To think things are a bit rubbish for kids/families even pre covid times

[Pippinthepup]

I’m almost seven months pregnant with my first child and have spent the festive period looking back on old photos from when I was a child (I grew up in the 90s and 00s) And it just seems that back then there was a lot more going on that children and their families could get involved with. When I was really young there used to be a teddy bears picnic at a castle local to me but I looked on their website and they stopped doing it in 2013 and there used to be a flower and a cake show in a village local to me that I always used to love going to but they stopped in 2015 due to lack of funding. Also more further afield events aren’t really the same as they were. I used to love going with my siblings and parents to the party in the park concerts in the early 2000s- I’ve spent ages googling for similar things (obviously they wouldn’t have been on for the last few years due to covid) but it doesn’t look like there’s been anything similar for years. I was just wondering if anyone with kids has noticed a lack of family events even before covid (completely understand with the smaller things though it might just be my area that’s a bit rubbish!). Also it would be lovely to hear family type events that people enjoy going to as a family

I'd say it's regional. We're in a small Kent town and there's tons of things going on for kids, both paid for and free. Loads of community events, playgroups etc. Organised by churches, community centres, other charity organisations etc.

It may just be that as this is your first child kids stuff hasn't been as much on your radar but once you are in the baby/child world you become aware of lots more stuff.

We seem to be lucky here .SC .Lots of things going on at WE, and holidays at NT and some smaller museums for children .In Summer there are many activities as well .

@GrendelsGrandma I think unfortunately that is part of the problem. There are so many second homes here that during the winter months there aren't actually that many families around!

I think it's regional. Not lived in Devon for more than 20 years (was in Tiverton for a while), but my recollection was a lot of fairly small, relatively self-contained communities and a heavy reliance on volunteer community groups to make things happen. I think it was Crediton that had a local, self-published newspaper that was indispensable if you were in town and almost incomprehensibly obscure if you lived more than 3 miles away. Cullompton might have done something similar. If the groups doing things like that have aged and not managed to renew themselves, they'll be gone now, of course.

Up here it's a bit different (or it was, pre-Covid). The university does a fair bit through its museums, some of the local churches are quite active with playgroups or fetes, the council has story time and craft sessions in its libraries and there are annual jazz, brass band and book festivals which usually have a fun day with free events aimed at families. Some of these might ask for a quid to contribute to snacks, but they were so cheap as to be effectively free.

The region also has some quite prominent museums - the Baltic in Gateshead has an excellent sensory room / craft area, plus lots of child-friendly exhibitions, the Glass Centre in Sunderland does glass-making demonstrations, often has colourful (if fragile!) exhibitions and a nice cafe with good views of the river, MIMA in Middlesbrough had its 'art trolley' on a Saturday afternoon, Discovery Museum in Newcastle has plenty of interactive exhibits and a water play area, Locomotion in Shildon is full of steam trains. All of those are free to visit, and they quite often had specific activities for children. You'll know better than me whether your bit of Devon has anything comparable - I can imagine Exeter might, but I wouldn't bet on finding this in Tivvy!

There's still community stuff going on - the village that has a scarecrow festival, the artists' cooperative creating transient artworks on the beaches - but to find it you need to be scouring the various village and community pages on FB. That can be a pain if you don't want a tonne of complaints about parking and questions about the local Hermes delivery driver amid the news of the bonfire night display or Santa's sleigh ride.

@Gingerbreadrules

I'd say it's regional. We're in a small Kent town and there's tons of things going on for kids, both paid for and free. Loads of community events, playgroups etc. Organised by churches, community centres, other charity organisations etc.

It may just be that as this is your first child kids stuff hasn't been as much on your radar but once you are in the baby/child world you become aware of lots more stuff.

That's also very true. Plenty of places that I knew about, but never thought of as a place to take pre-school kids.

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry

It's true though.

Aye, kids were perfect in the 90s and even better in the 70s, they had the decency to not even exist in the 50s.

Catch yourself on. There have been badly raised children throughout history.

Not so hot on insurance and so many staff per kid ratio back then though

Put on an event and a kid has an accident... what happens?

I think it's entitled behaviour that stops things running. We used to have a kids activity day here that was free and some parents let their kids run riot and break toys (deliberately) etc so it stopped. No one wants to volunteer to run it for obvious reasons now! It's a huge shame.

There is loads to do. Loads. You’ll find it as your kids grow up

Which bit of Devon are you in?
There is certainly stuff run by various local attractions, the museums in Exeter, Tiverton & Taunton.
What I do is follow attractions/museums etc on FB as well as local attraction pages (What's on in Devon/Somerset, Muddy Stilettos, etc) & check out the events tab on FB too.
As another PP says, as your child gets older you'll hear of other places/activities recommended by others too.

Not so hot on insurance and so many staff per kid ratio back then though

Put on an event and a kid has an accident... what happens?

What? how does people (adults) being slack with ratios and insurance equate to badly behaved children?

OP If there are any Home educating parents in your area I find they tend to know what is on for families near and far. You could ask if anyone has any suggestions for things to do. Although many HE parents tend to avoid the family event scene during the school holidays.

Lots of things used to be organised by parents/volunteers. This happens far more rarely now.
There also used to be far more community staff employed by councils to organise free things. Most of these posts have been gone for a while.

@LynxGiftsetAndSocks the laws around kids provision came in years ago. It did stop some voluntary stuff that was very badly run, but most activities carried on.

Yes, over a decade of austerity has killed off a lot of things.

I completely disagree. There is far more things to do with children these days than 20/30 years ago.

I think in my city (or area) it was really quite good in there holidays for children in general
Made a huge difference to us. I used to go to the activities regularly
In the summer this year it wasn't the same 😞
I think they'll use covid as an excuse and stop putting so much on 😞

I would say there is some truth to this where I live. A lot of free community type events have gone by the wayside. Some is funding, a lot I think is transitory families so the neighbourhood isn't stable, and also few adults not in paid employment to take things on.

And also I think insurance costs and other regulations, especially around serving food, have killed some activities.

I don’t think it’s true that there isn’t as much on. Kids can literally have any hobby they could think of nowadays. But I do agree that more things have to be paid for. I think the hey day was around when DS was born. There was all sorts going on at the SureStart centres and I worked at free council run playschemes every summer as a student, which just don’t exist anymore.

In terms of volunteering now, I can totally see why people don’t want to do it. You get 2 types of people; the ones that don’t volunteer and whinge about those that do and the ones that do volunteer until they get sick of the thanklessness of it.

We’re a tiny, rural community and DH and I volunteer at our local community hall. We’ve had nothing but moaning about everything we (as a committee) have tried to do. It’s too expensive, too busy, too early, too late etc, etc, etc. you only have to look at the threads on here with people moaning about scouting/ guiding leaders to see why it’s not worth the time and effort.

We talked about setting up a youth group but I said that there’s no way I would do it due to the complaining. People expect all singing, all dancing entertainment nowadays, it’s not enough to just provide a few activities.

I used to volunteer loads with kids. Spent hours and hours organising and running events and activities. Never again.

There is lots of stuff on but it's generally not on Google. It's usually listed on Facebook now and shared through Facebook. If you don't have kids already, you're probably not in the local groups where you would see events.

@APurpleSquirrel

Which bit of Devon are you in? There is certainly stuff run by various local attractions, the museums in Exeter, Tiverton & Taunton. What I do is follow attractions/museums etc on FB as well as local attraction pages (What's on in Devon/Somerset, Muddy Stilettos, etc) & check out the events tab on FB too. As another PP says, as your child gets older you'll hear of other places/activities recommended by others too.

^^this. You need to follow family organisations on Facebook and social media. That way, you will hear things. Local community centres often offer very cheap activities. Museums offer free ones. Your local health visitors may have a Facebook page and will point you to classes to meet other parents. Councils are also good.

For any SEN kids, opt for emails from
The Local Offer.

@RoyalFamilyFan

I used to volunteer loads with kids. Spent hours and hours organising and running events and activities. Never again.

Why not?

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

Most things with children need payment now, I think is the difference!

Yeah this is it. Nobody has time to volunteer so things which would have been free and organised by volunteers, just don't happen.