Tots to Teens: Free events that will satisfy everyone's appetites

Fine food and mental well-being are on the menu this week for anyone looking for fun, free and fabulous events.

Waterford Harvest Festival has lots to keep kids interested and engaged, from cooking workshops to the Woolly Farm.

THOSE in search of free fun for all the family this weekend should make a beeline for Waterford City as it celebrates its annual Harvest Festival. 

Taking place at the city centre from September 8-10, its focus will be the giant Harvest Festival Market that showcases the best local food.

Once you’ve had your fill of fine food, move on to the Junior GIY Zone on O’Connell St. Here, you’ll find Woolly Farm, where children can learn all about animals.

They can attend cookery workshops with the Cool Food School and GIY workshops that will teach them how to sow and grow food. There will also be art workshops and drumming and storytelling sessions.

There’s fun around every corner in Waterford this weekend, with events spread throughout the city centre. 

You can expect live music performances, cookery demonstrations from local chefs and food producers and an opportunity to sample and cast your vote to decide on the festival’s best-tasting honey. 

To browse the full programme of free entertainment, click here.

On the Nutri Ball

Nutri Balls make a tasty addition to the lunchbox.

You can fill a child’s lunchbox with as many nutritious foods as you like but you can’t guarantee those foods will be eaten. Your lovingly prepared lunch may even be rejected entirely.

One way of resolving this dilemma is to include some foods they will find hard to resist. These Nutri Balls from the Sligo-based family-run health food company Good4U fit the bill.

Made from milled seeds and fruit, they are filling and nourishing, with each pack containing 21% of a child’s recommended daily calcium intake. 

The Nutri Balls are free from nuts, gluten and added sugars and you’ll find packs of five for sale in supermarkets nationwide from €3.99.

You can also buy them directly from their website.

Women helping women

Laura Guckian with her daughter Anna.

Laura Guckian is a mother of three who understands just how wonderful yet challenging motherhood can be. 

She offers a life coaching service that’s dedicated to helping women navigate those challenges and achieve mental well-being.

“Our self-care culture would have us believe that booking a spa day or taking a long bath is all we need to reset and feel better,” she says. “However, as a mom, I know it takes much more than that.”

Having struggled to cope following the birth of her first child, Guckian wants to support other women so they don’t have to go through that same experience.

It’s why she set up Mind Mommy Coaching Academy and its six-week online coaching programme that has been delivered to more than 3,500 mothers. 

It’s also why she started her popular @mindmommycoaching Instagram account, where she shares tips and information on self-care and the mental health supports available to mothers in Ireland.

Guckian’s posts are warm, empathetic and reassuring, exactly what every mum needs.

Let’s talk about it

Host and creator of the Go Do You podcast, Amy Jane Keating, is among the speakers at the Mum Talks event in Cork.

Mum Talks is coming to Cork on Monday, September 25.

For those of you who have never heard of it, Mum Talks is an events company that seeks to support women through motherhood with both in-person and online meetups, events, talks and workshops. 

It was founded six years ago by Lucy O’Driscoll Edge and Kara Heriot. 

When they first became mothers, they were surprised by how many activities there were that focused entirely on babies and how few focused on mothers. 

Mum Talks is their attempt to do something about this imbalance.

They host events nationwide and their event on September 25 will feature talks from the host and creator of the Go Do You podcast Amy Jane Keating, physiotherapist and pelvic health specialist Shalini Wiseman and self-health coach Sinéad Kelly.

It will take place in the Cork International Hotel. Tickets cost €25 plus booking fee and can be purchased here.