A Leeds mum who'd grown sick of there being 'no playgroups' for young children in her area has taken matters into her own hands.
Swarcliffe mum Charlotte Ellis, 33, has set up a business to get children using arts and crafts and even socialising before they enter nursery. The mum-of-four, aged three, six, eight and nine, called her business Seasons.
Former teaching assistant Charlotte says the nifty play group "brings the outdoors indoors" with arts, crafts and nature. It aims to give children an alternative to "looking at a screen", improving their mental health and wellbeing.
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Charlotte worked hard to earn a degree in early years development and studied children's holistic development for dissertation.
Charlotte said: "It's something that I feel I missed out on with my children. My little boy is three now and there's nothing in the area really that he could have done. There's no playgroups or anything in the area for that age range and they're just expected to go straight into nursery at three and have never socialised with other children unless it's friends or family.
"I feel like this is something that parents are going to want as well, plus we haven't socialised as parents either."
Sessions will be a mixture of adult and child led activities, as parents are invited to take part. Children will be encouraged to freely explore natural materials and have sensory experiences through activities such as homemade scented play dough and clay.
The children can create individual crafts by using seasonal natural materials and socialise with others during song and story time.
Seasons will be launched from October 24. Charlotte will be running sessions from Saint Luke's Hall in Swarcliffe and Scholes Village Hall. To find out more about prices and times, you can access Charlotte's business page here.
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