COUNCILS around the Advertiser and Review region have tons of sports, arts and other activities to keep children entertained throughout the summer holidays.
South Northants Council, Cherwell District Council, and Aylesbury Vale District Council have all published booklets and online guides full of things to suit most tastes, with activities ranging from dance, animation workshops and African drumming cla
sses to watersports, mobile skate parks and outdoor expeditions.
In the Brackley and Towcester area, South Northants Council will offer five weeks of fun for young people aged five to 16 as part of its SPLAT (Sports, Play, Leisure and ArTs) scheme.
Highlights from the first week include cricket courses at Towcestrians Cricket Club, mountain biking in Hazelborough Wood, and arts activities in villages including Potterspury, Helmdon and Silverstone.
Week two has football sessions at Towcester's Sponne School, a trip to Northampton Town FC's ground, and a National Play Day event on Towcester Recreation Ground with inflatable jousting and a laser-tag arena.
Week three offers table-tennis coaching, a watersports day at Pitsford Water, and an animation class at Stoke Bruerne, while week four will include basketball at Magdalen College School in Brackley, an outdoor adventure trip to Everdon Activity Centre, and a bead bracelet workshop in Potterspury. Contact South Northants Council on 01327 322078 and 01327 322065 for bookings and details.
Aylesbury Vale District Council's Do-it guide to summer activities has sections listing arts and crafts, dance, sports, and multiple activity camps in and around Aylesbury, Buckingham and Winslow. Arts and crafts will include model animation, printmaking, and 'puzzle mania', while dance and drama events will include a junior street dance class, a musical theatre workshop led by a professional West End dancer, and a stage fighting drama workshop. Sports include archery, cricket, tennis, basketball, cycling and trampolining.
The Do-it guide also lists 'multi-camps', including a three-day sports, fun and art camp; a two-day multi-sport camp, a two-day street soccer camp, and a four-day summer cricket camp at the county ground in Aylesbury.
Young people can put together a public performance in one of four 'a play in a day' sessions, or improve their ball skills in a six-day basketball camp at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.
Junior playschemes, touring rural activities, and many other events are included. Copies of the full Do-it programme, including booking details, can be downloaded from www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/doit or are available from local schools and council offices.
Cherwell District Council's guide to summer activities in the Bicester and Banbury area is also available online via www.cherwell.gov.uk.
Summer holiday courses will include tennis coaching, football camps, golf, animation and film workshops, while town parks will host play activities, and rural sports roadshows will visit villages across the district.
Banbury Museum will host special events including a masks and puppets exhibition, and Bicester's Courtyard Youth Arts Centre will offer everything from digital music and DJ classes to photography, T-shirt designing and animation.
Contact the Cherwell District Council booking hotline on 01295 221803.
