Book now for kids' holiday activities

Rides aboard trolley racers, paddleboards and scooters feature in the holiday fun for Wairarapa children this summer.

Sandy Ryan, manager of Masterton Safe and Healthy Community Council, said the MSHCC Summer School Holiday Programmes start on January 14 and all activities are free to enter.

The programmes are designed for children aged 5 to 13 and will be run at Lakeview, Masterton Intermediate and Masterton Primary schools from 10am-3pm.

"The programme this summer is unique from anything we have seen in the Wairarapa before. For the first time in the region we will have stand-up paddleboards with the Wind Warriors from Foxton, a charter bus for kids south of Masterton and scooter safety."

The programme will be open for the first time to children from Carterton to Featherston aged 11 to 13. A bus will depart from the Kia Ora Dairy in Featherston each morning marked charter and will stop along State Highway 2 when flagged down by pre-enrolled children, Mrs Ryan said.

The bus will daily return to Featherston at the completion of the holiday events, she said.

Mrs Ryan said the morning events will be sports-based and will include the popular Rippa Rugby, cricket and softball.

Scooter workshops will be held on the first Monday for 5- to 7-year-olds that aims to teach the safe use of a scooter.

After a supplied lunch, a new reading programme will be introduced at Lakeview School on Wednesdays that will include a range of word and numbers activities and puzzles.

Children aged 11 and over will join the Mens Shed at Henley Lake for "design and build, a tinkering school". "The first week we plan to build trolleys with teams of four designing and building their own trolley along with the trials and tribulations of design faults."

During the second week of the holiday programme, children will spend the day with the Wind Warriors, learning how to race stand-up paddleboards.

"I designed the programme to give children the chance to experience planning, leadership, make mistakes and find creative ways to remedy the problems and most importantly, working in teams to achieve an outcome," Mrs Ryan said.

"The children will be using real hand tools and power tools, painting, hammering, bolting, you name it they may be doing it, and it will all come down to their design."

Children under 11 will be involved in swimming and water activities in the afternoons, Mrs Ryan said.

The programme has a limited number of vacancies and parents and carers are encouraged to enrol early.

The MSHCC offices reopen on January 7 .

Enrolments will also be taken at Wairarapa Community Centre in Perry St and can be downloaded from the MSHCC website at www.mshcc.org.nz

For more information call MSHCC 378-8900 or Wairarapa Community Centre 377-1022.