Gayle's Guide ✨ 15th May 25
Issue 55 - North Edinburgh Community Festival, a new dads' cooking class and much more!
I could get used to this weather. If you’re not just chilling in the sunshine, here’s some other fun stuff to do.
🌻ASN 🐣Baby 🐤Preschool 🐔Primary
Friday 16th
💡 Sensory Disco (6-18m) 10.00 🐣
📍 Joy Tots, Ferry Road
These babies gotta party! Here’s a sweet wee sensory disco session, happening every Friday in this play cafe, promising some great tunes.
🎨 Family Fridays 10.00 (0-3y) 14.00 (3y+) 🐣🐤🐔🆓
📍 The National Gallery, The Mound
Every week during term-time, you and your kids can get stuck in with lots of play, sensory activities and hands-on making with artists. Not about on Fridays? Their Family Art Hub 🆓 is open daily and has books, art supplies and plenty of space to play.
🤱🏻 La Leche League Breastfeeding Support Group 14.00-15.30 🐣🆓
📍 LifeCare Centre, Stockbridge
This meeting is for anyone breastfeeding their child, at any stage of their journey and is definitely not just for those who are struggling. On the 3rd Friday of the month, the theme this month is “Mayday! Help for when breastfeeding doesn’t quite go to plan”.
Saturday 17th
☕ Dads Coffee and Play (0-3y) 10.00 🐣🐤
📍 Little Plaza, Leith
Nice to see another Dad-specific meet up, especially in a more central location. Tickets are a fiver including a hot drink from the cafe but kids older than 6 months will need to pay entry to play which is an additional £3. Still, not bad for a bit of time with the lads.
🎪 North Edinburgh Community Festival 12.00-17.30 🆓
📍 West Pilton Park
Live music, entertainment, food and stalls and of course, some fantastic North Edinburgh community vibes. Check out their Facebook page if you want to get involved as they may need extra helpers. There’s also some family festival stuff on at North Edinburgh Arts.
🐛 The Very Hungry Caterpillar Quiet Story Time Sessions (SAT/SUN) 15.30
📍 Edinburgh Zoo
If you’re going to the zoo this weekend, book your spot at one of these free storytelling sessions. There’s also The Very Hungry Caterpillar Trail which runs til the end of the month.
Sunday 18th
🦍 Big Kid Circus 15th-18th Feb
📍 Fort Kinnaird Shopping Centre
Complete with a 30ft King Kong! Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine…
⛔ SOLD OUT! Family Print Club (6y+) 10.15/14.00 🐔
📍 Edinburgh Printmakers, Fountainbridge
Here’s another of Edinburgh Printmakers’ family sessions. This one will give a child and their grown-up an introduction to blind embossing… whatever that is. This session is also on the 25th May.
Monday 19th
🎭 Bank Holiday Garden Party (4-10y) 09.30-15.30 🐔
📍 North Merchiston Club
Here’s a full day of activities (and most importantly, childcare!) for the May Bank Holiday, run by local kids’ theatre company, Inspire Theatre Workshops. They must indeed be very dramatic - they use more emojis than me, promising (and I quote):
A fantastic, fun-filled day in the sun, filled with hilarious, confidence-building Drama 🎭 Dance 💃 and Singing 🎶 activities all centred around Child Development and Inspire's "4 Cs ": Concentration 🧠,Communication 👀, Coordination🕺, and Confidence 🤩. 💭 mindfulness activities 🗺️ scavenger hunts 🎳 team games 🏃♂️ relay races 🎨 arts & crafts 🤫 quiet time 📚 storytelling
Tuesday 20th
🗣️ Language Playdates
📍 Little Plaza, Leith
This play cafe hosts weekly, family led play dates where parents/carers and their little ones can connect with others who speak their language. Here’s the options:
Spanish (Tuesdays 10.00-12.00 / Fridays 12.30-14.30
Italian (Tuesdays 12.30-14.30)
Mandarin (Wednesdays 10.00-12.00)
German (Wednesdays 12.30-14.30 / Fridays 10.00-12.00)
👨🍳 Dishes with Dad 18.30-19.30 🐣🆓
📍 Gorgie Mem
What a fantastic idea! Dads Rock usually has a dads and baby group at this time on Tuesdays but looks like there’s been an upgrade. The first cooking session is on the 13th May so I wanted to give you delightful paid subs the chance to be one of the pioneering bunch of dads who come together to cook, eat and mind their babies. Love, love, love! Well done Dads Rock! 👏🏻
Wednesday 21st
📚 Bookbug at the Museum (0-4y) 09.30-10.00 🐣🐤🆓
📍 Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage, Leith
Bookbug sessions are held weekly in libraries all over town and are a wonderful way to introduce your little ones to the magic of books and storytelling. This one has the added bonus of being in the Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage. Know anyone who likes fire engines?
⛑ Baby and Child First Aid 18.30-20.30
📍 Bellfield, Portobello
Ok, not one to bring your child to (although, I believe non-mobile babies are welcome), but if you’ve been meaning to book a baby/child specific first aid course, here’s your reminder. There’s also more options for the same workshops in different parts of the city on different days so check the link above for more options.
Thursday 22nd
📚 Under 5s Storytime 09.30-10.00 🐣🐤🆓
📍 The Edinburgh Bookshop, Bruntsfield
These drop-in storytelling sessions are on every Thursday and Friday morning in The Edinburgh Bookshop. The shop has a wonderful children’s book nook at the back and they also run kids’ book clubs.
🎨 CREATE (0-5y) 10.00-12.00 🐣🐤🆓
📍 Pilton Youth & Children’s Project
Run by North Edinburgh Arts, these drop-in creative play sessions aimed at local families give parents and their little ones the chance to bond while enjoying some crafts, music and sensory activities.
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