Lily and Laura joined the MM Community Team to facilitate a yoga workshop for young people in the community before a well-earned lunch. A zen time was had by all!

Today two Goodgymers went to help with the afternoon session of the Easter Holiday Club at Mercato Metropolitano.

There was painting and stenciling and ensuring no little ones lost any fingers.

Before we knew it the fun had ended and it was time for the kids head home with hopes of coming back tomorrow.

A sunny afternoon. Sophia and I went to the Mercato Metropolitano near Elephant & Castle for helping with Easter session for the local kids. The task owner, Serena warmly welcomed us, and then we had pizzas and gelato with these lovely kids.

After lunch, we moved to an open space. The children spilt into 2 groups by age for different workshops. Sophia took care of the younger group who attended the pottery workshop and took photos for the activities. I supervised the elder group who took the photography and art drawing workshops to make sure they would not break these cameras and hurt themselves.

These kids showed their brilliant talent for art, which surprised all of us adults. Bravo! All these kids, no matter whether naughty, bold, quiet, or shy, are really cute and full of energy!

After the workshops, Sophia and I left after cleaning up everything and seeing their families pick them up for home. Sophia said that working with kids is the greatest art for her. That’s true, but we are still on our way.

Photo providers: Sophia and Tori

Mercato Metropolitano's Winter Camp came to an end today as the second day of the second slot was the final session. Given the circumstances, the third slot next Monday and Tuesday won't go ahead.

However, it was a great end to a short, but sweet Winter Camp! It started out with Carmen from LabTwnty4 bringing the Christmas spirit alive with asking the kids to create their own sustainable Christmas wrapping paper. They started off with a blanket canvas (on a white, black or brown paper). Using paint (red, white, black and green) and pre-made Christmas themed cuttings and prints, the kids started to design their Christmas wrapping paper. Some concentrated on one whilst others races to create 2-3.

The hour and a half flew by and before we knew it, we were munching on burgers and chips!

The afternoon saw Tasmin come back (as she was present on Sunday) for a theatre production of "Santa Claus is coming to town". At least, this time the kids were more engaged with the whole production. They saw the afternoon out with some jazz hands! 👐

That's what the kids thought of me. There's a first time for everything, but to be called a middle-aged by 7-9 year olds isn't what I hoped to hear at the age of nearly 31....

Gemma and I met inside Mercato Metropolitano and introduce ourselves to Beth, who was running the show today as the main lady hosting the baking class pulled out. Therefore, Beth made to make a quick batch of Nika's gingerbread people dough before all the kids came.

The kids slowly came into today unlike the weekend when they were all prompted. Today, at first, it looked like 2 were going to attend and then 10 showed up.

After giving all a piece of gingerbread dough, the kids flattened out the dough with their palms to maximize on the amount of cookies they could cut. Each one had their own shape and did plenty of them, but some did share the shapes.

The cookies baked in the oven for 10 minutes before a five minute cool down. Afterwards, the kids decorated the cookies to their hearts delight.

They had pizza for lunch, which some loved and others didn't (who doesn't like pizzas...), but eventually they all had a slice at least...even if some just ate the crust...

Day 2 of the Mercato Metropolitano Winter Camp brought 9 local kids (one kid from Day 1 didn't attend) come and try their hand at designing and creating Christmas decorations for their Christmas tree. The main feature was creating a Christmas ball - first by sketching a design on paper before attempting the same design on the plastic transparent ball.

After a lunch of burgers and fries, the kids had an hour and a half of theatre class playing warm up games before singing and acting out the lyrics to "Santa Claus is coming to town".

That's the end of the first Winter Camp, we do it all again tomorrow (cooking) and Tuesday (same as today).