Gayle's Guide ✨ 6th February 25
Issue 42 - Painting pebbles for penguins, bouncy inflatables, King Kong, a storytelling quilt, free magic and lots more fun this midterm!
Every once in a while, the camera on my battered old phone surprises me. I’m no photographer, but how gorgeous was the light on the canal a few days ago? If anyone has any nice photos they’ve taken around town and would like me to ruin them with a big Gayle’s Guide logo, feel free to send them in!
🌻ASN 🐣Baby 🐤Preschool 🐔Primary
Friday 7th
🍿 Toddler Club: Finding Nemo (1-5y) 09.15 🐤
📍 The Everyman Cinema, St James Quarter
Opening the newsletter again this week with another modern kids' classic, The Everyman, plays a blinder once more! 👏🏻 A ticket for this includes a seat for yourself and your little one plus a hot drink and slice of cake. Also showing on Sat 8th and Sun 9th.
🎽 Bumps & Baby Bootcamp Brunch 11.30 🐣
📍 MakeBelieve, West End
I’ve completely given up on New Year’s resolutions, but if you’re hoping to get your body moving, here’s an indoor workout where your baby is invited. There’s very few spaces left but it’s a monthly session so maybe getting fit can wait til next month… Coffee and chats after, obviously.
Saturday 8th
🐧 Penguin Love Pebbles 8th-16th Feb 10.00-14.00
📍 Edinburgh Zoo
This is too adorable. If you’re heading to the zoo over half term, you can buy a pebble to paint which will then be added into the penguin enclosure for the soon-to-be dads to select their favourites to build their nests with. Not too comfy but very, very cute. See what the little fellas are up to right now on the zoo’s webcam.
🎨 Family Art Class (6-12y) 10.30-12.30 🐔
📍 Birchwood Art Studio, Shandon
”Work as a family or go solo to make something creative and beautiful. Let ideas spark and the chat flow as you rise to the challenge of a different theme and new technique each month. The format is informal but loosely based on 'make then draw' - make a sculpture, model, print or painting, depending on the technique of the day, then - time and attention allowing, take inspiration from your unique piece and draw from it.”
🌍 Half Term: Collective Climate Action 8th-15th Feb 10.30-15.30 🆓
📍 National Museum of Scotland, Chamber St
The museum always comes through with something to keep the kids occupied during school holidays - and all year round, in all fairness. Here’s an opportunity for kids to meet climate impact advocates, get creative, and learn more about what the museum is doing for climate action.
🦍 Big Kid Circus 8th-16th Feb
📍 The Gyle Shopping Centre
Complete with a 30ft King Kong! Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine…
🍭 Candyland Play Area 8th-16th Feb
📍 Ocean Terminal
More shopping centres! This looks pretty cool. Our daughter went on a similar inflatable at the Meadows Festival in the summer and had to be physically escorted off it by one of the attendants cos she was just in the zone and completely oblivious to the announcements that time was up. It’s £4 for 10 mins so you’d better have a pretty iron-clad exit strategy planned or cash to burn.
Sunday 9th
🥔 Bridgend Potato Day 11.00-14.00 🆓
📍 Bridgend Farmhouse, Near Cameron Toll
Ok, this may be a bit stereotypically Irish of me… This event isn’t pegged as specifically family-friendly but Bridgend is such a wonderful place to visit with lovely woodland walks right from the gardens and a real community feel so I thought it would be a very nice way to spend a few hours on a Sunday. Hot drinks, cake and organic seed potatoes will be for sale, plus there’s a cafe if you’re wanting to have your lunch out. For anyone who hasn’t tried growing potatoes before, I highly recommend it as an activity with kids. Once the harvest comes round, it’s like a treasure hunt in the dirt to see how many potatoes (and worms) you can find.
🌱 First Signs of Spring 12.30-15.30 🆓
📍 North Merchiston Club/Harrison Park
Spotted a poster for this along the canal. There will be a drop in creative space for all ages offering free nature activities, plus a greenspace volunteering opportunity, plant discovery walk and some Spring Folklore to wash it all down. Lovely!
🌊 Sea and Wind: Danish Folk Tales (8y+) 14.00 🐔🆓
📍 Scottish Storytelling Centre, Royal Mile
”Join storyteller Svend-Erik Engh to celebrate the launch of our new exhibition Sea and Wind by Tea Bendix, featuring illustrations from Svend-Erik's collection Danish Folk Tales published by the History Press. Svend-Erik will select tales at random from the book for a fun afternoon of storytelling.”
Know someone needing to entertain kids?
Monday 10th
✨ Considering this is the start of the mid-term break, I was expecting to see loads of stuff on, but not really. I’d imagine lots of organisations are focusing on holiday clubs while those of us with preschool age kids fend for ourselves with all our regular haunts handed over to the Big Kids.
The Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage reopens today after their winter break (I think…) And there’s lots on at IKEA, including:
🥣 Breakfast With Bjorn 10th/12th Feb 09.30-10.30
🎲 Board Game Fika 10th/11th/15th Feb 14.00-17.00
📽 Toddler Time: Tabby McTat 11.00 🐤
📍 Cameo Picturehouse, Tollcross
I think I could recite this story, start to finish.
📚 Author Talk and Puppet Show - Lapin Is Hungry (3-7y) 13.00-14.00 🐤🐔🆓
📍 McDonald Road Library, Leith
Here’s a wee bilingual storytelling and puppet show, perfect for all your little boutchou.
Tuesday 11th
🖼 Sensory-friendly Morning 10.30-12.00 🌻🆓
📍 National Portrait Gallery, Queen St
A relaxed, half-term workshop of arts/crafts activities, aimed at children with autism or learning disabilities.
📚 Family Storytelling: Fables and Fabulous Beasts (6y+) 11.00/13.00
📍 National Library of Scotland
”Join storytellers Jan Bee Brown and Beverley Casebow for stories of wise (and foolish!) animals and fantastical beasts.”
🍿 Baby Club: A Complete Unknown (0-12m) 11.45 🐣
📍 The Everyman Cinema, St James Quarter
2hrs and 20mins of Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan with your baby (and many others!) A ticket for this includes a seat for yourself and your little one plus a hot drink and slice of cake.
🧵 Highland Story Quilts 14.00 🆓
📍 Balgreen Library
Lizzie McDougall grew up in Edinburgh and today she will be telling the younger generations some stories from the Highlands, illustrated beautifully by her absolutely gorgeous, handmade Highland Story Quilts.
🎩 Tricky Ricky Magic Show 14.30 🆓
📍 Newington Library
A free magic show! Just drop in.
Wednesday 12th
🧵 One-Day Kids Sewing Workshop (8-14y) 09.00-15.00 🐔
📍 Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Leith
If you’ve not booked a full holiday club this week, here’s a one day workshop where your child can learn basic sewing machine skills, clothing repairs and create something unique like a pencil case or cushion cover.
*UPDATED*🍑 One Bum Cinema Club: Manipulate Festival Library Tour 10.00 🆓
📍 Craigmillar Library
I love finding the quirky little things the city’s creatives get up to! Here’s a tiny, pop-up cinema in a wooden box where you and your little one can squeeze in and watch some short animations from the Manipulate Festival of animated film, puppetry and visual theatre (which starts today!) This little cinema box is touring round Edinburgh from the following dates in these libraries.
✨UPDATE: Apologies, there’s conflicting info on two websites for this but I believe this is the updated schedule. Thanks to Clidna for highlighting this!
12th - 21st Feb: Craigmillar
21st Feb - 4th March: Gilmerton
6th March - 16th March - Wester Hailes
Thursday 13th
👖 Family Sewing Day 10.00-15.00
📍 St Margaret’s House, London Road
Another full day of sewing! This one isn’t cheap - it’s £90 (maybe you have some Christmas present money left??) But the class is for an adult and child so both of you will learn some basic sewing skills together while creating an upcycled jeans apron.
🕺 Hip Hop Family Class 10.30-11.00
📍 Astoria Centre, Corstorphine
Most preschool age activities grind to a halt over mid term. Not this one! Older kids are welcome too and there’s even a sibling discount. Not only that, but if you hang around afterwards, there’s a drop-in Mum’s Fitness Class 11.15-12.00 where your little ones are welcome to stay and play while you work up a sweat. So… you’re telling me that childcare is no longer a barrier to me getting some exercise?? With all the research that goes into this newsletter, I’ve hardly ever come across any classes like this so thanks to fitness instructor Tanya for sending it in. Now, if she can just find a cure for my chronic laziness… 🦥
🤱🏾 Lothian Breastfeeding Buddies 10.30-11.30 🆓
📍 Cameron House, Prestonfield
An NCT run group to get support with breastfeeding and have a blether.
♻ Some interesting stuff I came across this week:
💻 Donate Old Tech
📍 The Edinburgh Remakery, Leith
Following on from last week’s discovery of NappiRunz (for nappy donations), here’s a map of where you can donate old tech like laptops and phones to The Edinburgh Remakery, who will refurbish and rehome them to people in need. The donation boxes move around but they are currently in Morningside, Meadowbank and Leith. I’m sure ye know about these things already but a nudge or reminder doesn’t hurt since we’re all guilty of hoarding these items in a junk drawer. And just imagine all the other junk we could fill it back up with once it's away!🧱 Donate Unwanted Lego
📍 North Merchiston Club, Polwarth
Can you tell I’m still in post-Christmas decluttering mode? If your kids have too much Lego or they aren’t playing with it anymore, the wonderful folk at the North Merchiston Club are hoping to start a Lego club so would be very grateful for any donations.
✨ Here’s another week’s worth of fun stuff for my paid subscribers. Thanks so much for your support!