Playing together outside is back!

Porridge & Play in Tollcross Park

Welcome to the Porridge & Play Online blog, where we share the stories of all the adventures
we’ve had during our virtual play sessions on Zoom! Get in touch to find out how to join.

Park Life!

Do you know how sometimes when we play we tele transport ourselves places on the Magic Ball? Or sometimes we jump into paintings or video games? Or we slide down chutes into other worlds? 

Well, after months and months playing together on Zoom it felt like we all had jumped out of our screens to gather in person at Tollcross Park for an outdoors Big Porridge & Play session!

Saturday 5th June

Glasgow is home to Licketyspit and many of our families and it is also known as ‘The Dear Green Place’.🌿🌻

The name Glasgow means ‘place of the green hollow’ or ‘dear green place’ derived from the ancient Brythonic language words glas meaning ‘green’ and cau meaning ‘hollow’ and it is a very fetching name because our city is full of great parks huge and small and green areas for everyone to enjoy!

So we had the brilliant idea to choose some fabulous Glasgow parks to meet up with our friends for a play and ‘hang out’. 👋🏼

For our first outdoor Saturday session we chose the gorgeous Tollcross Park which is internationally famous for its unique Rose Garden and impressive Winter Gardens! Tollcross park has many hidden gems including the Glen Nature Walk and the Children’s Farm that many of our families visited on Saturday too. 🍃🐴

The weather was smiling on us and Ruby, Taz, Andre and Shona woke to a warm and sunny Saturday morning all excited and ready to host a very special outdoor gathering for our families! Much care and thought had been put into our Big Porridge & Play session to have everything organised for all of us to get together safely and to enjoy ourselves in each other’s company. 🌞

When we play together like this we always gather in a big circle. At Licketyspit we LOVE a big circle because when we are in a circle you can see everyone and everyone can see you which makes playing together all the better as you can make sure that every person can have a turn and can be seen and heard!👂🏿

What joy to make ourselves as Big as a Bear together! And to hear everyone’s big voice going OOOOOHHH!!!

Singing and dancing Grandma, Grandma and telling the story of Jelly On His Head!

Oh and of course doing the Funky Chicken and blowing up a Magic Ball and taking off into imaginary worlds of hoping bunnies, potions, dancing dinosaurs and mount Everest skiing explorers! 🦖

Shona and Ruby had a drink and a delicious snack for everyone! We tucked into some delicious vegetable samosas handmade in Glasgow and we had fruit and biscuits and picnic blankets to sit at and chat to everyone! 🍌

Lawand, Mahek, Fatima, Tia, Alexander, Emmanuele, Priscilla, Presley, Princewill, Olaife, Elisabeth,  Adesayo, Brown, Tommy & Logeen, Felicia & Francesca, Casey, Joy & Peace, Areeb, Sarim & Rohan & their cousin Rajaab, Yumna, Fernanda, Ayo & Daniel & Aminata, with their grown ups, all came and met and played and laughed together!

There was rolling down the grass and swinging off tree branches, running around and cartwheels and hand stands and everyone got to choose a book to take home too! 📚

And all round brilliant day outdoors with a bunch of wonderful friends…what’s not to like? 😃

By Andre, Ruby, Shona, Taz & The Licketyspit Families 🎈

We had a great time – what did you think? Tell us here!

This week’s Lickety Gallery!

Porridge & Play Children Say Hey!

To celebrate Refugee Festival Scotland, the bold, unstoppable Porridge & Play children invite their friends, classmates and other new families to join us for a taster session designed and led by them!

Sat 19th June at 11am on Zoom.

As well as Lickety Playcard classics like Funky Chicken, we’ll play the ‘HELLO GAME’, where we share our different languages and do a child-led Reflective Art activity!

The session will be led by Storyplay Champion Children from refugee families, supported by Licketyspit Actor-Pedagogues. Families are welcomed into the Licketyspit community, through play!

Share with your friends and book free spaces here.

Next Opportunity to Have Your Say Through Play

On 22nd & 29th June we invite you to take part in a child consultation that will improve children’s rights in the family law system.

As part of a review of the role of Child Welfare Officers and Contact Centres, we’re going to explore the following questions through play:

  • What makes an adult a good listener?
  • If you could design a room where you feel very comfortable, what would it be like and what might be in it?
  • What makes it easier to tell a grown up about things you don’t like as well as things you do?

Tuesday 22nd & Tuesday 29th June at 4.30-6pm

Contact Ruby to sign up for the sessions!