Big Porridge & Play is Going Online!

Licketyspit Press Release 28/04/2020

We may all be at home, but in our imaginations we can go anywhere, be anyone, do anything. All we need to play is each other!

Scotland’s pioneering intergenerational imaginary play specialists Licketyspit have received funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to adapt their popular family project Big Porridge & Play Glasgow to tackle social isolation and support families during the Coronavirus lockdown.

The charity will bring groups of families together via Zoom to play games, sing songs and go on imaginary adventures – all from their own living rooms! In trial sessions, families have made Flying Butterfly Cake, talked to Polar Bears, flown through a Tornado and climbed a Hot Chocolate Volcano with the Licketyspit Actor-Pedagogues!

Big Porridge & Play has been created with and for children and supports families to tap into their imaginations for hours of joy, excitement, creative learning and connection.

Families across Scotland will be able to join open sessions every Saturday morning at 10am from 30th May (Taster Session this Saturday 2nd May at 10am). There will be a dedicated Children & Families Network Facebook Group and lots of ideas for things to do at home in between sessions.

Families in Govan, Milton and Easterhouse, as well as the Gorbals, Whiteinch and Ruchill where the project has run since 2017, will be invited to community-specific, closed sessions on weekdays at 3.30pm (details below). They will also receive sets of Lickety Playcards, a fantastic repertoire of 16 colourfully illustrated cards to support ongoing play at home.

Licketyspit is one of a number of organisations working together to highlight the urgent need to address digital inequality during lockdown, through the No One Left Behind Digital Scotland Campaign and with colleagues on the Ethnic Minority National Resilience Network. They will work with BEMIS Scotland to ensure that digital access isn’t a barrier to participating in Big Porridge & Play.

Thank You!

What our funder said:

In these uncertain times our priority is to ensure that National Lottery money continues to flow to charities, voluntary sector organisations and grassroots groups.

Neil Ritch, The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Director

I would like to congratulate Licketyspit on their award, theirs is an important project and will support people now and in the future when they can physically come back together to make great things happen in their community.

Neil Ritch, The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Director

What Happens?

How can I take part?

To take part in these free sessions, join the Children & Families Network (CFN) – an inclusive community of families who embrace children’s rights and imaginary play, at www.licketyspit.com/families/network and email/text Steven: cfn@licketyspit.com / 07413 800 342.

Please get in touch if you would like to access our sessions but have limited online access and we will try to help you!

What we said:

Being with children gives adults a reason to play, but we all need what children need, especially to help us cope with the current crisis – play helps us relax and access our limitless imaginations.

Virginia Radcliffe, Artistic Director and CEO

The Coronavirus lockdown is a confusing and anxious time for many children as they find themselves separated from their daily routine and friendships. Playing with adults who take play as seriously as they do empowers children, and with parental engagement shown to be the biggest single factor in a child’s capacity to learn, playing together in Big Porridge & Play Online is a wonderful way to support children to flourish during lockdown.

Virginia Radcliffe, Artistic Director and CEO

It’s very important for us that children continue to have agency and autonomy in these sessions, to invent and delight in their own and others’ rich imaginations. We can make each other laugh, and we can sing!

Virginia Radcliffe, Artistic Director and CEO

We’re delighted that this wonderful family play project can still happen online and will be working with third sector colleagues to ensure digital inequality isn’t a barrier to families in the greatest need participating.

Virginia Radcliffe, Artistic Director and CEO