Range of activities celebrate our children

March 4th, 2013
[by David Armstrong]

A variety of events were held around Motueka over the weekend as families celebrated their treasurers - the children who will grow up to create the future of our town.

Children's Day, now a national event held on the first Sunday of March, was again based around a large "pool party" behind Parklands School pool, with a handful of other creative family events held on Saturday as well.

Sadly the pool party had no pool this year as the water had inexplicably become cloudy in the preceding week and, without lifeguards able to see the bottom, was deemed unsafe to swim in. However a sprinkler system set up on the grounds enabled kids in their togs to get some wet relief from the very warm sun.

Organised by Vision Motueka and Strengthening Families with the help of several other groups, the weekend dedicated to children began on Saturday morning with clay play in Decks Reserve under the guidance of Johnna from Little Picassos.

Children and their parents enjoyed making their small sculptures, and the cloudy weather meant the clay didn't dry before time. Here are some photos taken there.

About a dozen children wanting a more relaxing hour stopped in at the library for some storytelling. Busier than ever, the library had built up a display through the preceding week to highlight Children's Day.

Meanwhile. down at the head of the Motueka sandspit, members of the Arts Council were helping families build or sculpt structures made from sand, driftwood, shells and general flotsam.

Although the short space of time available meant no substantial structures were created, organiser Shirley Frater said it was good that the children could just experiment and let loose their imagination, with the help of their parents.

Here are a couple of photos taken in the area. The first shows the structure made by a large grown-up as the backdrop to the artistic effort of a younger creator.

Next it was off to the Community Gardens in Old Wharf Road, where Grant Douglas was the roadside advertising feature (first photo) - some unkind person said he didn't need to dress up for the occasion!

This event, which resulted in 12 classy, artictic scarecrows being installed, was a particular hit probably due to its novelty. It also drew the interest of the media (second photo).

One family, the Kroupas of House of Travel, said it was good that to build a scarecrow involved adults and children to work together and learn a new skill. There were certainly plenty of smiles to be seen, on both the scarecrows and their makers.

Sunday's pool party became a poolside party, with families coming and going over the three hours and taking part in a range of activities put on my volunteers, mainly from the Family Service Centre.

For the sporty minded there was a cricket match followed by a hotly contested game of Ki-o-Rahi (second photo below). The bouncy castle (courtesy of House of Travel) was always in use, and there were marquees and gazebos for activities such as nail and face painting, play-doh, and a time-out rest area for mums.

Comment by Linda Glew, Strengthening Families Coordinator:
[Posted 4 March 2013]

A big thank you to all the volunteers, supporters and groups who generously gave of their time and those who funded the activities for treasuring our children on their special day. We hope that children and families who took part in the activities had lots of fun! David, your work on publishing photos and a round up, have done the Children's Day events proud

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