Over the summer I had the opportunity to work with Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam, specifically with the projects “Symud Gyda Tedi” visiting nurseries across Wrexham and also working alongside Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych to hold Lego and Minecraft workshops across Flintshire, Wrexham and Denbighshire.
Symud gyda Tedi
Between April and July of this year, Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam visited around 40 different nurseries across Wrexham to hold Symud Gyda Tedi sessions. The aim of this project is to support the efforts of the Welsh Government to encourage more children to do physical activity and keep fit, and at the same time to encourage the use of the Welsh language by supporting the Government’s language aim to have a million Welsh speakers by 2050.
The Symud Gyda Tedi project goes hand in hand with the Magi Ann book series with each part of a story followed by a yoga or dance move, with the key focus on encouraging children to have fun whilst taking part and using the Welsh language.
These fun-filled sessions lasted between 30-40 minutes and included a special visit from Tedi himself! The children adored Tedi who, along with the children, completed several exercises such as balancing cups whilst learning and practicing the colours in Welsh, stretching and marching and listening to the story ‘Y Pry Bach’ with everyone else. These sessions are an excellent way to encourage children to use the Welsh language in an informal setting and to keep fit at the same time. You can have a taste of our sessions by watching, free of charge, Symud gyda Tedi videos on our Youtube channel.
After visiting 40 different nursery’s I have gained many vital skills including people skills, teamwork skills, communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with children. One of the main highlights of this project for me was seeing the children enjoying learning and practicing the Welsh language whilst having so much fun.



Lego and Minecraft
Over the last few months, I have helped both Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam officers and our sister organisation Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych to prepare for and to offer several different fun sessions and activities through the medium of Welsh including Lego and Minecraft workshops. The Lego and Minecraft workshops included two sessions that lasted two hours each, and the workshops themselves consisted of learning about and building historical landmarks such as The Racecourse in Wrexham, Bailey Hill in Mold, a mott and bailey castle in Corwen and Dinas Bran castle in Llangollen.
The children thoroughly enjoyed the workshops and had a lot of fun learning new skills and taking part in activities in their local area. The children could also meet new people and make new friends from different schools and were able to converse together in Welsh which is a vital element of our purpose to encourage children to learn to socialise in Welsh outside of the classroom walls.
Although these sessions are run through the medium of Welsh, everyone who was keen to learn Welsh was still able to take part and have fun as we made sure we adapted and supported both children and accompanying adult. We are aware of the importance of having a safe and friendly environment where no one is judged and thus it was nice to hear children and adults attempting to learn more Welsh within the workshops.
In my opinion, practicing Welsh in a fun way that appeals to children such as building historical landmarks with Lego or on Minecraft is a great way and extremely important to keep the language and culture alive for the future generations.
I can’t wait to go back one day and join both Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam and Menter Iaith Sir Ddinbych in castle building workshops!
Highlights
Over the past two summers of working with Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam I have had lots of fun and gained many new skills along the way. A key highlight of my experience was having the opportunity to work with the amazing team at Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam and I feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to work through the medium of Welsh which is very important to me.
I had the opportunity to meet many different people from different ages and backgrounds and as a result I’m able to communicate with both children and adults in an effective way, I’ve also learned how to solve problems and adapt to different situations that may come up in wa workplace environment.
I am currently a third year Law student at a University in Liverpool and I’m certain that these skills will be extremely beneficial to me in my studies as I am now confident in my ability to solve problems and communicate with the community, and also the importance to work as a team whilst supporting others – all vital skills in the industry of my choice.
In addition to learning important work skills, there has also been many hilarious moments and days that I will remember in many years to come, especially some of last Summer’s ‘Summer of Fun’ project when we hosted a programme of very fun workshops and this year’s ‘Ras yr Iaith’. The ability to work through the medium of Welsh over the summer holidays was an amazing opportunity for me to work and converse using the Welsh language on a daily basis as I don’t get the opportunity to do so at university, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The whole team at MIFFAW has been welcoming, kind and ensured that everyone felt safe and happy. They also know how to have a lot of fun!!! (I will without doubt miss all the laughs in the office – but I won’t miss sweating in the Teddy costume every day!!!!).
Working or volunteering with Menter Iaith is an amazing opportunity for those who are both fluent and learning Welsh. It has been an incredible experience for me personally and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing both children and adults trying their very best to better their use of the Welsh language within the community. I have made life-long friends working with Menter Iaith and I look forward to being able to help them again during my university holidays join them back at the office as soon as possible!