Gayle's Guide ✨ 23rd January 25
Issue 40 - Burns Brunch in a brewery, Lunar New Year crafts, plenty of ceilidhs, a graffiti workshop and much more!
Happy almost Burns’ Night! I just absolutely love that this country celebrates a dead poet’s 266th birthday so I thought this saltire in the sky was a good choice. There’s a few Burns’ events on this week and the Scottish Book Trust have a nice selection of Scots Books for Bairns if you wanted to grab something from the library to mark the occasion. There’s also some themed activities for Lunar New Year, so lots to celebrate.
Looks like I have something to celebrate too - that’s over 2,500 subscribers and 3,000 followers for this newsletter now! 😲 I’m not usually someone who gives themselves much credit but doing this is hard work and I’m actually pretty proud of it. Gayle’s Guide exists very intentionally away from the chaos of social media and is powered purely by word of mouth so thanks, as always for reading and for telling your friends. I really do appreciate it!
🌻ASN 🐣Baby 🐤Preschool 🐔Primary
Friday 24th ⚠️ Weather warnings, stay home!
Saturday 25th
🌙 Family Storytelling: Coorie Doon (3y+) 10.30-11.30 🐤🐔
📍 National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge
Fresh from their sold out book launch event at The Edinburgh Bookshop yesterday, here’s a chance to hear this brand new story, straight from the author’s (and illustrator’s) mouths, complete with interactive art activities.
🌋 Curiosity Club (7-11y) 10.30-12.00 🐔
📍 National Museum of Scotland, Chamber St
These sessions are for children to enjoy without their parents so an opportunity for a cheeky child-free coffee break for you! The theme will be Restless Earth where the kids will explore the museum’s treasures with activities and games. There's also the Relaxed Curiosity Club 🌻 for children with additional support needs at 14.30.
POSSIBLY SOLD OUT?? 🍻 The Big Burns Brunch 12.00-16.00
📍 Campervan Brewery Tap Room, Leith
Very tempted to uninvite our pals for Burn’s supper at ours and do this instead… How often are the kids actually welcome to join you at the pub? Here’s a 3 course meal with paired drinks, live trad, Burns recitals and even a “bairn’s menu”. £40 for an adult, £15 for the weans. I’m sure Rabbie himself would approve.
✨ The tickets for this are no longer on sale but maybe contact the venue just in case they have some at the door?
🎨 The Big Streetart Drop In (6y+) 13.00-17.00 🐔
📍 Edinburgh Palette, London Road
How cool is this?? I would have absolutely LOVED something like this as a kid! Don your “I don’t care streetwear”, get creative with stencils and spray paint and unleash their inner Banksy.
🍿 Family Movie Matinee 14.00 🆓
📍 Newington Library
Head along to the library to watch Brave for free! A fine Scottish afternoon treat on Burns Day.
🐍 Chinese Crafternoon 14.30-16.00 🆓
📍 Fountainbridge Library
Celebrating the Lunar New Year, here’s another themed craft session where kids can learn all about Chinese traditions.
✨To save you Googling, the Year of the Snake starts on the 29th January!
🎻 Davidson's Mains Family Ceilidh 17.00-19.30
📍 Davidson’s Mains Primary School
Not many tickets left for this fundraising ceilidh organised by the school parents’ association to raise money for the school. The ceilidh itself will be run by the fantastic Ceilidh Kids, who hold regular children’s dances (including tomorrow!)
Sunday 26th
🌟 Families’ Willow Star Lantern-Making Workshop 10.00-16.00
📍 Willowbrae Parish Church
Led by a professional basket weaver (there’s a career I was never told about in school), this workshop will show you and your kids how to make a star willow lantern. This one needs a bit of a commitment since the process will take the whole day. It’s intended that these lanterns will then be taken along to another event by Porty Community Energy, 💡 The Winter Light Parade on the 1st Feb (spotted in edi.bike) but either way, the lantern is yours to take home and it sounds like just a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.
👶🏼 Neonatal Families 10.30-11.30 🆓
📍 Kin Collective, Leith
I know from first hand experience how scary and isolating it can be having a premature baby so I am delighted to be able to share this event. Preemieccino is a quarterly meet up for families of babies born early or who were supported by NICU. Everyone is welcome including grandparents and siblings so you can all share your experiences and make connections with other families. Only a couple of tickets left now.
🎻 Burns Family Ceilidhs 14.00/15.15 🆓
📍 Corstorphine Old Parish Church
Another ceilidh, this time to celebrate Burns Day. We’ve been to a few of the dances run by Ceilidh Kids and they are so much fun! The dances themselves are highly simplified so even very young children can keep up but you can definitely still work up a sweat. Aimed at 3-9 year olds but all welcome. Free or by donation, just drop in and since it’s a Burns celebration, tartan is highly encouraged.
Monday 27th
🧩 Leith Cròileagan 09.15 🐤
📍 Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirce, Leith
Gaelic play sessions for young children and their parents on Monday mornings. So if you’re able to say a beagan fhacail, keep the language going into the next generation.
📽 Toddler Time: Zog and the Flying Doctors 11.00 🐤
📍 Cameo Picturehouse, Tollcross
Great to introduce little ones to the cinema without taking the gamble on an expensive film. Looks like they’ve put up the booking fee by a pound though, so it’s now a fiver for a child+adult.
🐍 Lunar New Year Party 15.45 🆓
📍 Craigmillar Library
”Join us on the 27th of January for craft, traditional snacks, and the story of the Chinese zodiac. We're also lucky enough to have our friends from Edinburgh Zoo visiting to tell us all about red pandas!”
Tuesday 28th
🎈 Soft Play 10.30/12.30/14.30 🐤
📍 North Merchiston Club, Polwarth
This is one of our regular haunts, now with extra sessions added. With lots of climbing and ride on toys plus two little bouncy castles, a trip here burns off some serious preschooler energy. My 4 year old ends up a pink, sweaty mess every time! You can easily see the kids from the sidelines too which means less chasing around than typical soft play sessions. Home baking, snacks and surprisingly decent coffee available. There’s also a weekly session on Fridays at 10.30 and an 🌻 ASN session at 12.30.
🐕🦺 Therapets (5+) 16.00-17.00 🐔🆓
📍 Newington Library
Head along on the last Tuesday of the month to meet a friendly dog and read them a story. What a fantastic and very sweet way to build a child’s confidence, both with reading and dogs. Booking is essential so call the library for your 15min slot.
Wednesday 29th
🗣 Chatterbooks (8-12y) 15.30-16.30 🐔🆓
📍 Granton Library
On every second Wednesday, here’s a wee kids’ book club to bridge the gap between home time and tea time.
🎞 Family Film and Food Night: Wonka 18.00 🆓
📍 Whale Arts, Wester Hailes
No such thing as a free lunch? Well here's a free dinner followed by a free film. Well done Whale Arts! 👏🏻
Thursday 30th
🍿 Watch with Baby: Presence 11.00 🐣
📍 Cameo Picturehouse, Tollcross
A spooky film your baby is invited to… not sure how scary it’ll get with the lights on and a load of weans screaming, but ya just gotta try these things or you’ll never know.
✨ Here’s another week’s worth of fun stuff for my paid subscribers, plus some events further down the road which I reckon will sell out quickly. Thanks so much for your support!