15th June 2019 The final session in Ruchill was the last Big Porridge and Play 2019 and we were really moved and delighted to have so many people join us to send the project off in style. We had to add and extra table to fit all 44 people - plus Virginia, Rita, Jack and Ruby round the table when it came to the meal, and it was lovely to share our games, songs and story with our guests. That included loads of your great Funky Chicken animals, like the Dancing Tiger, the Shy Butteryfly and the Slithering Snake. We also played a great game of Witches Fingers, with confident cackling witches of all ages sending us from quiet suspense into laughter and joyous running off. It was clear at the beginning that having guests and a videographer there made a difference, but any shyness was soon forgotten as we got swept up in the worlds of the games. Our Grannies in Monsters' Footsteps were all very keen to tell us about the castles and caves they lived in, even the youngest ones! And everyone was focused on the game together as the grimacing trees crept towards the Grannies and they admired their un-treelike expressions! After the meal, where we enjoyed trying Emma's Jollof rice and plantain, as well as tucking into Edie and Nikki's cakes, we had another go at On Off, which never fails [...]

8th June 2019 We had a really fab sixth session at the Ruchill Community Centre. You could really see how everyone has got to know each other over the last six weeks, with the group chatting away at the start of the afternoon and during the meal, and other parents supporting those with the youngest children. We all put on jam trousers and custard in Mucky Brew, which was hilarious, and went back to the Button Factory for Hello my Name is Joe. Flying Balloons was lots of peoples' favourite game. We saw a volcano, a pink and green whale and even a rocket going into space and the moon! We saw lots of little animals which turned out to be kites being flown along a beach, then one of them was lifted up into the air - with the man holding it attached, and we had to help pull him back down so he wouldn't be carried off into space! We also wrote an epic story together, sitting rapt for more than twenty minutes while Ruby helped us thread together everyone's ideas. We started with a character, a place and an object, and ended with a rich and colourful tale of adventure, revenge and inclusion. The tale of Emily and the Magic Mountain is the longest and most detailed Big Porridge & Play story yet, click here to [...]

18th May 2019 We are missing next week’s session not taking place because of the Bank Holiday so we wanted to make sure we had an excellent session of Porridge & Play today - and we did! –Jack, Iona and our General Manager, Shona were here for our 4th Ruchill BIG Porridge & Play 2019! We started the session with our infamous Big as a Bear - everyone was in the mood to play and full of Licketyspit spirit! We were SO SAD to hear about Old Roger! We wept and we wailed! So we planted an apple tree over his head! The apples grew ripe and tumbled down so the lucky Old Woman could pop them in her basket. Cheek! She was delighted BUT just as she was about to nip off home with them….Old Roger jumped up and he gave her a SHOCK! Eeek! That made the Old Woman go Hippety Hop! We loved playing In the Way of the Word! One group decides on a ‘doing’ word and the other group plans different things to ask them to act! - taking a shower and playing football gigglingly was hilarious! So was brushing our teeth and eating our dinner sadly! Both groups performed brilliantly and we guessed all the words! This is a great game to play at home – especially with grown-ups who don’t usually play! [...]

11th May 2019 Our 3rd BIG Porridge & Play Glasgow session in Ruchill was a really great one! We played some great games, sang new songs and ate delicious lentil and carrot soup. You can find more about our Lickety food in here! Ruby introduced us to her friend Joe this week. We found out just how busy he is and how hard he works in his Button Factory. By the end of the song, we all felt like we had been working in the factory too! To refresh ourselves after such hard work, we flew high above Ruchill and high above Glasgow, flying high in the sky in our different coloured balloons! The choosing of colours provided the group with lots to talk about after the session had finished, with one parent saying: "You have to think outside the box, it's good, they put you on the spot. I was gonna say Silver and then she said it so I wanted to mix it up so I just came out with blue!” We think both silver and blue are great choices! We travelled all over in our balloons, from waving to the lions in Edinburgh zoo to a near erupting volcano and a fleet of multi-coloured boats bobbing along the Clyde. We all got dressed up and went to meet some scary wolves deep in the forest. Our [...]

4th May 2019 Our second Big Porridge & Play session at Ruchill saw us travel around the world, meet a shy sheep and got us to know some old Scots words for the different parts of our body. With our families getting to know us and each other better, not to mention the Licketyspit songs and games, we had a fantastic session playing and eating together. Our sweet potato and carrot soup, a favourite from last year, returned and again proved very popular! We played Witches Fingers for the first time which was a real highlight for the group. Witch Maureen was particularly brilliant and very frightening and we all cackled the witches cackle mwahahaha! The Funky Chicken continued to introduce us to more of his friends and we met a very shy sheep, a blowing elephant,  and a roaring panda! We danced the Ickerickeroo and now the group knows all about our brainboxer, our teeth-gnashers and our bread basket! We travelled around the world for the first time in the Magic Ball! We first landed deep in the rainforest trekking our way out to a beautiful Greek beach. At the beach, we went swimming deep beneath the waves and met the strange and wonderful Sea Monster. The Monster took us into her cave with the scary bats and she gave us a present, a glowing bracelet, to find [...]