where to take 6yr old DD in Oxford

[purpleshark]

Hi, i've been to the usual places in Oxford with her, pitt rivers, iKidz, various parks but was trying to think of more places to go with her (ones that dont' cost too much, or are free would be even better ;) )
I'd love for her to be able to go somewhere to meet children her age so she can start to make friends out of school. We don't live near her school, so once home, there are no school friends nearby. I work full time, so haven't had the chance to meet any parents from her school and arrange anything. I feel quite bad about this as i have friends who say that their children have sleepovers etc, my DD has never had that. Although she's only 6, so i'm not so keen on her having sleepovers yet anyway. But just to be able to have some friends that she can see at the weekends etc would be nice for her.

Did you keep in contact with anyone when she was at nursery?

can't you sign her up for a local ballet / dance / gym class? My DD has made several friends through her ballet / gym classes and over the years, I have become good friends with some of the mums. My DDs now have two sets of friends to play with - school friends and their gym/ballet friends.

Pegasus Theatre off the Iffley road has some really good drama and dance courses, some of which meet at the weekend. They also do stuff in the school holidays. It's quite reasonably priced.

Only downside is that it's very popular. To combat the problem of oversubscription they make everyone attend a registration evening. Those who don't come to the registration evening get lowest priority in course booking. The registration evening for courses beginning in September is 13 June. If you can't get off work in time to attend the designated time slot for your daughter's age, I think they are flexible about letting you come to a different one; ring and ask.

www.pegasustheatre.org.uk

If she likes art this is brilliant: www.artworks.org.uk/about.html - art classes in termtime and holidays, both my dcs loved/ love it. But you have to wait until she is seven. It's in the Grandpont area.

Or if you want ballet, my dd enjoyed these -www.aadanceacademy.co.uk/ - various school / church halls in different parts of town.

Where are you in Oxford. Do you have a local community centre - it's a great way to find ballet, brownies, elfins, etc etc that your daughter would not only enjoy but make local friends too

I remembered this book: www.new-parent-network.info/publications.html - That's what you need, it is brilliant, even if not everything in it is up to date.
Pick-your-own strawberries etc is always a summer hit with primary-age children, if you have a car. Look online to find which one is nearest to your part of town.
good luck!

Oooh pleased I found this thread :-)