Our first trip to Troon Beach this Summer with Bridgeton Hub families!

We had a lovely bus journey with our Porridge & Play Bridgeton families!

On one bus we sang Old MacDonald, played Alphabet Countries (thanks to Suleman as it’s his fave game) and “My Names Bob & I’m Very Big & I like to eat Bananas!”

And Virginia told the story of the Quangle Wangles Hat! (Which Licketyspit once did a show about – take a look here https://www.licketyspit.com/families-2/licketyspit-projects/quangle-wangle/#

On the other bus we chatted about the seaside and how excited everyone was about heading to beach! All the children were determined to go swimming even though the sun was not out today…but they weren’t worried about that at all!

After spotting farms & sheep and cows and forests (or maybe woods…. And some people playing golf!) to our great glee (delight) we suddenly saw the SEA!

It was windy & so sandy blowing in our eyes a bit but lots of us still hopped into swimsuits and leaped into the sea to paddle, to swim & to play – hooray!

It was COLD but it was So FUN! And lots of mums jumped in too!

Taz made us all lovely hot chocolate to warm us up. We moved our picnic up onto the grass beside the promenade near the beach so we didn’t get sand in our sandwiches!

The blustery day and the sea had made everyone very hungry for our baguettes, cheese,  hard boiled eggs and tomatoes, cucumber, grapes and hummus, Leena’s delicious yogurt carrot dish and later muffins – from Rasha’s Cupcake shop!.

We ran and we chased

And we danced and we played

And we sat to chat

Before some of us discovered a marvellous playpark!

Graeme & Andy were ready with the buses to take us home to Bridgeton – quite a lot of us slept all the way there!

We saw horses and ponies on the way back too – well, some of us did…Abakr & Mariam had a wee nap instead and Arafa, Ghada & Lina chatted all the way home!.

The water was salty

The seagulls so naughty

The sand was sticky

The  chocolate warm!

Oh how we love a day at the seaside with our Bridgeton pals!

Virginia, Sarah, Taz & Bridgeton Hub Families

With Storyplay friends from Bridgeton!

Troon Beach

July 2026

Our spirits weren’t dampened by a little light rain at Balloch Castle Country Park on Wednesday.

We first had a look at the spooky castle, talking about who might live in the building now overgrown with weeds – spiders, birds, perhaps something else…

On with our bright blue ponchos and we were off to explore.

Down down down the path to the loch, finding a marvellous playpark by the water.

We climbed and we jumped.

We swung and we slid.

Inside the ship’s galley we chased and we hid.

On pole, slide and seesaw we played and we played.

Children and grown ups all joined in the games.

The flying fox took us off with a whoosh!

We helped one another to climb on and push.

And when we got hungry we went back up the hill.

To have our picnic under a canopy of trees.

Ruby read Mrs Wobble the Waitress

Where children saved the day with nets and skates

Entertaining the customers as they caught chickens and plates!

We played I spy and the alphabet games on the bus

Put our phones away and it passed in a flash

“If we’d been at home on a day like this we’d probably just have been on

screens all day” Mum

We were wet, but happy thanks to Picnic & Play!

by Taz, Sarah, Ruby & Licketyspit Families

Find out more

With Storyplay friends from Maryhill!

Balloch Castle Country Park
July 2026

This morning it was cloudy and it even drizzled a wee bit but that does not stop Licketyspit families playing outdoors.

We had Sruthi, Shanmukha and Daiwik, James and Yulia and Boatemaa and Gabbie but then we were joined by Penny and Cyrus and Abiodun, Faridah, Dorcas and Fawsan!

How does it feel to Storyplay outdoors?

Is it very different from Storyplay inside?

Well, I’ll tell you one thing – only at outdoors Storyplay one can dress up and dance in the rain! We did it today – and it felt great!

Our dressing up today was so elaborate and families created characters inspired by the wonderful Children’s Wood –

James was Purple Tail -‘I live in the Forest , this forest the Children’s Wood, in the tree next to the beehive and that doesn’t bother me because bees are my good friends!’

Gabbie became Marshmallow – ‘I live in Candyland and I like to eat lentil soup! I like to play with my friends and do everything else in Candyland!’

Boatemaa was Mama Hippo – ‘I live next door to Candyland in the Quiet Forest and I love singing’

Shamunkha was a Party Animal from Partyland and Sruthi and Daiwik were also Partyland citizens who party all day long!

And Steven became a HUMAN BEAT BOX – he was amazing and we all danced to his beats! And then we sang Jelly On His Head to a cool beat from Steven!

We also played Funky Chicken and Stuck In the Mud and we run around so much we suddenly realised we were very very hungry!

The picnic was lovely and we all had lots to eat and to chat about – James told us how he played a similar game to Stuck in the Mud when he was wee in Taiwan!

Yulia was taking photos on everyone’s knees with her wee camera!

And Fawzan tried some pull ups on a tree branch – with a little help from Andre.

Boatemaa and Abiodun chatted for ages and Sruthi, Shanmukha and Daiwik really got into their Reflective Drawing.

Dorcas loved the Mud Kitchen and made pizza with Steven. And Yulia made ice cream in the sand pit!

All in all, it was a lovely day out with old and new friends  – HURRAY FOR THE CHILDREN’S WOOD & STORYPLAY!

Taz, Steven, Andre & Licketyspit Families

A session with Storyplay friends from across Glasgow!

North Kelvin Meadow and Children’s Wood
July 2026

Feels free and unexpected and really good!

We played in many different ways

and had great chats sitting in the shade.

First we warmed up with a song

Then made our bodies thin and long

Round and bouncy

Jelly like

Strong as giants

Feather light

Everyone dressed up in different ways

We had a fairy who learns how to twirl

A fairy who eats bugs

We had a bumblebee living in a tree

We had a dragon fly and a ladybird turning into a spider with a pink web!

Zara the Butterfly and Kim the Butterfly had a rivalry…ooh!

Rosy Butterfly liked to EAT caterpillars

Then there was the French Chef Marcell who made delicious dishes as well

Muhammed the Genie’s friend could ask the Genie for 3 wishes

And not far away were Blue Fish Ammar and a Blue Bottle Fly

A Larvae that was yet to evolve, wanted to grow into a cricket. Muhammed the Genie’s friend helped her get her wish, and a cricket she became!

And finally a Goblin and a French Pirate…

Joined us for our games!

We danced and made up funny rhymes,

with animals stinky and silly and wild!

We let loose in the children’s wood,

making fries, steak and noodles in the mud kitchen.

We climbed on the tightrope and the bouncy web.

And played in the sand with lots of new friends.

We came back together for Hide and Seek.

We searched for each other among the trees

We ate some eggs and bread and cheese

We saw some lovely bumble bees!

What a fine and happy time, I want to come here all the time!

A session with Storyplay friends from Castlemilk and Maryhill!

North Kelvin Meadow and Children’s Wood
July 2026

A blog from Ruby, Taz, Andre, Zainab and the Licketyspit Families

Hanging out with pals in the sun, there’s nothing quite like it!

While unfortunately a few of our friends weren’t well this week, those that were hopped on the minibus from Bridgeton and joined us for a super Storyplay session at the Children’s Wood.

We warmed up, dressed up and suddenly we were joined by

• Scary Movie – ‘I can eat everybody!’ – a scary monster who moves fast and chases people!
• A Giant Dinosaur called Risen who lives in 100 countries and likes to eat trees
• A Scary Cat with sharp sharp claws
• A Big Dinosaur who eats people
• Mummy Cat (Scary Cat’s mummy!)
• Scary Kitten (Scary Cat’s sister, of course)
• A Happy Bug called Fillipe
• A Builder Dinosaur who wants to build a tower for the Bug Fillipe
• A Goblin who likes to eat ladybugs feet for breakfast
• And Peaches the Fairy who eats plenty of spinach

We felt a bit worried about getting eaten. Especially the bugs and beasties who live in the Children’s Wood! So Scary Movie gave the Goblin a lollypop, which helped change his diet.

And Peaches the Fairy gave everyone some spinach. It made us all dance!

Later on, we met a Robot Dragon a Sad Elephant and Cat, and a Zombie Elephant – in a game of Funky Chicken initiated by the Scary Cat.

We were also joined by our volunteer Emmanuel, who has been coming to Porridge & Play since he was 8 (he’s now 16!) and is a stellar Storyplay Champion! His highlights included playing on the  stretchy spider web with Scary Movie and Giant Dinosaur!

We ate in the shade and did some drawing in the sun.

Peaches the Fairy even got her hair braided by Big Dinosaur (very expertly I might add).

What a lovely day of fun and friendship and play!

with Taz Andre, Emmanuel, Ruby & the Licketyspit Families

Sunshine and outdoor play for all!

Another brilliant session at The Children’s Wood…

The sun was already shining, and we could all feel that it was going to be a proper hot Summer’s Day in Glasgow!

Licketyspit families strolled into The Children’s Wood with big smiles and full of hugs from everyone.

Today some families were meeting old friends and also making new ones, as some of the participants haven’t met each other before and Storyplay is a great way to connect with each other!

We got active quickly with our Warm-up Rhyme ‘Big as a House’ and with a rather jumpy game of Funky Chicken!

Dressing-up was fantastic and being outdoors certainly inspired everyone…

Ruby became Diana the Dragon Fly who flies about looking for mushrooms

Deon was John the Really Bad Dragon – ‘I do good things though! I get food for people; I live in a flat and I have a dog named Niko and a cat named Peanut.’

Ada turned into Victoria the Nun who likes wildlife and eats cornflakes for breakfast.

Zac was Pear Trader from Ninety-nine nights – ‘I live in the forest, and people bring me pearls and I trade them for stuff’

Yasna was Owl the Owl who scares people!

 Shanmukha became Chef Shanm who likes to make and eat pizza.

Iris was Diane The Dragon who is a friend of John The Dragon! – ‘I’m good dragon and I like to fly to the moon’

Jamie said ‘I’m baby tick, a lost baby tick! I lost my Mum and Dad on that Great Dane that passed by! ‘

Zoe became a Party Fairy, and she parties all day long!

Franky was Radioactive Man, Andzelika was a lion, Lizzie was a Superhero and

Penny was a Butterfly.

Yulia was a cat; Zofia was a Cowboy and Sruthi and Daiwik were bunnies!

And everyone was up for a dance party and a game of Family Hide & Seek – so many great places to hide in…

Afterwards we got stuck into our picnic while sitting in the shade – we chatted about songs we like, and we thought we could put together a new playlist for us all to enjoy! So Emmanuel took a good note of all the songs that were suggested.

Free Play time got us all exploring around – some went to the Tree House to try out climbing and swinging from the wee trapeze! Lizzie was great at guiding some of the children through climbing and spinning.

Some played on the tight rope – like Ada, Iris and Zoe who were naturals at it!

Deon, Taz and Mihije got caught up in the massive Spider’s Web, they were joined by Andzelika, Sarah and Franky to experiment with getting in it – which is very easy – and getting out of it – which is really hard!

 Yasna and Aveen and Sruthi, Daiwik and Shanm were chilling and drawing under the lovely shade of the trees.

We found a football and a wee skipping rope so there was a kick about, a mini-Tug-o’-war and a massive game of skipping, when Ruby brought a bigger rope!! Some of the grown-ups really remembered how good they were at skipping when they were children and guess what? They are still very good at it now that they are grown-ups!. So good in fact, that they were helping the children to learn how to skip too!

What a laugh we had!

Another fantastic day out with friends of all ages playing, eating and hanging out together – hurray for FOREST STORYPLAY!

Ruby, Sarah, Emmanuel, Taz & Licketyspit Families

Forest Storyplay is BACK and The Children’s Wood looks stunning!

Cloudy in the morning, still gorgeous though.

Full of life and beauty here at the Meadow.

Trees bursting with green leaves.

The lovely flowers are all out.

You can see the busy bees

Buzzing, flying all around!

The Children’s Wood is kind to us

We love it here and we have fun!

Warming up with great wee rhymes,

Trying dance steps all the time.

Dressing up becomes more vibrant,

When the Summer sun shines so bright.

Funky Chicken?

Ready to jump!

Someone became a wee Sleepy cat,

Two wobbly giraffes were in the Wood!

We met a Happy Sea lion too!

The Children’s Wood is kind to us

We love it here and we have fun!

A great big game of Stuck in The Mud

Everyone laughing and running so fast!

If you are IT you need to TIG,

if you get TAGGED, you are STUCK in the mud!

But don’t you worry, here are your pals

Ready to free you so you can RUN FREE!

Family Hide & Seek is exciting in the Wood.

A whole family is IT and they have to be smooth.

Other families hide trying not to be found

some inside the bushes, others low on the ground…

The Children’s Wood is kind to us

We love it here and we have fun!

A delicious Picnic in the fresh air.

Free play, drawing, chats and thoughts.

A Tree House, Mud Kitchen, Beehive and sand pit.

Even a garden with vegetables!

We learn about composting, bugs and plants.

The Wood’s volunteers tell us about that.

The Children’s Wood is kind to us

We love it here and we have fun!

Ruby, Sarah, Taż, Taiwo  & Maryhill Hub Families

At the last session of this Porridge & Play block we celebrated 5-weeks of Storyplaying together –  in Zombie Style…

In Storyplay you can DO ANYTHING…

Bridgeton families love it here

Bridgeton families dance and cheer!

We love moving our bodies, learning new steps and shapes and rhythms – children and grown-ups all shared their ideas in the Dancing Warm up!

Funky Chicken is another old favourite at Bridgeton Hub!

Every week we start with a round of Funky Chicken – is such a great game to get your imagination going quickly, by thinking of an animal and how it might move and sound! And so, on this last session –

Malak created a Happy penguin

Mohammed thought of a Happy Seagull

Miriam imagined an Ugly Pig

Retaj became a Funny Horse

Moira embodied a Singing Cow

Amar transformed into a Groovy Lizard

Lin was a Sneaky Cat

Big Mohammed offered a Dancing Tiger

Alan created a Wrestling Alligator

Salah showed us a Silly Monkey

Abakr was a  Foxy Dadoodee

Aleen became a Speaking Cat

Girisha was a Fire Lion

Lin embodied a Slow Turtle

Arafa jumped as a Happy frog

Maab became a Naughty Seagull!

 

At Storyplay you can BE ANYONE…

Another ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE game for the Bridgeton families is Dressing Up – they cannot wait for the big Dressing Up bag to be unzipped! Licketyspit Dressing Up bags are really just a few old clothes but with the spark of our imaginations, these ordinary clothes can transform into extraordinary garments that inspire us to feel differently…even to become ‘someone else’! And so…

Alan – ‘I’m the King of legends, all of them like… vampires! Many different ones there, even ones you don’t know about. A big pale Man he can travel from US and UK in less than an hour.’

 Salah – ‘I’m a Police man, 778 and 10 is my password and I like to eat supercarrots.’

 Big Mohammed – ‘I’m Dobby from Harry Potter, I eats green stuff, I like playing and drawing Harry Potter Day.’

 Amar – ‘I can send shockwaves when my pants drop.’

 Maab – ‘I’m a Penguin. I live in the snow, in a tiny home. And I eat grass. I dig in the snow.’

 Summer – ‘I’m a Teddy bear, I eat grass and I live in a house’

 

At Storyplay you can go ANYWHERE…

And of course, Magic Ball is also a very loved game because the Magic Ball truly can take you anywhere in the world of your imagination!

Magic Ball, Magic Ball

Take us where we want to go…

 

Today we landed in Zombieland – a bit of a scary start!

We crouched down low to the ground to discuss what to do?

We thought maybe pretending to be zombies might help us to blend in!

So, Malak gave everyone a spectacular demonstration of how to walk and move like a Zombie!

And Alan sprayed everyone with Zombie Smelling Spray to makes us even more convincing!

Just as we were all happily Zombie-Ing along, practicing our Zombie movements and sounds an actual Zombie turned up!

Now, it was clear that this Zombie was trying to tell us something. Big Mohammed translated, he said –  ‘The Zombie wants to eat all of our brains!’

 Well! We weren’t going to let that happen…

‘Might the Zombie eat something else? – we wondered?

 ‘I think he wants some soup.’ – Big Mohammed replied.

Mariam offered soup to the Zombie.  And then we all did!

And it went down very well!

So the Zombie left…

Phew!

Narrow escape!

We thought it might be a good idea to try to be silent in Zombieland.

So we practiced creeping silently….

Suddenly, Alan realised he had lost a hand!

Luckily Malak found it for him!

We were just doing a great Zombie Dance when a hungry Werewolf appeared!

So we fed him fruit and he went away!

A lovely, shared meal

 Enjoying eating food together is very important part of Porridge & Play but the last session of every block is extra special because families often bring delicious food to share with everyone! We get a chance to taste food from all our different countries. Finger-licking home-made treats! The Bridgeton Families went overboard and we had dips and cakes and falafels and many treats – delicioso!

How lucky are we to have such a brilliant big family of families at the Bridgeton Hub – thank you all for 5 wonderful weeks of brilliant Storyplay!

Andre, Nerea, Paul, Taz, Virginia, Ruby & the Bridgeton Hub Families

Licketyspit Art Gallery

Click on the drawings!

It was the last session of this block at Castlemilk Library and we all feel like we are great big family!

We get in our circle cause circles are cool,

Nerea plays music, we dance and we groove,

A twirly fun Conga made with all our pals

To get us all started and warm up our hearts!

Make yourself big as House or

As small as a mouse!

As Thin as a pin!

Or maybe a string??

As round as a ball,

As a tree, very tall!

Wobbly as jelly, Buzzy as a bee

Have a wee think…

What else could you be?

Funky Chicken is an old-time favourite,

Castlemilk families are so fast at it –

They all come up with fantastic ideas,

Take a wee look at what we have here…

Poppy’s Kangaroo was Cheeky,

And Kim’s Snake rather Stinky,

Haaris brought a Snow Turtle,

And Anusha invited a Sneaky Sea lion

 Zara’s Horse was Jumpy,

And Caroline’s Dog was Dancing,

Sayeda brought a Happy Cat,

And Ammar’s Penguin was Fast!

 Shabana’s Elephant was Angry

Rumaisa’s Sealion was Dancing

Abu thought of a Naughty Eagle

And we also met a Strong Mohammed!

Let’s Dress Up as Forest Creatures,

And imagine what we can be?

Butterflies, midges or rabbits,

A squirrel, fox, bat or a flea!

Haaris – ‘I am a hacker creeper, and I like to annoy people’

Muhammed – ‘I am a normal seagull called Cristiano Ronaldo’

Anusha – ‘I am a bat and I eat people’

Zara – I’m a fox and I hunt people’

Poppy – ‘I am a squirrel; I climb trees and spy on people…’

 

But in this forest, there’s only one creature

That if you dare to ask

Will tell you the time looking at their watch

In this forest, there is only one …

Wolfie Abu – I live in a house, it’s actually a flat, a dirty flat. My watch is brown and at 5 o’clock it’s time to play football!

Wolfie Mohammed – I live in a mansion, it’s black and white – black in the winter and white in the summer. And at 3 o’clock it’s time to ….play tennis!

Wolfie Ammar – I live in a cave, and I got my watch from my Mum

Wolfie Caroline – I live in a brick house that you cannot huff and puff away! I make cushions and I got my watch from Asda.

Wolfie Poppy – I live in a flat – nice and clean. I like to read books. Matt from across the street gave me my watch. At 4 o’clock it’s time to ….have a dance party!

 Wolfie Anusha – I live in a poor dirty house with a poor dirty swimming pool. I made my watch and I kept it because I like it.

 Wolfie Haaris – I live in a tree house, a brown tree house. I live with other wolves. My watch has diamonds, gold, cash and money. I got it from Asda. At 6 o’clock it’s time to ….swim in the pool!

 Wolfie Zara – I live in a cave above a river. Sometimes it’s tidy and sometimes it’s untidy, somewhere in the middle. My watch is like a flower with purple background and red flowers, roses! I got it from a lovely next-door neighbour. And at 3 o’clock it’s time to …do ballet!

 Wolfie Rumaisa – I live in a brown Tree House. My watch is made of metal and it’s pink. At 1 o’clock it’s time to ….read a book and

at 5 O’clock it’s time to ….buy toys!

What’s the time Mr. Wolf?

Do you dare to ask?

Aways be ready to run just in case you find it’s……..

DINNER TIME!!

 

What a brilliant Porridge & Play block we’ve had at Castlemilk Library and what a great last session! After all that, everyone made fantastic drawings. Then we all enjoyed eating the beautiful food that many families brought to share – as well as our usual Licketyspit meal.

The Art Gallery was great fun and we all agreed that we love Porridge & Play in CASTLEMILK!

Sarah, Taz, Nerea, Virginia and the Castlemilk Hub Families

Licketyspit Art Gallery