With the cost-of-living crisis this year more than ever we see families who, through no fault of their own, find themselves struggling to meet everyday demands.

Kidz-Eco hopes that by easing the financial burden that a full, traditional Christmas dinner might bring, that it will put smiles back on faces this Christmas.

We would like to give local families (with young children) a boost during this festive period by offering the gift of a 3-course traditional Christmas Dinner which will include:
A Turkey Crown or Vegetarian alternative
Stuffing
Pigs n Blankets
Stock/Gravy
Potatoes/Carrots/Parsnips/Sprouts
Lentil Soup Mix
Part Baked Bread
Cranberry Sauce
Melon
Trifle Mix
Christmas Crackers

These packs will also include instructions on how to cook Christmas Dinner from scratch as well as ideas on how to make the best use of leftovers.

We are reaching out to the community and asking that those in a position to do so get behind us and help a family by pledging £40 to cover the cost of one Christmas dinner pack.

You can donate at kidzeco.net/shop/Christmas-dinner-appeal.

If you cannot commit to pledging a full Christmas Dinner pack cash donations towards the appeal would be gratefully accepted through our stores and Kidz n Kin .

Let’s pull together to ensure all families in our community have a Christmas to remember.

#kidzecochristmasdinnerappeal
#CostOfLivingCrisis
#kidzeco #foodforthought

Here at Kidzeco we have all our pre-loved school clothes available for free on our shop floors. Whether you are in need of one or 2 items or a whole new School Wardrobe Kidzeco may just be the answer.

As we are still celebrating a sustainable summer so why not pop in and pick up items you are needing for the new school term and drop off any school clothes that your little ones no longer require. On our first day of this promotion 227 school items went out and we estimate that we got at least half of this number, donated back in! This is indeed the cycle that we need to see more of within our community….the more people that get involved, the bigger the cycle gets. Exciting days for our community and also our for our national carbon footprint

We would just like everyone to know that we are here, Open and fully stocked up on all the clothes your little ones need for everything from the big change of Transitioning to a new school or just the next size up. Pop in for a visit! While Stock last.

If like me you are unsure what you need to have for schools going back. I’ve added a handy checklist with some of the essential items.
School Uniform Essentials:

1. 1. 3-4 Blouses/Shirts/Polo Shirts
   2. 3-4 Sweaters/Cardigans/Jumpers
   3. For Boys: 2-3 Pairs of trousers and at least 1 pair of shorts
   4. For Girls: 2-3 Pinafores/Skirts and 2 Pairs of Trousers
   5. 5 Pairs of socks/Tights
   6. School Bag: Book Bag/Rucksack

School Clothes are available on both Bathgate and Livingston Shop Floors and are stocked up almost every day.

Are you pregnant?
Do you want to raise money for a good cause?
Would you like your bump painted to commemorate this time in you and your littles ones journeys.
Take part in our annual Bumpathon!

This has been a long time coming and we have missed our Bumpathon’s sooooo much; our last one was in December 2019 pre-lockdown.

We are delighted to announce that we are running our Annual Bumpathon on Friday 27th May and are looking for pregnant ladies to take part. If you’d like an information sheet please email us on enquiries@kidzeco.net. Registration packs will be available in Kidzeco – Bathgate, Kidzeco – Livingston and Kidz n Kin from Saturday.

If you are expecting, or know someone who is, and would like to get involved with our fantastic event then please get in touch.

Are you looking for a new exciting challenge?

Good news we have what you need!

Kidzeco is a well-established social enterprise in West Lothian supporting and providing effective support to children and their families. in their community, when they need us most. We are currently looking for 3 members to join our ever growing team.

Community Development Officer (35 hours per week, 24,000 per annum)
The post holder will develop and deliver our nutritional programme and activities in line with our health improvement work; Reducing health inequalities in families with young children and expectant mothers. The position will be primarily based in Kidz n Kin but there will be a requirement to work throughout west Lothian.

Employability Officer (35 hours per week, £24,000 per annum)
The is a new and exciting opportunity to develop and facilitate our Next Stepz Employability programme. If you are enthusiastic, driven and can directly support young people with barriers to employment make progress towards employment, education or training through volunteering this is the role for you.

Perinatal Peer Support Worker (21 hours per week, £12,480 per annum)
The successful candidate will support the development and facilitation of our new and exciting Bumpz to Babiez perinatal Café, based in Kidz n Kin, to support the wellbeing of parents and children aged 0-2 years.

All positions are fixed term to 30th June 2023.
For full job description, and/or to apply please email enquiries@kidzeco.net
Closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday 14th May 2022.

Easter is approaching! And we are hopping on the bandwagon as Easter falls on Sunday 17th April this year. Since its origins, Easter has been a time of celebration and feasting and many traditional Easter games and customs developed, such as egg rolling, egg tapping, blowing and egg decorating. With kids at home, you’ll want to find some fun activities for them to do over the Easter break. We have listed a few egg-cellent ideas for the Easter break that are fun to do with the kids and adults may also enjoy as well!

1. Easter Egg Charades

One way to get the whole family involved is to engage in a game of charades. Put the prompts in Easter eggs and have each person act out the word or phrase. Just remember to keep it simple for the little ones using prompts like Bunny, duckling, carrots, chick, and Easter egg hunt are just a few of the words and phrases that you can act out!

2. Easter Bingo

Who doesn’t love a game of bingo? There are tons of free printable Easter bingo cards that you can find online and players can use some delicious jelly beans and other sweet Easter goodies to mark the squares that they get throughout the game. Finally, have an array of prizes that young children, older kids, and adults will all appreciate!

3. Paper Plate Easter Chick

Step 1. Start by covering your working surface with an old table cloth or some newspaper.
Step 2. Set out a paper plate and have your toddler paint it with yellow paint.
Step 3. Let the plates dry for a little while (this may take longer depending on the amount of finger paint your toddler used).
Step 4. Cut some triangles out of orange construction paper to make the beaks of the chicks.
Step 5. Invite your toddler to glue some feathers, beaks and googly eyes to the plates.
And that’s it! The most adorable chick’s a toddler can make are ready. These are seriously easy to make and they are perfect for decorating for Easter!

Save the environment in style with your sidekick. Our re-useable Matching bag set means you and your little superhero can shop in the knowledge that you are helping the environment and looking fab doing so. My Bagz set includes one “Tweenies”  themed adult bag and one matching Childs size.

The cotton bags would make a marvellous Mother’s Day gift from children, or as a brilliant Birthday gift for Mum too, whatever the occasion, we know she’ll tote-ally love it.

Made from re-cycled material by our very talented Fun With Fabric team.

Winter is ending and Spring is here, flowers are starting to bloom, birds are coming back, and beauty is alive in nature. This time of year is perfect to go for hikes or lay in the sun, just perfect for being outside. With Covid restrictions starting to lift, there’s definitely reasons to be hopeful. Warmer weather and longer days are coming. This spring lets make it a goal to take full advantage of the time we have and the people we have to share it with, lets spend time outside having fun and laughing. At Kidzeco we will continue to run our Buggy/Bump Walks and Dadz Trek walks as the weather gets warmer we have a new range of spring wear in both our Bathgate and Livingston store. hope you all have the best time this spring.

Valentines Day is all about caring for one another and spending the day with the ones you love doing the things you love.

Here at Kidzeco we have our Love themed red windows and Valentines themed classes and Fivez 4 Fridays. Come check them out or catch up through our Facebook page at Kidzeco.

A Lovely Poem for you all on this wholesome day

If apples were pears
And peaches were plums
And the rose had a different name.
If tigers were bears
And fingers were thumbs
I’d love you just the same.

Let’ spread love and kindness this valentines day!