Getting outdoors with Better Start Bradford

When you have two young children, it can sometimes feel overwhelming and daunting getting out and about, especially in the colder months, but knowing that there is an organised activity with friendly faces gives me the motivation to take the children outside to have lots of fun. I also feel a real sense of community when I am at the Better Place and Forest School Play sessions at Bradford Moor and Peel Park, not only through the friends I have made, but also the staff that lead the sessions – they are so friendly.

My daughters love messy play activities and will spend ages interacting and messing with foam or jelly in the mud kitchen – they never want it to end! The sessions also give us lots of low-cost and no-cost ideas for activities to do at home, for example, we collected lots of natural resources such as leaves, twigs, flowers and pinecones and spent ages making nature faces – an activity which is completely free and so much fun!

I love the fact that there is so much open-ended play in nature to encourage the imaginations of my daughters, they loved playing a hide and seek game the other day where objects were hidden around the park and they had to find them and bring them back to make a matching pair on the mat.

Some of my friends with children don’t have a garden, they only have a yard so getting out to the park is a really great way for them to experience nature and greenery that they don’t have at home. As a mum, these sessions are essential for my well-being too – sometimes I don’t have an adult conversation for days until I go to an outdoor play session, where I can have a chat with other mums, and we can chat and motivate one another.

Thanks to these outdoor play activities, I am outdoors with my children more than I ever would have been, especially in the colder months. I am always prepared for the weather and have spare clothes, wellies and waterproofs ready packed, and I even have a stock of sand toys to use whenever we come across a Better Place sandpit!

About Better Place

Better Place is identifying and overseeing improvements to local parks and outdoor spaces with the aim of providing a healthier and happier environment for expectant parents, babies, young children and families. The project is also finding ways to reduce exposure to harmful traffic fumes for pregnant women and small children.

The Better Place project is a Better Start Bradford project that is being delivered in collaboration with Bradford Council, Bradford Trident, Groundwork UK, Public Health, voluntary and community sector groups and local people.

Check out our events and activities page to find out what the Better Place Activities team are doing in Bowling and Barkerend, Bradford Moor and Little Horton.