Licketyspit Children & Families Network

About the CFN

Licketyspit’s Children & Families Network (CFN) is a welcoming & inclusive community of families with 3-12 year olds who have met Licketyspit – through our projects, shows, school sessions, Porridge & Play – and share a love of imaginary play! The CFN celebrates children’s rights and puts children’s voices at the centre of all of our projects and activities. Find out more below!

Join us!

Joining the CFN is a way of meeting and staying in touch with Licketyspit and other like-minded children and families across Glasgow, Edinburgh and beyond. Through our social media platforms and at sessions, you can share experiences, ideas and opportunities to enrich family life and play!

Join the CFN by clicking on the button to the right. You can then join also the CFN Facebook group or CFN WhatsApp Group by sending us a message on 07413 800 342.

Join an upcoming session by contacting us, and find all our latest activities in Happening Now.

Children & Families Professionals

If you work with children and families and would like to find out more about accessing a Licketyspit project or CPD training, please go to the Professionals section of our website, or contact us at info@licketyspit.com.

Families talk about CFN

It helps me not to be shy because usually I am very shy. I play Funky Chicken with my Mum.

10 year old, Royston, Big Porridge & Play Online

I feel very happy when am in the group with other families.

5 year old, Wyndford, Big Porridge & Play Online

I love the group and I feel very happy.

8 year old, Govan, Big Porridge & Play Online

This is all of us having a picnic in the colourful blankets and I enjoyed playing the games (Reflective Drawing)

7 year old, Glasgow, Picnic & Play

It just feels like a big family having breakfast.

Mum, Ruchill

All the events are epic. My family always have an amazing time!

Mum, Maryhill

Interesting thing that makes one belong to a new family, where everyone learning from each new idea

Mum, Kings Park, Big Porridge & Play Online

Very good, very comfort. Very nice to meet new people.

Mum, Picnic & Play
Get to know our Actor-Pedagogues

CFN Activities & Information

Translation

We have translations about Porridge & Play in Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish, Polish, French – so far. These are available here. You can also find our 2020 videos about Coronavirus lockdown in Spanish & Arabic here and Polish here.

BUT Licketyspit projects can be enjoyed by people who are still learning English without translation or interpreting. You don’t need to understand all the words to enjoy and join in with our games & activities! And our sessions are a brilliant space to relax, chat and practice your English, whatever level you are at.


We sometimes need bilingual volunteers to translate welcome materials and occasionally phone up new families to tell them what to expect.

“She enjoying it during this difficult time when we were so bored, now even English some words she can talk . For myself taking my stress out.” Single Mum of 3 year old, Botswana & Scotstoun

 

 

Lickety Volunteers

There are also opportunities to
volunteer at our sessions. Play
Champion parents/carers and
refugees receive training & mentoring
& take on greater responsibility
at sessions. Volunteers’  travel expenses
are covered at live Porridge & Play and
Picnic & Play Sessions. If your children
are under 8, you will need to organise
child-care while you are volunteering
 – Licketyspit can help with this.

Let us know if you would like to 
volunteer with us!

READ Interview with Lickety Volunteer Boatemaa.

Lickety Play Champions

Children and parents and carers who’ve been in the CFN for a long time and regularly attend
Licketyspit activities become Lickety Play Champions –  who are ambassadors for Licketyspit
nationally and in their own communities. Play Champions help us shape our projects
through consultations and take a lead in our games and play sessions.
Sometimes parent champions also become volunteers!

We are a children’s rights-based company and we want children to have real agency
in everything we do. We have regular Child Consultant sessions with CFN families
as well as the Reflective Drawing and feedback opportunities in every session.

Over to you!

We always encourage you to share drawings, poems, stories, videos and photos of your artistic creations. You can see some of the creativity inspired by our Activity Films, Zoom adventures endplay sessions in the blogs below and the Licketyspit Art Gallery…from Emmanuel’s Acrostic Poem to Exploring with Zainab, to Cooking with Piyanshu, Taiwo and Ope!

Have you been anywhere exciting lately in your Flying Balloons? Or created any new characters for Monsters’ Footsteps or Witches Fingers? Perhaps you’d like to share a picture of a Funky Chicken animal? We’ll always write back and celebrate your creations. You can see ALL of the CFN family photos on Facebook.

Child Protection & Photo Consent

Licketyspit takes child protection and safeguarding very seriously. We have developed additional policies and training for our team for our online work. As a children’s rights based organisation, children’s opinions about sharing their photos are very important, as well as parent/carer permission. Please ask your children if they are happy to share their photos before you give consent. If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch.

Click to complete our Photo Consent form.

Click to read the Licketyspit Child Protection Policy.

 

Have Your Say Through Play

Have Your Say Through Play sessions were developed with the Children & Families Network in September 2020, as a way to consult children and explore issues that matter to them, using the Lickety Playcard repertoire. We have explored children’s experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic using Flying Balloons, Sent a Letter to my Love and Reflective Drawing. Children from the CFN took part in a consultation with the Scottish Parliament on Children’s Rights in November 2020  – on the UNCRC Incorporation (Scotland) Bill. In this session we played the multi-lingual Hello Game, What’s the Time Mr No-Rights Wolf and Let’s Bake a Rights Cake! You can see what some of the children have to say about their rights below.

Find out more about how Scotland is championing children’s rights here.

Our rights are like because long long time ago, children had to work very young and work in factories and sometimes children get hurt or get killed because of that. So our rights nowadays are to make the world safer for children and for children feel that they actually belong and to make children feel that they’re safe in the world so they don’t start doing things.

Child, 10

Rights are something that you can do. If someone says to you, you’re not allowed to go to school or you’re not allowed to study, which is not good because you have the right to go to school and get an education.

Child, 9

In the Rights Cake I would put in a big bag of haribos and a big massive jar of Children have the right to get protection, so that people won’t kidnap them.

Child, 7

In the Rights Cake I want to put Freedom of speech!

Child, 9

In the Rights Cake [I want to put] 20 bars of chocolate and a big massive bag of right to privacy – so if you’re like changing we need privacy to change. And also like sleeping, you don’t want someone to be watching you when you’re sleeping, or if you wanted to think or like thinking or reading in your room then you need the right to privacy.

Child, 10

Children should have the right to play, children should have the right to learn

Child, 10

In the Rights Cake I want to put the right to learning and maths and to learn a language.

Child, 5

People have a right to choose what they want to eat.

Child, 6

In the Rights Cake I want to put the right to be together!

Child, 9

I have the right as a child to be what I want to be in future! 🙂

Child, 6

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