During the long summer holidays, children often turn to the screen and the sofa for entertainment.

To help kids keep active and creative this summer, Chelmsford City Council and its mascot, Lenny the Lion, are letting everyone know about a fun, affordable summer programme which allows kids to have fun and their parents a well deserved rest.

Lenny the Lion and the Council’s leisure team have visited 25 primary schools in the local area to spread the healthy living message, informing around 6,000 children who now know how important it is to stay active in the holidays!

City Camps, launched last summer, help kids do just that. Since the first Camp, 2,625 primary-school aged children have now attended.

To make sure that activities are at the right level for your little ones, there are two tiers: Mini Camps for ages 4-7 years and City Camps for ages 8-12 years.

City and Mini Camps are ideal for working parents, with flexible hours from 8am to 6pm, fully DBS-checked staff, and six special locations across Chelmsford and South Woodham Ferrers.

This includes Hylands Estate, Chelmsford Museums, and the Riverside, CSAC, Dovedales and South Woodham Ferrers Sport Centres.

Because all the amenities of the Council’s leisure centres are available, City Camps are the only holiday camps locally which include ice-skating, swimming, orienteering and athletics facilities.

Kids can also get active and creative with trampolining, crafts, horse and carriage rides, photography, dodgeball, clue trails, archery, fencing, badminton, woodland walks and much more.

Each child will be issued with a City Camps Passport on their first day.

Collecting stamps for activities can earn them a pen, Frisbee, bag, water bottle, flashing yo-yo, t-shirt and more.

Extra stamps are also given to children who stand out as ‘shining stars’ in showing friendship, sportsmanship, excellence, courage, respect, determination, inspiration and creativity.

Chelmsford City Council’s Cabinet Member for Parks and Leisure, Councillor Ray Ride, said: “Children love variety and fun, and City Camps provide just that. The City Council is committed to promoting healthy lifestyles for children, and this extensive summer programme is bound to keep kids happy and busy in the coming weeks.”

The Camps cost from just £25 for a whole day (9-5pm). To suit parents’ working hours, there are also optional early drop offs from 8-9am and late pickups from 5-6pm available.

Childcare vouchers are accepted, and all City Camp kids get a free Leisure Plus Card to give them discounts all year round.

To enquire and book please call 01245 606707 or, for more information online, visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/citycamps.

At the time of writing, 1,200 children have already booked onto City Camps for this summer, so be quick to get your place!

These camps are in addition to the Council’s packed Get In! Programme and Play in the Park sessions, which Lenny will be visiting over the summer.

For more information on these, see www.chelmsford.gov.uk/getin and www.chelmsford.gov.uk/playinthepark .