Shy mum looking for a friendly mother and toddler group in the Corby/Kettering area

[EmmaJHarvey]

Hi I wondered if anyone could advise me of a friendly mother and toddler group to join. I have fifteen month old Harvey who is keen to make new friends and I would love to meet mums in the area as my friends live out of county. I am anxious about going to a big group on my own as have heard about some groups being cliquey am I alone in this?!

The children's centres are generally a really lovely place to start off I find. You can arrange for them to show you round and make you feel less worried to start off with and then you generally make friends. Depending on which area you are in, you can contact your local centre?

I recommend the Pen Green Centre in Corby. There are lots of groups there for mums and toddlers. I know there is a group called Tots'cise on a Thursday which is great and runs in both the morning and afternoon. I think there is also a drop-in style service on Wednesdays with a music group, messy play and use of a small soft play room all for something ridiculous like 50p. When the weather warms up there is also a "beach" area outdoors. More details here. There is a link to the centre timetable there too so you can see what groups run at what time.

Lots of the mums that use the centre do know each other already and it can seem a bit intimidating - but they have all been really friendly when I talked to them. The hard part is going regularly and then chatting to a familiar face. My youngest is at school now so I don't use the centre any more but I did go fairly regularly and it was just me and DS and I'm shy and had to force myself to strike up a conversation. But I did it and he enjoyed his time there.

Can I ask if you are based in Corby or in Kettering? PM me if you'd rather not make that information public.

Am based in Corby but am moving to Kettering this year so in two minds about where to go. Thankyou for letting me know about Pen Green that was really helpful :-) does sound really good! Like you I think I will just have to force myself to go somewhere as would be so good for Harvey. Am also a bit self conscious about being an older mum which I know is silly but it does help if there are mums around same age-30's.

I'm even older than that!

You'll find that there's a real mix of ages using the centre. Don't worry, just go for it but come back and let me know if you used the centre.

Pen Green is great, lovely facilities there. I'm 34 and I haven't felt bothered by my age there. Sure, there are younger mums too, but plenty also in 30s. I only have a little baby, but others say the Messy Play sessions are great for toddlers. You take them in old clothes, they have fun and get mucky, and then you go home to a nice clean house where you haven't had to worry about how you are going to get the playdough and paint out of the carpets.
If you pop along to Pen Green they will give you a timetable of when sessions are on and a quick tour of the centre.