Bookplay – opening doors books to enter imaginary playworlds and unlock the limitless possibilities of children!

BookPlay is a version of Porridge & Play that introduces a wonderful children’s book into a Licketyspit group play session, as the stimulus for imaginary play, vividly demonstrating that every new book a child opens, offers them a new (or many!) imaginary play world (s)!

Licketyspit actor-pedagogues read an illustrated storybook to participating children and parents, inviting the children to help them interpret the pictures and story. The group dip into our dressing-up bags to create characters or things they want to become in the book and they collectively improvise,  ‘acting out’ or ‘performing’ the story!

The children are free to add their own ideas and elements. The adventure increasingly moves from adult-led to child-led play. Like Porridge/Picnic & Play, Bookplay sessions end with Reflective Drawing. Participants draw, in order to gather their thoughts and reflections on paper, before sharing them as an ‘artist’ in the Licketyspit Art Gallery.

Edward Lear’s The Jumblies and Angelo by Quentin Blake have been highly successful Bookplay books, which need to be accessible to our youngest participants and rich enough to also capture the imaginations of older children and adults. Many are long-standing, well-loved children’s books which are easily accessible in local libraries, in most bookshops or online. We often work in partnerships with Libraries who can provide Bookplay Books for participants to take home at the end of the session.

BookPlay developed out of Porridge & Play and features in Big Porridge & Play Glasgow as one of the 7 weekly sessions that take place during this project. Bookplay is also delivered with children teachers and families within our Storyplay Schools Residencies to support literacy. BookPlay also takes place in collaboration with libraries. The Licketyspit Library page features good books for Bookplay!

(If you would like to suggest a book you think would make a great BookPlay session, do let us know by email or social media.)