A bee at the Honeycomb

Over the Easter holiday we are planning a short camping trip to get away from our ever growing to do list, social media and all the other modern contraptions that so easily distract and concern us. We are going out to the bush laden with books, paper for writing and drawing and pen knives for creating miniature boats and rafts to float in the river. We will cook over a fire, sleep in a tent and not make any  more plans than that. We will chat and play games, reconnecting while taking deep breaths of tranquil air to relax our bodies and refresh our souls. However, to get to this longed-for oasis, we must first have a car journey laden with all the things we will need and with 2 boys inside! As a child, I have distinct memories of car journeys especially driving down to the South of France with a laden car where we would each be provided with a blow-up neck pillow (I loved my blue Mickey Mouse one) and the car would be well stocked with audio books on tape. Our long sufferi...

Our lovely employees One of our driving forces behind setting up The Honeycomb Hub has been to be a community centre where everyone is welcome and no-one feels alone. Though we have only been open a short while, one of the things we are most proud of is being able to offer employment to three young adults with Down Syndrome, Gao, Kutlo and Gorata, having been  inspired by the Brownies & downieS coffee shop in Cape Town ( - read their story here http://browniesdownies.co.za/about-us/) We are also talking to other groups and people about how else we can support a community that sometimes get overlooked in the job market. We are hoping to expand our program by working with local businesses to offer our employees different work experience opportunities to enable them to broaden their skillset and, hopefully, find their perfect job. We love having them but our hope is that we are not a forever job for Gao, Kutlo and Gorata but that we can enable them to find th...

I read a phrase recently which stuck with me - when you look at a child playing with a toy, which one is doing most of the thinking? This was particularly at the forefront of my mind as I sat down with a cup of peppermint tea to plan some of my classes when I was taken by the playing that was going on in front of me. Planning forgotten, instead a blog post was being written before my eyes: No formal introduction, no inconsequential small talk, just doing what comes naturally - playing together.  Upstairs at The Hub I can hear the occasional notes of music,  a countdown timer and words of determination and encouragement from our fitness director as 5 ladies take part in a Bulgarian bag and kettle bell workout. Two of the ladies have brought their children and while C (a 7 year old girl) is content for a while taking a book upstairs and watching the workout, P (a 4 year old boy) and M (a 2 year old girl) would much rather play downstairs. They explore Tiny Town, try ...

Postnatal fitness – Introducing our new 6 week course Starting on March 15 th we are launching our first 6 week course ‘Mamas and Babas & Postnatal Fit’. It will be a 1 hour class on Thursday’s at 11am, comprising of a 30 minute postnatal fitness classes and a 30 minute baby class giving mums the opportunity to bond with their new born through song, baby massage techniques and different sensory experiences. Babies are welcome to join you whilst you are exercising either in their car seat, in one of our baby bouncers or lying on a mat next to you and giving their feedback as loudly as they like. 9 Months pregnant After nine months of carrying around that precious cargo in your tummy and now adapting to your new routine with the new addition you may be looking at your pre-pregnancy clothes wondering when you are next going to be able to squeeze into that little black dress. During pregnancy a woman’s body goes through many physiological and anatomical changes and you ...

RUGBEES Rugbees is a 30 minute rugby structured play session for boys and girls aged 18  months - 5 years that combines coordination, ball skills and learning to play as a team. The activities bring together ball skills while also introducing numbers, counting colours and shapes to the participants. Rugby specific skills include finding a space, holding and running with the ball, passing the ball backwards, scoring a try and converting over a (miniature) try post. There are many benefits of ball play to child development including improving hand eye coordination and helping to master gross motor skills. Introducing children to sport and activity at a young age encourages them to get excited about exercise inspiring an active and healthy lifestyle from a young age. Many of the activities performed during a Rugbees session involve crossing the midline which is important to development on both a physical and cognitive level. Crossing the midline will help the lef...

           STEM is learning through investigation, experimentation and fun. STEM combines some of my favourite things. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and the best bit? There is not a text book in sight! You may also see STEM named STEAM where ART is included. Personally, I prefer STEM purely because I love gardening, plants and it suggests growth, however, I still put Art into the mix and one of my all time favourite activities is art inspired by times tables – what better way to learn them? I first started a STEM club back in 2007 with the brilliant Ian Murphy (now a Deputy Head Teacher at Heron Hill Primary School in Kendal) when we were teachers together at Britannia Village Primary School in East London. With a small group of 9 & 10 year olds we had the most fun testing out different theories, experimenting with different materials and expanding our knowledge. Some of my favourite activities were: Fun at one of our me...

Puppy Therapy - letting all your worries melt away! Thursday may well have been one of my favourite days ever - puppies at work! And though there is no denying that they were a bit of a distraction, we did still manage to get some work done too ... though there was definitely a lot of cuddling! This was also quite an accomplishment as back in 2011 my year 6 class wrote persuasive letters to the head teacher for why we should be allowed to have a school dog, to no avail so finally I got to have dogs at work!! Kindness is .... reading a book to tired puppies! The visit was part of our Kindness Month initiative where we have chosen BSPCA as our charity of the month. All money collected in our donations box will go to them this month and we are also collecting donations of dog and cat food too. So please drop by and donate a few pula or when you are shopping pick up an extra tin of dog or cat food or bag of biscuits. Happiness! The puppies all came from the BSPCA who cu...