The Licketyspit Children & Families Network (CFN) is a welcoming multicultural community of families who have participated in Licketyspit’s work – or would like to! We stay in touch with CFN families through online & physical communications and consult them regularly about our past and future projects. The CFN has supported families to have increasing agency in the projects Licketyspit creates, with Play Champion Children, Parents and Lickety Volunteers now playing an important role in our work.

Find out more about recent CFN activity and events in the families page.

The Children & Families Network also provides an accessible, attractive and sustainable gateway to other free, family-centred opportunities, events and resources, through CFN Trips and CFN Recommendations. The Creative Producer of the CFN builds relationships and partnerships with other organisations nationally and in the communities where we work, such as museums and galleries, which facilitate wider cultural participation for Licketyspit families. This has led to the creation of Picnic & Play – Licketyspit play sessions in partnership with free cultural venues.

If you would like to explore a collaboration with Licketyspit to bring CFN families to your venue/activity – which can be a CFN Trip or CFN Recommendation – please get in touch with Emma at cfn@licketyspit.com.

The Children & Families Network was created in response to high levels of enthusiasm among parents and children who participated in our immersive theatre and early intervention programme, ‘LicketyLeap’. Children form an attachment to LicketyLeap’s well-loved characters ‘Margaret and Margaret’. They feel they know and are known by them. This project has been remarkably successful at creating meaningful engagement with disadvantaged parents/carers who trust the company and feel relaxed and able to engage with Licketyspit.

The Children & Families Network builds on this connection to sustain dialogue with children, parents and carers and childrens professionals (teachers, PSAs, family workers etc.) The objective of the CFN is to create a sense of community, building on children and families’ experiences and encouraging them to continue playing and imagining. It is underpinned by a commitment to sustaining and enriching connections with families through creative and supportive practice, and to fostering a greater understanding and respect for children’s rights and agency.