playgrounds

articles

• Playgrounds and bullying
• Indoor playgrounds and action for kids and teens
• Yeesh! Fun for Kids, the perfect winter birthday party

If you haven’t discovered it yet, Jozikids.co.za is the most up to date and detailed resource for parents in the Gauteng region to find what you need including events, activities, venues, parties and lessons. You’ll also find us on your cell phone, twitter and Facebook.

PLAYGROUNDS

In the absence of public playgrounds, we have found party venues  and restuarants with beautiful facilities who open their doors to the public at a nominal fee.

Moyo Fountains Groenkloof Pretoria  A creative art space for children. Come and play, create, learn African dances, face painting, hand washing ceremony n weekends there is a Jumping castle for kids and a jewellery making workshop running every hour  ( 10am-3pm) for R40 per child. plus a train running takes a tour through the park

Crazy Kidz Farmyard, Randburg open on R25 for kids, all day parents pay R10 if they bring their own snacks – 9am-5pm

Farmyard Frendz Party Venue in Northriding Children’s farmyard party venue with a playground, train & pony rides set in an exquisite landscape with a conservation area. Open to the public on Mon, Wed, Thur, Fri-Sun R20pp

FAMILY FUN

Meet the Swimming Stars, Ryk Neethling, Kyalami, Sep 1. Meet Ryk Neethling and other Gold Medalists at the open day of Ryk Neethling Swimming Stars school in Kyalami. Pictures and autographs. Waterslide and jumping castles, refreshments will be on sale. 11 am – 2pm, free.

Mr & Mrs Spring Day & shelter project, Cedar Junction, Zwavelpoort, Sep 1. Cedar Junction has a full mini scale 7,25 inch 1,2km train track with three different types of trains (Steam, diesel and petrol), these are replica’s of life size trains. The trip around the scenic park which starts at Gum Tree Station from platform 1,2 or 3 travels through tunnels and over bridges and takes approximately 7 minutes. Enjoy the views and the lovely country outdoors. Train Rides are R10/person. There is also a Super jungle gym, mini bike tracks, mountain biking, paddle boats and walks.

PARENTING HELP

How to understand and overcome bulllying, Bella Vida Bryanston, Aug 24- Friday for parents and teachers A deeper understanding of the bullying phenomenon so that intervention can take place in a way that facilitates the evolution for both parties in the dance of bullying; the bully and the bullied.

Takng the Blues out of Bullying Workshop, Equal Zeal Centurion, Sep 4-5, 8- Tues & Wed, for 6-18yr olds. Victims of bullying are often their own worst enemies. They seldom see how the choices of their actions lead them to becoming “the victim”. This empowering workshop emphasises children taking responsibility for who they are with techniques given for coping with bullying in an assertive manner

If you haven’t discovered it yet, Jozikids.co.za is the most up to date and detailed resource for parents in the Gauteng region to find what you need including events, activities, venues, parties and lessons. You’ll also find us on your cell phone, twitter and Facebook

Since its soooo cold at the moment we thought we should share great indoor venues you can go to on the weekend with your kids and teens.

INDOOR PLAYGROUNDS

Lets start with Playgrounds for the littlies

Orango Tango’s Ferndale,  Johannesburg
Play centre and party venue with complete party packages boasting Africa’s BIGGEST jungle gyms for toddlers and older kids, bumper cars, indoor soccer field, soft toy areas for little ones, Playstation 3 consoles, pool table, table tennis and an in house foodbar

Smudge Art Centre
Craighall Park Johannesburg
Smudge is a children’s art and creative play centre with a kids party venue

Jump N PlayNorthriding Fourways
Indoor play centre, party venue, jumping castles, jungle gyms, trampolines, eyeplay, playstation

Yeesh! Fun for kids
Bryanston & Woodmead, Johannesburg, kids indoor playground and party venue with facilities for parents, obstacle courses, jumping castles

Busy Bees
Midrand Johannesburg. Activity Centre for children featuring, dance, fitness, music, golf, arts & crafts and cooking. Busy Bees is an activity centre for children aged 3-10. The centre will also have a nurse for weighing babies, an osteopath and a children’s hairdresser.

Bambinos Indoor PlayZone & Coffee Bar
Honeydew Roodepoort. Bambinos Indoor Playzone & Coffee Bar is a concept aimed at parents with children under the age of ten who are looking for a safe, secure and fun environment where their children can play and explore for hours on end while they relax in a customer friendly and quality coffee bar with total peace of mind..

INDOOR ACTION FOR OLDER KIDS

Then for  older kids and teenagers click here to find  indoor activities such as go-karting, laser tag games, ice skating, bumboarding  and wall climbing throughout the Gauteng region.

by Nicki Dadic, tattooed wife to David, mum to Luca Jack, marketing & digital consultant & social media girl, full-time gleek, part-time blogger. Visit her on facebook, twitter and her blog

Having a Winter baby is not the brightest idea, especially when it comes to birthday parties – I should know, as I celebrate my birthday in the very middle of June. Summer kids get to have birthday braais, pool parties with slip ‘n slides and water pistols, pony rides and petting zoos and long hot afternoons, while Winter kids end up taking two friends to the movies and calling it a day after a couple of hours. Now, you can’t exactly take a couple of two year olds to the movies, so last year I made the mistake of having Luca’s first birthday party at a semi-outdoor venue and the short version of day’s events, is that it was a complete disaster.

This year I took the responsible route, the route that I assumed would be unexciting and that no one would really enjoy. Boy, was I wrong! Yeesh! in Woodmead was the perfect venue for a Winter toddler’s second birthday! The helpful staff took care of everything from the table set up, decor, snack packs and clean-up – which is the one thing that most moms hosting a party dread. I arranged my own catering for the adults, but Yeesh! does offer this service, as well as customized party packs, cakes, cupcakes and more. Being the control freak I am, I had to take charge of a couple of items – but had I had no time to pick up the adult eats, Yeesh! would have taken care of the entire party, from start to finish.

We took the morning slot of 10 to 12, which worked out perfectly for a group of 15 children, aged between 16 and 36 months. Everyone had arrived before 11, with a jumping castle, ball pit, padded climbing apparatus and slides keeping all the kids busy. At 11 we sang happy birthday and the little ones dug into Luca’s “Gru” cake and “Minion” cupcakes (it was a “Despicable Me” themed party) and after another half hour of play time, all of the moms started to notice tired eyes, whiney voices and the goodbyes slowly began. Two perfect hours of Winter party fun, all thanks to Yeesh! We’ll definitely do it again next year, with the bitter Jozi Winters keeping us limited to indoor party venues.

Thanks again Yeesh!