19/09/07 Snap! Halloween Fete
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SNAP! Crèche at the Grafton Centre
Enjoy the best in relaxed shopping at the Grafton Centre while your kids have great fun at SNAP!
Open from Monday 24 September
| Opening Times |
Monday |
10am - 2pm |
3pm - 5.30pm |
Tuesday |
10am - 2pm |
3pm - 5.30pm |
Wednesday |
10am - 2pm |
3pm - 7pm |
Thursday |
10am - 2pm |
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Friday |
10am - 2pm |
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Saturday |
10am - 6pm |
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Sunday |
10am - 4pm |
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Let Snap! host your child’s birthday party at the Grafton Crèche, Thursdays and Fridays from 3 - 5.30pm with themed events to make their day totally Snap!tastic!
Music, Storybook and movement session starting soon!
Call in for details of all our adventures – find us next to the Cinema and Food hall on the first floor
Snap! Crèche is Ofsted registered and inspected and staffed by a fully qualified team. £6 per child per hour.
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14/10/06 Snap! Halloween Fete
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Join us on Saturday 14th October at our Hauxton setting for the Snap! Halloween Fete! There'll be lots of frightingly good fun for all with oodles of entertainment for the kids!
Aside form the traditional apple bobbing and spooky stories, we have a special Halloween barbeque, bat throwing, ghost painting, pumpkin making, spooky face painting, treasure hunting, a bouncy castle and even a vampire goalie to beat! The nursery will be converted into a a ghostly house (not too frightening though!) and we will have visits and competitions
from the Explorer magazine Beetle and Q103’s Black Thunder team!
Join us for the fun at our nursery in Hauxton:
33 Hight Street, Hauxton, CB2 5HW from 2pm - 4.30pm.
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23/07/06 Snap! Graduation Show
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The children from SNAP! 4 Kids childcare enthralled a packed theatre at The Junction on Sunday, 23rd July when they performed their adaptation of popular childrens book, Commotion In The Ocean.
This was to celebrate the graduation of those children ready to move on from Snap! to ‘big’ school.
Children from two of SNAP!’s nurseries, one in Hauxton and one in Cambridge City Centre, took part in the spectacle. More than eighty children made their stage debut dazzling both family and friends with their accomplished performance!
“Commotion In The Ocean was absolutely fabulous! The children performed brilliantly and the staff showed so much passion and commitment”, said Mrs H.Khan. “It makes me feel so proud of experiencing the skills and dedication that SNAP! provide. The atmosphere made us feel like part of a family which SNAP! surely caters to.”
With rucksacks for shells, turtles swam around the stage as Red SNAPpers wove through the waves around them. Then, just when you thought it was safe to go back on the stage, a shiver of sharks were set loose in a dancing frenzy! This is just a minnowsworth of the amazing array of performing sealife that sang and danced their gills off to a delighted audience!
“At the end I had tears in my eyes and pins & needles in my hands from clapping so much!” Mrs J. Wheeler-Mills
After the performance and wearing their mortar boards, the graduates from Cambridge and Hauxton were presented with leavers medals and certificates by their Pre-School teachers Vicky Cornwell and Rose Allen. This was a touching moment for all present as staff had been looking after some of these children since they were three months old.
Janet Robertson & Kenny Forrest, the Directors and founders of Snap! say, ”Imagination and self expression build very quickly in our children. Planting imagination as the foundation for learning enables every child to grow and flourish in whatever direction they may choose. We never forget that imagination gave us as many Einsteins as it did Mozarts!“
The philosophy behind our Arts Enrichment & Creative Education is a simple one. Children learn through play and by stimulating the imagination you make them want to learn. As we say - If you’re angry, have a dance. If you’re sad, have a sing. If you’re tired, find some good colours and paint yourself better…and if you just might burst with happiness, then find a costume and explode!”
“Having the opportunity to perform in a theatre venue enriches the experience for the children. We would like to send our warmest thanks to The Junction and its staff for all their support during this project.”
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Summer 2006 Snap! Creatives
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This last year has been a very busy one for the Snap! Creatives team. Snap! Creatives is a team of dedicated theatre professionals, led by Snap! Directors Janet Robertson and Kenny Forrest, who work with young people throughout Britain through theatre workshops.
Throughout the last academic year Janet spent time working with a group of young people in Wolddgate Performing Arts College Yorkshire on a production of ‘Les Misérables – School Edition’. The show was performed in December to parents and friends and enjoyed by all.
The summer kicked off in June with ‘Les Misérables – Schools Edition’ again, this time in the MacRobert Arts Theatre in Stirling, Scotland. The team worked with a group of 40 children between the ages of 10 and 18 over two weeks, and staged two performances in the theatre. The show was a great success, and the Snap! team made a lot of new friends.
The second event of the summer was a two-week rehearsal of ‘The Jungle Book - Kids’ with ages 8 – 12 in the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. This was another fantastic success, with the stunning costumes and children’s enthusiasm during performances amazing the audience. This show was followed by ‘Smokey Joe’s Café’ in the same venue, but with older children. This time the songs of Leiber and Stoller were brought to life by children aged between 12 and 18, and the cast performed with amazing energy and definitely deserved the standing ovations they received.
August brought the team down to Cambridge, for three weeks of the Snap! Summer Academy. These were three one-week theatre workshops run is association with South Cambridgeshire District Council, with rehearsals from 9.30 – 5 each day and a performance for family and friends at the end of the week. The first week the team worked on ‘Guys and Dolls – Junior’ in Swavesey Village Collage with 32 children between the ages of 8 and 15. The second week was the well-known ‘Aladdin – Jr.’ with 37 young people. And for the final week we were in Melbourn Village College rehearsing ‘The Jungle Book - Kids’ for a second time. For this show the cast was much larger – 60 children performed at the end of the week. Each production went really well, all the children worked very hard, and everyone loved the performances.
The team are re-working Smokey Joe's Cafe with the same group of young people as before during the October break. All involved feel that with another week of rehearsals the performances could be stunning, and are extremely enthusiastic about having the chance to revisit the show and progress it further with extra time and experience. This is a very rare opportunity and we cannot wait to see how it goes!
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21/03/06
Snap! Hauxton Easter Egg Hunt
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Taking
place on Thursday 13th April, our kids and their families
will be holding an Easter Egg Hunt in and around the setting!
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16/03/06
Katheryn Rowland Music Workshops
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Snap!'s
latest Arts Professional in residence begins work at our
settings today - Thurs 16th March.
Some
of our parents may recognise flautist Kathryn from her previous
involvement at Snap! with Britten Sinfonia. After taking
some time off to have a child of her own (Summerly is currently
attending Snap! too!), Kathryn has come back to us in the
role of Arts Practitioner and is using her skills to develop
the kids musical knowledge and awareness.
A
big welcome back to Kathryn from all at Snap!
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27/01/06
Wordswell Speech & Language
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Launched
to coincide with I CAN's Chatterbox Challenge on Thursday
9th February 2006, Wordswell will be working with staff
at our settings to establish regular language enrichment
sessions as part of the nursery programme.
The
first sessions will take place during May to July of this
year and are being introduced as an optional extra for parents.
The sessions to be run will include:
For
more information on Wordswell, please visit our Partners page.
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10/11/05
Investor in People Celebration Tea
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To
celebrate Snap! 4 Kids being granted the prestigious Investor
in People Award, we will be having a celebratory tea party
at all our settings.
This
is a chance for parents to join staff and children in recognising
the achievement, and to reaffirm their descision to use
Snap! 4 Kids for their childcare.
Tea,
juice, cakes, scones and specially made Investor in People
cakes will be available to all
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05/10/05
Snap! 4 Kids - Investor in People
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On
Wednesday 5th October, Snap! 4 Kids was officially recognised
as an Investor in People.
This
was a very proud moment for everyone at Snap!, as it shows
that we think of our staff as our greatest asset.
Investors
in People is an internationally recognised quality standard
for the development of businesses and organisations through
good workforce development practice.
Only
10% of the current workforce in the UK work for a company
flying the Investors in People standard!
The
IiP Assessor recognised that Snap! 4 Kids has:
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01/11/05
Baby Signing @ Snap!
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Tuesday
1st November is the official introduction of TinyTalk's
Baby Signing to the Snap! settings.
After
many weeks of training, a number of our staff can now teach
& communicate with babies using up to 150
different signs!
Snap!
4 Kids in Hauxton & Cambridge are the first
nurseries in Cambridgeshire to have this training
and assessment which can help to communicate more effectively
with young children who cannot talk.
For
more detailed information, see our TinyTalk page.
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28/10/05
Snap! Little Stukeley - October Topic
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This
month - ANIMALS!.
After
some activities indoors, the setting was visited by a local
officer in his police car. The children learned about his
work and all got to sit in the car, wear his cap, see the
lights and hear the siren!
The
kids then visited the fire station at RAF Alconbury. Here
they met the officers on duty who showed them around the
station. After the fun of pretending to be firemen in the
engine, the kids were given a hose demonstration outside,
followed by the engine driving around with lights flashing
and sirens wailing! There was a surprise visit from Sparky
the fire station mascot too!
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31/08/05
Graduation month!
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August
is the time when some of our pre-school kids leave before
starting at school in September.
All
of our settings held parties to say goodbye and wish every
one of them good luck for their future. Each child had their
own mortar board to wear and went home with a graduation
certificate!
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29/07/05
Snap! Little Stukeley - July Topic
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During
July the pre-school kids at Snap! Little Stukeley covered
the topic 'People Who Help Us'.
After
some activities indoors, the setting was visited by a local
officer in his police car. The children learned about his
work and all got to sit in the car, wear his cap, see the
lights and hear the siren!
The
kids then visited the fire station at RAF Alconbury. Here
they met the officers on duty who showed them around the
station. After the fun of pretending to be firemen in the
engine, the kids were given a hose demonstration outside,
followed by the engine driving around with lights flashing
and sirens wailing! There was a surprise visit from Sparky
the fire station mascot too!
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07/05/05
Snap! Safari at the Grafton!
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Thursday
2nd June - Sunday 5th June
The Grafton Centre, Cambridge
The
culmination of The Best 4 Kids Awards Cambridge 2005!
Snap! will be on safari for four days this weekend, bringing
the sights and sounds of the jungle to The Grafton Centre!
Join us as we celebrate the Awards with:
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Face
Painting in the glade
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Storytime
in the safari tent
-
Singing
with the Snap! team
- Safari
Hunt
- Quicksandpit
- Zoolab
visit (Friday
1.15pm)
There
will also be lots of painting and drawing as we get you to
help us make the jungle even more exciting with your artwork!
Come
and visit Smiley as he keeps everyone entertained and get
your free rescue balloon!
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25/05/05
Smiley goes Swimming!
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This
week Smiley will be making an appearance at Parkside Pools
- he should feel right at home in the water!
If
you're going for a swim this Saturday 28th June, don't be
too concerned to see a crocodile in there with you! Smiley
will be coming along to help you with your stroke and give
you an opportunity to vote in this years Best 4 Kids Awards!
He'll be there from 12 noon so come along and join in the
fun!
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11/05/05
See Smiley at Tenpin!
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This
Saturday morning is for kids at Tenpin, with a disco &
full party in swing! Smiley will be there strutting his
stuff with the best!
This
Saturday 21st May, 11am-1pm.
Come along and join in the fun!
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11/05/05
Where's Smiley? ELC!
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The
Early Learning Centre are another previous recipient of
a Best 4 Kids Award, this one for the Best Place for Kids
to Shop. This Saturday, the 14th May, Smiley will be visiting
for storytime & to hand out some balloons!
Come
along and join in the fun!
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04/05/05
Smiley at Linton Zoo this Saturday!
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Smiley
will be making an appearance at Linton Zoo this Saturday,
May 7th.
2004's winner of Best Place for Kids to Visit, Linton
Zoo has had to do plenty of childcare themselves over
the last few months with three new tiger cubs, a pair of Tamarin
monkeys, and Tela the Brazilian Tapir all being born!
Smiley will be there from 12 til 2pm to say hello to the new
arrivals and get people voting for their favourites in this
years Best 4 Kids Awards. Come along and say hello too!
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07/03/05
Best 4 Kids Cambridge launch!
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Yes
it's back! The Best 4 Kids Cambridge awards have kicked off
for this year giving YOU the chance to reward you favourite
shop, venue or restaurant and let them know how much they're
appreciated!
Over the next few weeks you'll get your chance to vote by
either completing the form in the Town Crier or our online
form here. The awards consist
of three main categories: Best Place to Eat with Kids, Best
Place to Shop for Kids, and Best Place to Visit with Kids.
The votes will be counted up and the winners will be presented
with their awards at a special presentation in the Grafton
Centre. There will be lots of fun and games at the Centre
from Thursday 2nd June up until Sunday 5th when the awards
will be presented. A full itinerary will be available soon
(watch this space!) so you can come along and join in the
fun!
Get voting - it's all up to you!
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07/03/05
New Snap! Menus
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All
Snap! meals are freshly prepared on the premises by our cook's
Alexandra Richardson and Barbara Scott. They try to provide
a balanced nutritious diet for all the kids which, hopefully,
helps them to develop sensible eating habits. Special diets
or requests are also catered for and we are always willing
to provide alternative menus when neccessary.
To this end Alexandra has created new rotational menu's for
all the nurseries which cover all the food groups. The majority
of the food is home made including bread, cakes & pies.
You can view the menu's here
and they will also be included in our information packs.
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10/02/05
Ely Best 4 Kids Awards Day
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20/01/05
Ministers Teddy Bear Picnic
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Snap!
4 Kids in Chesterton recieved a visit today from Jacqui Smith,
Minister of State for the Department of Trade & Industry
and Government Minister for Women.
Mrs
Smith brought her own teddy bear to join in the fun after
hearing about Snap! creative childcare policies.
She
said: "Last year Labour ministers pledged to deliver
affordable and accessible childcare acrossthe country by the
end of a potential third parlimentary term of Government.
I wanted to have a look at very successful examples of childcare
and I wanted to see the way (Snap! 4 Kids) focus on creative
childcare.
We want to make sure there are different choices fr parents
and this is high quality childcare."
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20/01/05
Ely Best 4 Kids Awards 2005
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Snap!
4 Kids in association with the Ely
Standard & The
Lamb Hotel today launched Ely's own Best 4 Kids awards!
Rather than complain about bad businesses, we decided to celebrate
the GOOD ones instead! The awards will culminate in a presentation
ceremony & fun day at The Lamb Hotel in ELy on Saturday
5th February so come along and join in the fun!!
For full details on how YOU can vote for your favourite place
to eat, shop or go with the kids, visit the Awards
page on the Standard site.
There are prizes for voters, so get your vote in now!!
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On Friday 10th of December,Smiley the crocodile joined the
staff and kids of Snap! Ely in a winter walk around Ely.
They
were joined along the way by other parents and children before
they headed into the library for storytelling and Christmas
songs! Some of them even had their photo taken with Smiley!
All donations went to the Milton
Children's Hospice.
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11/04
Snap! comes to Hauxton!
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The
kids at Hauxton say hello to Smiley!
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We
are delighted to announce our newest arrival in Hauxton!
The Nursery was formerly known as MicroTots and we are very
pleased to be welcoming the existing staff and children to
the SNAP! family.
More details will follow soon!
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08/10/04
Teddy Bear's Tea Celebration!
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On Wednesday 13 October we had a Teddy Bear’s Tea
to celebrate SNAP! 4 Kids Ltd’s ownership of
6a Chapel Street in Chesterton.
Lots of parents and kid's came along to have tea
in the main hall, with lots of new faces taking a tour of
the building.
All
the kid's brought along their favourite teddy bear to join
in and Snappy the crocodile made a guest appearance too!
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02/09/04
Big Ideas with Small Partners!
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Local British Red Cross shop joins with Snap! to raise awareness
and raise funds!
The
British Red Cross Shop in Burleigh Street has come up with
a brilliant idea to help young people learn more about those
in need of help. As part of the National Campaign to fill
Red Sacks with clothing and other items that can be sold in
their shops or distributed to those in need, they have found
some small and willing partners in our nursery in Chesterton.
Each
child will take home a red sack and see who can fill one to
the top. The nursery will use this opportunity to make children
aware of the ways in which they can help those less fortunate
than themselves.
Diane
Collins, from the Red Cross Burleigh Street Shop, will receive
the sacks from Smiley the Crocodile and children and parents
at Snap!’s nursery, on Monday September 13th at 10.30
a.m. As a special thank you, a local face painter will work
with a group of children, teaching them how to create a variety
of different artistic and themed effects.
Click
here
for more information on the Red Cross.
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02/09/04
Smiley takes to the Library!
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Every
fortnight from 27th August, Snap! nursery staff and Smiley
the Crocodile will be in Ely Library to read and share stories
with children.
Nursery
Manager, Rachel Watson, comments, “ We know how much
children enjoy stories being brought to life and thought we
could help. Smiley likes to join in too and sing a few songs
at the end of the sessions!”
Anyone
is welcome to come to the half hour sessions at 2pm and we
hope it will be an enjoyable thing to look forward to with
your children.
Click
here
for more information on Ely library.
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20/08/04
September Symphony!
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Britten Sinfonia: Professional, Regional Orchestra teams up
with Snap!
It
is a huge coup for our forward-looking company that in September,
we will become the first nursery in the UK to have a professional
regional orchestra in residence for a year.
Britten
Sinfonia has developed a scheme with the nurseries in Chesterton
and Ely involving weekly visits from a professional project
leader and a selection of instrumentalists from the orchestra.
With funding from Youth Music and support from Britten Sinfonia’s
Kathryn Rowland, the project will run for the coming year.
The
nursery staff and many parents are excited about the enjoyment
these workshops will bring, and the developments in skills
building, knowledge and understanding that will be achieved.
The music projects will also spill into the general topic
time and fill many of the curriculum requirements.
Janet
Robertson, Snap!’s Co-Director comments, “We will
be looking to develop the children’s non-verbal communication
skills including their ability to listen in a variety of ways,
and to introduce them to orchestral music and instruments
and how the noises are made! The children will learn to take
turns and also to work as a team. They will increase their
numerate ability through rhythm work, and their scientific
knowledge through seeing how instruments are made. And it
will be so much fun!”
For
more information: www.brittensinfonia.co.uk
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On 14th of July, staff and parents from the Snap! nurseries
took all the kids on an outing to Wicksteed
Park in Kettering for a day of fun in the sun! Everybody
had a great time in the grounds and on the rides - a fantastic
day out for kids of all ages!
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04/05/04
Britten Sinfonia in residence
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Britten
Sinfonia, a world-class Chamber Orchestra, will be visiting
Snap! Cambridge and Snap! Ely from September 2004 through
to April 2005.
This
unique opportunity to have such gifted musicians in our nurseries,
working with your children to create new music, is made available
through a programme of workshops called Starting Out.
More
information will be available here as dates are fixed - we
hope to have some 'tasters' in the summer term too!
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24/04/04
Best 4 Kids! Awards launch
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Its time
for the 3rd Annual Best 4 Kids Awards and your chance to vote
for the businesses
you believe offer the best services for young children.
Categories
include - Best Place to Shop, Best Place to Visit and Best
Place to Eat.
The
Awards will be launched on Saturday 24th April at Cherry Hinton
Hall. Of course, being Snap!, there will be lots of exciting
events for children and parents/carers alike to take part
in! They include a bouncy castle, an air slide, a treasure
hunt, childrens rides, and a balloon race in aid of Milton
Children's Hospice.
Join
in the fun at Cherry Hinton Hall from 2PM til 4PM and don't
forget to vote for your favourite businesses!
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13/03/04
Ely Activity Open Day
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On Saturday 13th March, Snap! Ely held an activity open day
for interested parents & carers. With a chance to see
this new nursery's facilities, the day proved to be an undeniable
success!
Many
parents & carers came along to have a look around, while
their children were given the opportunity to try some of Snap!'s
activities. These included gloop play(!), sensory story telling,
magical music & movement, parachute garden games, giant
painting & surprise visitors!.
Everyone
was impressed with the facilities on offer and the obvious
dedication shown by the staff. If you didn't make it - you
missed a lot of fun! (Photo's coming soon!)
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09/03/04
Ely Toddle Waddle
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On
Tuesday 9th March, Snap! went for a fun walk through Ely.
The kids were delighted when Snappy showed up to tag along!
(see pic)
Children
from the Ely nursery were accompanied by other's who wanted
to take part, with all proceeds from the 50p joining fee going
to the Children's
Hospice, Milton. Each child also received a medal for
taking part!
Following
a stroll through the town centre & Jubilee Gardens, Snappy
helped the kids feed the ducks down by the river.
Great
fun was had by all!
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06/03/04
Stukeley Activity Open Day
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The new Snap! nursery in Little Stukeley opened its doors
to all on Saturday 6th March with great results.
A
number of parents & carers from the surrounding area came
to celebrate the opening with us in a day filled with fun
for adults and children alike. After looking around the extensive
facilities, everyone joined in with the sort of activities
children can expect to take part in whilst with Snap!. These
included Slime cooking(!), sensory story telling, magical
music making & mask making.
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