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!

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!

16th May 2019

Our third session of BIG Porridge & Play Glasgow at the St Francis Centre in the Gorbals was very enjoyable indeed!

Jack and Ruby were joined by Iona, our Lickety volunteer Saliha and 35 participants as we played, sang and ate together on Thursday afternoon.

We flew high above the St Francis Centre and high above Glasgow, travelling around the world holding on to our multi-coloured balloons! We saw four polar bears in the North Pole, we met a beautiful purple octopus and we just missed our balloons being popped as we ducked in and out of some aeroplanes at a busy Airport! We also saw 22 people, so small they looked like ants, playing football and luckily, we were just in time to see one team score! Gooooaaaaaallllllll!

We had some great dressing up on show which made the game of What’s the Time Mr Wolf all the more fabulous! We had some very energetic animals in the woods and we need to remember for the next session just how scary the wolves are! We don’t want to get too near otherwise we might get eaten! Ahhhh!

Love was also in the air throughout this session! We heard a romantic letter to a love but tragically it kept getting dropped onto the floor. Thankfully there was always someone there to pick it up! There was lots of love to go around!

After a request for the popular carrot and coriander soup from last year, Ruby delighted us all with making exactly that! It was delicious! Remember you can read all about our Lickety food here! 

What you said…

“Porridge & Play makes me feel nice, I like playing with my mum!” (Child, 7)

“Thank you, that was wonderful, he is learning a lot.” (Mum)

“I love Big as a Bear, I like everything! Playing makes me so kind and friendly. We feel fantastic. We always wait – when it is going to be Thursday, we can’t wait!” (Child, 7)

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

“My kid likes to come here to play and see all his friends. I like to come to have fun playing with everyone. It is a stress buster as well.” (Mum)

“I drew magic water, the sun and a tunnel where the dragon lives and that’s water.” (Child, 3.5)

“I drew the purple octopus that I saw from my balloon!” (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!

9th May 2019

We returned to the St Francis Community Centre for our second BIG Porridge and Play Glasgow session in the Gorbals where we visited the tropical forests of India, met people with some strange bed-time habits and were chased by a scary witch.

With 13 families made up of new and returning members of the Children and Families Network, we had a fantastic session with all participating in our adventures. One parent exclaiming after the session, “they’re so happy!”

Ruby and Hilde were joined by Jack and our new Lickety Volunteer Asem.

We all enjoyed meeting the group again and playing and singing together!

The Funky Chicken introduced us to some of his new friends, we met the fancy swan, the roaring tiger, the purring cat, the rainbow unicorn and the oinking pig! We also met some of Ruby’s friends! They all had one thing in common, some very very strange sleeping habits! One of her friends goes to sleep with a Jelly on His Head and another of her friends goes to sleep with Ice-Cream in her ears! We all wondered how they get to sleep at night!

We travelled around the world for the first time leaving the St Francis Centre in our Magic Ball arriving in a very hot tropical forest in India! We trekked our way through the dark forest with torches and we discovered a bird high up in the trees! The bird had a gift for us, a gift of some beautiful gold! We found a tunnel and Mihika bravely entered first finding a Dragon! The tunnel was the Dragon’s house! The beautiful blue Dragon took us all on a flying trip and we all hung on tight to her long silky tail. After we flew so high the dragon was very hungry and tired so we fed her and we sang Twinkle Twinkle helping her to fall fast asleep!

We 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 their artwork below…

What you said…

“I saw a tiger fish! And a sea horse! And plants! There is also a door, a door that goes to a place for people to play in!” (Child, 7)

“I drew the table. We are all eating together all the lovely fruit!” (Mum)

“I draw the world and the whole universe and the moon and the stars! We can go anywhere in the magic ball! ” (Child, 9)

“I drew the magic ball and the hill and the sea! The hill was behind the forest! We met the magical bird – sparrow – and the bird said it will grant all of my wishes!” (Child, 7)

“I drew the magic ball, a yellow and purple magic ball! My favourite bit was when we went to India in the magic ball! I loved the forest because we had to climb through it with our torches!” (Child, 3.5)

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!

2nd May 2019

Our first Big Porridge & Play session in the Gorbals was a lovely coming-together of new and familiar faces in the St Francis Community Centre.

35 participants joined us, with several families from St Francis Nursery where we did a taster session the day before, and lots of local families from our Children & Families Network.

We played lots of Lickety Playcard games and met the Fancy Peacock, the White Hampster and the Funky Horse in the Funky Chicken! In Balloons we saw the pacific ocean, a green pirate ship and a Brachiosaurus, the river Clyde and a door that went to a special place…

Dressing up was a highlight, followed by Pirates – with a couple of hearty captains and Monsters Footsteps was very popular, appearing in lots of drawings. We had a Grandma who lived in a Yellow Cave and another who lived in a Golden Castle and grew tomatoes and carrots in her garden!

We had a delicious lentil, carrot and leek soup, fruit and crusty bread, 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! Even the youngest participants came up to share their detailed drawings and there was a lovely focus during the Gallery. You can find out more about our food in the Lickety Kitchen.

You can find your artwork below…

What you said…

I liked eating with my friend (Child, 6)

Increase social skills and enjoyment (Mum)

I really like when we are all in the circle and when all the balloons pop they go
everywhere. (Reflective Drawing) The egg from the egg game, small house, I made the egg a bit different as it’s a special egg. And a plum tree beside a house, and this is the fence and this is the grass. (Child, 8)

My kids would get mixed with other kids & enjoy with others (Mum)

Make more friends and physical activity. Happy to be part of a program like this. (Mum)

Kids can learn many English words. (Mum)

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!

3rd May 2019

BIG Porridge & Play Glasgow Year 3 has launched!

We were delighted to welcome over 40 families to Big Porridge & Play in the Gorbals, Whiteinch and Ruchill for the start of Big Porridge & Play Glasgow 2019. Launching in Ruchill first last Saturday, April 27th and in Whiteinch and the Gorbals on Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd May, we had a brilliant time meeting new families and seeing friends from last year, playing lots of Lickety Playcard games, dressing up and sharing a meal together.

Look out for more updates from each venue on the Big Porridge & Play Glasgow page.

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!