13th June 2019

Our last session at the St Francis Centre was a wonderful celebration of what Porridge & Play can be, with families bringing countless delicious things to share in the meal, guests dressing up with the same gusto as everyone else, and big, collective games together in the circle.

We started with Big as a Bear, during which we could hear several people joining in with the whole thing word for word. Then we played Funky Chicken, with lots of people revisiting their favourite invented animals one last time, and everyone joining in the actions – like the Happy Lion, the Sneaky Fox and the Slithery Snake.  

There was an incredible level of focus on what the funny witches would say when we played Witches Fingers,and it was fantastic to have our wonderful Lickety Volunteer Saliha becoming a brilliant first witch!

We sang Grandma Grandma, which was particularly enjoyed by the visitors as it’s such an inclusive, feel good song for joining in the first time. Much the same could be said for Letter to my Love, kicked off by Arush and Jack, which could have gone on for hours before anyone got bored.

And we finished with our story, Anoo the Alien and Jack the Deer, with a dozen people reading a line or two each round the circle. The story is a real achievement that everyone should feel so proud of, and it was lovely to end the play session with this before we sat down to eat.

What a treat we had for our Celebration Meal! Spicy vegetable kebabs, sushi, dopla, triple cheese muffins, dahl bites with coconut coriander dip, baclava, kheer, sujee halva and much more! Thank you to everyone who brought something. Visit the Lickety Kitchen to find some family recipes coming soon, as well as our Porridge & Play soup recipes.

We were so pleased to welcome Saliha’s family, Minish, Anil and Sharda, as well as Rashmi and Swathi and their children, who attended last year and came back to join us in our celebration.

It’s been a real pleasure doing Porridge & Play in the Gorbals – from our trips to Glasgow Green and the Dream Machine, to our Flying Balloon and Magic Ball adventures. We’ve met dragons, aliens, seen airports in the jungle, mermaids and octopuses, and most importantly we’ve done it together – with everyone being seen, heard and included. All we need to play is each other and we’ve made some great friends here in the Gorbals.

Hope to see you soon and keep on playing!

What you said…

“I want to come next week also” (Child, 6)

“I enjoyed a lot during all the sessions” (Mum)

“We have been playing the games at home, we have been playing “Bake a Cake” round the table with his Dad, but it won’t be the same without you” (Mum)

“In my country we don’t say goodbye we say see you later. So that’s what I want to say to you” (Mum)

“Every Thursday from 4-6 we do porridge and play. We play games such as Witches Fingers, Monsters Footsteps and many more. I like playing with my mum and with all the other children. I want to say thank you to miss Ruby, mr Jack and miss Rita for doing Porridge & Play” (Child, 7)

“Really I’m thanking you all wholeheartedly.” (Mum)

Other blog posts…

BIG Porridge & Play Glasgow is a 7-week block of Licketyspit Playcard Play & food sessions for local families with children under 12. This year for the very first time we will be going out for sessions 4 and 5 to have Picnic & Play sessions in cultural centres around Glasgow. Find out more by clicking here!

6th June 2019

Week 6 at the Gorbals was a day for Pirate captains keeping things ship-shape on the open sea, storytelling and a surprise from poor Old Rodger.

Everyone really at ease playing together today. We had some extremely committed Pirates, wearing fantastic costumes and really feeling like we were on a huge ship, drinking our grog and swimming away from sharks.

Everyone over 5 volunteered to read some of the story we wrote together last week, which was really special – a beautiful, focused moment. Anoo the Alien and Jack the Deer also appeared in some of the Reflective Drawing, as well as “a butterfly high in the sky all the way to the moon” (3 year old)

We also sent a Letter to our Love to everyone’s great amusement – this along with Balloons is an absolute favourite.

There were huge smiles all round in Old Rodger and it was great to see how much the parents were supporting the children to get involved in planting the tree and tumbling down the apples. This was mirrored in the songs, where those who have been coming to Porridge & Play for longer were really making people laugh with their full-bodied renditions of Jelly on his Head.

Everyone was really excited for the Celebration session and keen to bring lots of exciting homemade food. Everyone was also delighted that Saliha brought some Turkish Delight to share following Eid celebrations.  

What you said…

“I drew I sent a letter to my love – it’s me choosing everyone. That’s my fave game today because we’re in a circle and we can see everyone.”

“Mummy, the sun, the moon, a slide, water and an alien”

“It’s my friend Anne, she’s walking her dog with her Turkish delight with her hat on! Fave game – “Old Rodger is Dead because I like lying down to be old rodger. It makes me feel happy”

Other blog posts…

BIG Porridge & Play Glasgow is a 7-week block of Licketyspit Playcard Play & food sessions for local families with children under 12. This year for the very first time we will be going out for sessions 4 and 5 to have Picnic & Play sessions in cultural centres around Glasgow. Find out more by clicking here!

1st June 2019

We had a really wonderful Picnic & Play on The Tall Ship with the Ruchill Porridge & Play group last week.

Ruby met some of the group to get the bus to Partick after a quick game of Big as a Bear and Funky Chicken at the bus stop. When we got there, we met the rest of the group, as well as Jack, Rita, Boatemaa and Emmanuel, who had been getting things ship shape and ready to go, and we had an incredibly imaginative, energetic and joyful session.

We had some very confident Funky Chicken contributions – like the Puppy Dog, the Tall Snake and the Slow Snail. Everyone was really listening to each other and showing a lot of mutual respect and appreciation. We also played Sent a Letter to my Love, with lots of smiling and skipping about. Then suddenly, the Letter turned into a Magic Ball…

Our Tall Ship Magic Ball Adventure – The Nasty Pirate and the Sea Creature

We climbed inside the Magic Ball and found some dressing up clothes to create our adventure costumes, then we said the magic words and the Magic Ball took us off – to an Arctic Island! You were unstoppable and brimming with ideas. Several people bravely jumped into the icy sea and invited us all to have a swim. Then we came out and dried off and found the entrance to a long, dark tunnel. Luckily, someone found some torches and shared them out so that we could crawl slowly through the tunnel.

Inside, we found a map and Boatemaa spotted a chest on it. Every went off to look for it, eventually finding the chest further down the tunnel. But it was locked, and no matter how many keys everyone found to try, none of them worked! Suddenly, Nikki had a brilliant idea. We could try our keys all at once! Edie suggested we say Abracadabra at the same time – and it worked! The chest burst open to reveal golden treasure, chocolate and jewels!

As we were marvelling in our discovery, a Pirate appeared. He was very displeased to see us taking his treasure. In fact, he was rather cross. He started telling us to Scrub the Deck and Climb the Rigging, to Drink our Grog and even to Walk the Plank! We had to do exactly as he said, but in return, he said he’d show us his ship. And what a ship it was! We climbed up the galley stairs to the deck and looked out at the Arctic Sea. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we were exploring the ship when all of a sudden, a Sea Creature appeared!

The Sea Creature spoke and strange Sea language and she was crying. You quickly discovered she was very hungry. Everyone found things to give her to eat which cheered her up a lot. Then she gave us each a gift. Everyone was presented with a Sea Bangle. When the bangles started to change colour, the Sea Creature told us in her strange voice, that it was a sign the rain was coming. The bangles started to flash faster, so we quickly went back into the hold.

Back downstairs, Ruby and Jack reappeared just in time to get back into the Magic Ball and go back to the Tall Ship. Everyone told them about the Pirate and the Sea Monster they had met – they couldn’t believe they’d missed them!

We got out of the Magic Ball and settled down for a delicious picnic of crunchy veg, fresh fruit, bread, cheese and humus.

We hope the sun shines this Saturday so we can have another picnic in Ruchill Park. If not we’ll just stay indoors at the Ruchill Community Centre.

Thank you to Levi and everyone at The Tall Ship for having us and sharing in our Porridge & Play adventure!

What you said…

“It was so great watching the other people on the tall ship watching what we were
all doing, that was exciting.” (Mum)

“The fact that we had this week’s session on a ship was awesome.” (Mum)

“It was really cool as I’m a shy person and wouldn’t do this anywhere else.” (Mum)

“E was excited before we came and he has loved every bit. Me too. Thank you.” (Mum)

“My daughter love it counts down the days until the next one things she will be lost when it finishes up, might need to go to another location.” (Mum)

Other blog posts…

BIG Porridge & Play Glasgow is a 7-week block of Licketyspit Playcard Play & food sessions for families with children under 12. This year for the very first time we will be going out for sessions 4 and 5 to have Picnic & Play sessions in cultural centres around Glasgow. Find out more by clicking here!

30th May 2019

Travelling from the St Francis Centre in several taxi’s, we all managed to avoid the wind and the rain arriving at the wonderful and exciting Dream Machine on the London Road!

As we warmed up and danced like Funky Chicken’s we could tell we were in for a great session and we were not disappointed!

There was a special birthday in the group this week so we all decided to bake a cake! There were lots of exciting ingredients – delicious melted chocolate, fresh strawberries and grapes as well as some more unusual and odd ingredients added like…. a pair of shoes, a beautiful pink dress and even a door! We all helped pour the mixture into a baking tin, open the oven door and pop in the cake to bake! With a loud beeeep! The cake was ready! We all decorated it and sang Happy Birthday to Alan! who turned 4! (Then we tasted the cake! Yumm!)

After we had finished eating our cake we had some story time! Jack read a brilliant story called Cockatoos by Quentin Blake. This is the story of Professor Dupont and his wondering and hilarious Cockatoos who get fed up of the Professors morning routine one day and decide to run away!

I wonder if we can all remember where the Cockatoos were hiding?!

The story of the cockatoos inspired us to create our own story! The entire group helped Ruby create an incredible story all about ‘Anoo the Alien and Jack the Happy Dear’! We loved hearing all your ideas for this story!

We had our Licketyspit picnic before Matt, the Dream Machine inventor, invited us to experience the Dream Machine – which is a bit like the Magic Ball! The Dream Machine took us all on an adventure around the world, up into space and into the heart of the Sun! This was an amazing end to a great Outreach session!
We had such fun at the Dream Machine. You can often go to The Dream Machine on Saturdays at 2pm. Its free or you ‘pay what you can’ for this wonderful treat! – especially great on a rainy day!

Looking forward to seeing everyone again next week!

What you said…

“Thank you so much for taking us here it was really wonderful.” (Mum)

“I’m very excited.” (Child, 6)

“Thank you. It was great. We will bring our husbands!” (Mum)

Other blog posts…

BIG Porridge & Play Glasgow is a 7-week block of Licketyspit Playcard Play & food sessions for local families with children under 12. This year for the very first time we will be going out for sessions 4 and 5 to have Picnic & Play sessions in cultural centres around Glasgow. Find out more by clicking here!

23rd May 2019

This week the BIG Porridge & Play Gorbals families set off from the St Francis Centre through the Gorbals and over the Suspension Bridge to play on Glasgow Green. We had a brilliant session!

The Funky Chicken arrived with lots of funny animals – like the cheeky dog, the roaring t-rex, the angry cheetah, the happy lion and the cheeky spider and we had a great time dancing, singing and roaring as we walked along the road together like a big family.

When we got to the park we wept and wailed over poor Old Roger. We planted some apple trees over his head – but when the apples grew ripe and all tumbled down a cheeky old woman came along and popped all the apples into her basket! She was very pleased with herself until suddenly…Old Roger hopped up from his grave large as life and gave her a SHOCK! Which made the old woman go Hippety Hop! We all think this story-song is hilarious! Everyone wanted a go at being Old Roger (and the Mums were scared!)

We played a huge game of Witches Fingers with some scary parent witches cackling away! The witches had a terrible time trying to catch us though because we had the whole of Glasgow Green to run away to!

We had wonderful Monster Trees which crept slowly up on Granny in Monsters Footsteps. When we’d finished playing we skipped back over the Suspension Bridge, through the Gorbals and back to the St Francis Centre singing Ickerickeroo!

It was a windy day so we were ready for our delicious soup to warm us up. We enjoyed peeling the shells of our hard-boiled eggs! and eating our delicious fruit and chatting about our day. It’s funny how much everyone loved going off on a journey together. Even though we’d all been to Glasgow Green before it was such fun to play there all together. Lots of people said that was the best thing about today.

Next week we’re going off in taxi’s to the DREAM MACHINE! See you there!

What you said…

“I feel really good” (Child, 6)

“Very good / Excellent session” (Mum)

“Porridge & Play makes me feel fabulous.” (Child, 6)

“I drew witch’s fingers. There are me and with. I’m witch and these are all my friends” (Child, 5)

“I drew car going really fast, this is me and the sun!” (Child, 4)

Other blog posts…

BIG Porridge & Play Glasgow is a 7-week block of Licketyspit Playcard Play & food sessions for local families with children under 12. This year for the very first time we will be going out for sessions 4 and 5 to have Picnic & Play sessions in cultural centres around Glasgow. Find out more by clicking here!

27th April 2019

Our first Big Porridge & Play session at Ruchill was wonderful – with a really buzzing atmosphere!

We had a group of over 50 participants made up of current Children & Families Network families and new families at the Ruchill Community Centre.

Lots of people came early, with one parent saying they couldn’t wait “because they were just so excited!”

We played lots of Lickety Playcard games – made ourselves as Big As A Bear, got to know the Funky Chicken and his friends, wriggled like a Grandma and flew off in our Balloons, high above Glasgow, and saw furry rabbits, the Eiffel tower and people playing in the park! One mum told us how much she loved the Balloons game – she’d never done anything like it!

Monsters Footsteps was another highlight – we dressed up and crept towards a couple of different Grandmas.We had a delicious lentil, carrot and leek soup and ended the session with Reflective Drawing and the Licketyspit Gallery, where children and parent artists presented their work and shared what they liked most about the session! You can find out more about our food in the Lickety Kitchen.

You can find your artwork below…

What you said…

Thank you for having us

Having the snack in between is great especially all the fruit

This was a wonderful afternoon with a lovely diverse community

Love the diversity in it all

Keep up the good work! Gathering people who wouldn’t come together normally

B loves to play games

BIG Porridge & Play Glasgow is a 7-week block of Licketyspit Playcard Play & food sessions for families with children under 12. This year for the very first time we will be going out for sessions 4 and 5 to have Picnic & Play sessions in cultural centres around Glasgow. Find out more by clicking here!