by a group activity (this week we made construction themed paintings using sponge stampers). Then you’ve got a bit of ‘clean-up-the-toddlers’ time and a few songs at the end.

The kids all get painting overalls at the beginning and there are loads of clean towels should you need them. It’s definitely worthwhile taking a change of clothes though – at least for the top half. Because messy is the key word!

Sessions last 1 hour and take place Monday – Thursday at 10.30am and 1pm, and on Fridays at 10.30am.

It costs £5 for the session (£2.50 for additional siblings) and mummies/daddies get a cuppa. Well worth it. The kids have an absolute ball.

Due to high demand, you have to book your place in advance now. (Nobody wants to go along to be told there’s no space for your kid!) you can do that by sending a message via The Messy Place facebook page.

The Messy Place is located in Bishopbriggs at 21 Park Avenue.

Turtle Tots Baby Swimming

It was certificate day at our Turtle Tots swimming class today. That’s us completed the level 2 toddler course, and we’ve been going to Turtle Tots for over a year, so I figured it was probably about time I did a review.

The Class

It was almost 16 months ago we started going, but I remember our first Turtle Tots class like it was yesterday. The Little Lady was about 12 weeks old and I wasn’t allowed to go in the pool yet (section took a while longer than it should’ve to heal) so her daddy took her instead whilst I sat and watched. There was lots of singing, with Hickory Dickory Dock where the baby goes up the clock being a definite favourite.

She was slightly nonplussed with being in the pool, but our teacher, Kim, was great. I enjoyed watching it, and my husband enjoyed the one-to-one time with her in the class, even if the Little Lady wasn’t overly enthused herself!

Her first submersion, about 4 classes in, was quite traumatic (for me) but again, she wasn’t that bothered. By the end of the term (and into the second term) I think she was the only kid who still cried after been dunked, but she was still happy to be in the pool.

As the classes and levels progressed you do a lot more with the babies, and use lots more equipment. Her favourite was always chasing the squirty fish around the pool, and in the earlier classes chewing on the foam mirror! She also always loved the singing.

In our most recent block she was jumping into the pool, holding onto the edge and monkey-monkeying (shuffling along the pool using her hands), kicking her legs, and we were doing submersions with her on my back holding on round my neck. She was also happy to be on her front in the water, kicking her legs with me just holding her hands.

The Venues

We’ve been to 4 of the venues over the past year and a bit. Some are better than others: some are in state of the art leisure centres and some are in schools – the facilities are obviously going to differ.

The Cost

It recently went up to £120 per term of 10 classes. That is pretty costly, but since the little lady and I (or the little lady and her daddy) have enjoyed the classes so much, and she has learned so much from them (and gotten lots of confidence in the water) I really think it’s been worthwhile.

The Verdict

It’s truly amazing seeing the progress of these tiny tots: jumping in, kicking their legs, using floats, holding onto the edge, going under water for a brief swim (and being happy about it) and really enjoying being in the pool! Not only has it given my Little Lady lots of confidence in the water, but it’s given me lots of confidence in taking her into the water too.

Her nursery recently took her swimming and they reported back that out of the 4 or 5 kids who were there that day, the Little Lady was the only one who was happy to jump in, who was kicking her legs and who was happy to be on her front in the water. Obviously I don’t know what she would’ve been like if she hadn’t gone to Turtle Tots classes, but I certainly wouldn’t have taken her swimming anywhere near as much.

As I said above, the classes are pretty costly – they’re the most expensive classes we’ve ever done, by quite a margin. But she and I, or she and her daddy have enjoyed them so much, and learned so much from them that I honestly think it’s been worthwhile.

Highly recommended.

The Details

Turtle Tots classes take place all over Glasgow and the surrounding areas. There’s bound to be a class near you. You can find more info on their facebook page & website.

Zoo Tots

We’ve been going to zoo tots for a few weeks now, and it’s one of the little lady’s favourite classes we’ve been too. It’s totally different from any of the other classes, mainly because there are various live animals there to pet or feed or look at. The Class The class structure is pretty much …

Breastfeeding support in Glasgow

I’m a breastfeeder. Or I am with my little lady. (Who knows what’ll happen if I eventually have another kid.) As I’ve written about before, it was difficult at the beginning. And I didn’t know what I was doing. But after the first few weeks it had all worked out and we were doing well. …

Bounce & Rhyme

We’ve been going to Bounce & Rhyme in the Mitchell Library for the past month or so. It’s exactly what it sounds like it’s going to be: a group of parents & babies/toddlers/pre-schoolers sitting singing songs and nursery rhymes whilst the babies get bounced on your knee and the toddlers attempt to escape from the kids …