More than just a holiday camp

Without invading his privacy too much I can say only that The Boy has not been having the easiest time of late and his confidence has taken a beating as a result. As a parent this has to be one of the saddest things to see happening to your child and The Man and I have been working our socks off to support and encourage our little boy.

Currently I’m 100% a stay at home parent. The Man has been working away during the week so I’ve been around to take up the slack and paying for a holiday course wasn’t really something I was considering until we were offered a day on The House of Fun half-term course in return for a couple of mentions on social media. I had a look into the course and saw that unlike many of the other courses I had seen advertised this one offered cookery and art alongside the endless sports options.

The Boy, despite being HIGHLY active, is not generally that keen on organised sports, but he loves art and cooking and gets a lot of happiness from them. Thinking of how much he had been down in the dumps about his involvement in organised activities generally this seemed like it might be a good option for him so I cautiously signed him up.

Art facilities at House of fun holiday camp — Art facilities

Well, I cannot speak highly enough of The House of Fun, a holiday camp created and run by teachers and held at the Thomas Reade Primary School, Abingdon. The staff were warm and welcoming, despite a sudden and uncharacteristic attack of crippling shyness from my son. The activities were engaging and well organised, the facilities were fantastic and it was obvious within seconds that the children were enthusiastic and entertained.With cookery classes making pizza and buns, computing sessions, various sports and an art room full of upcycled bits and bobs from Orinoco for the ‘Trash to Treasure’ projects I was a little envious of everything on offer, nevermind the amazing outdoor space and bouncy castle available during break times.

Enjoying this? READ Things to do in Oxford over the half term

Reluctantly I left my little boy cowering next to a staff member and had a lovely day out in Abingdon with The Girl, all the time half expecting a summons to come and collect him. But lo and behold, 5 o’clock rolled around and I turned up to find a very happy and excited ‘Pikachu’ running about, full of glee about the day he had had. More than this, his confidence in himself, his abilities and being in a learning environment has continued to grow since then and he returned to school this week with a greatly improved approach.

Children creating art from upcycled materials at House of Fun holiday camp — From trash to treasure – creating art from upcycled materials

I thought I’d just be doing a brief review of a holiday activity, and sure, I hope I’ve given enough info that you can judge whether this course would suit your child or not, but it turned out to be a very fortunate and fulfilling experience for my son. He’s going to be moving to a new school in the near future and taking part in this course has been such a positive experience that we can build on to help him prepare and be excited for the changes to come.