Virginias Diary
Our artistic director & CEO Virginia Radcliffe founded Licketyspit in 2004, following her success as the director of Scotland’s first early years theatre residency, at Wee Stories.
In 2008 she developed her immersive theatre piece LicketyLeap, through play and consultation with early years children. This led to the Storyplay Approach, which is the cornerstone of all of Licketyspit’s work.
Virginia is a passionate advocate for the transformative power of theatre and performance to open up imaginary playworlds for children, families and early years professionals.
In these blogs you can read about some of the work Virginia does with Licketyspit outside of project delivery. This includes advocacy, child consultation, training, digital inclusion and much more. The blogs also include reflections on the journey of Licketyspit and the importance of play and children’s rights.
Why I started Licketyspit
I started working with early years children when I had my own children – Ruby & Iona. Having children reminded me how much I love to play, sing, dance, dress-up, read, explore and make up and act out stories! Play is so important. Its how we learn to become ourselves. Play is how we discover the world around us and what we think about it. And play is how we get to know each other and build strong relationships. When we play we can relax and open up our imaginations. [...]
Licketyspit at the Refugee Festival Scotland!
We went to the Scottish Refugee Festival!! Saturday 18th June We had a wonderful Licketyspit Picnic & Play to celebrate the Scottish Refugee Festival in Elder Park on Saturday 18th June with 14 families from all over the city – and all over the world! It was a blustery sunny day. The early birds had a hilarious time with Effie singing Old Roger is Dead & inventing millions of new verses and new characters for Jelly on his Head! Adeelah gave us Violet with Chewing gum in her [...]
Volunteer with Licketyspit!
22nd April 2022 We are looking for volunteers to take part in our intergenerational Storyplay sessions across a range of projects. Our play sessions mainly take place on Wednesdays (2.30-6.30), Thursdays (3-7), Fridays (3-7), Saturdays (10-4). Dates for induction training are - 24th May (6-7.30) - 25th May (11-1) drop in for 1-to-1 chats - 21st June (4-5.30) You must attend at least 1 training session. If you can attend all 3 sessions you'll develop your skills further, on the road to becoming a Storyplay Champion! [...]
Training Women’s Aid workers in Storyplay
17th December 2021 In 2020, Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA) approached Licketyspit to explore a collaboration: ‘When I heard more about Licketyspit all I could think about was how few tools we’ve had (in WA) based on joy and play and love and excitement and art and music and all of the thing to allow us to express emotions and not only get them out but also share them in a really meaningful way with the people we love.’ Marsha Scott CEO SWA In Feb 2021 [...]
Licketyspit’s Xmas Dress-Up!
All you need is your imagination for a Magical Christmas! Some of our fantastic families won’t be getting a present this Christmas so we would like to be able to give them a some presents from US ALL! We invite YOU to join our Dressing-Up Challenge to make a fantastic & hilarious costume out of anything you can find around the house or office! Then if you can, donate to our Christmas fundraiser. Donate Here How to take part: 1) Dress yourself up in a fantastic & [...]
National Lottery Birthday Film
26th November 2021 This month we had a fantastic Porridge & Play session at our home in Community Central Halls - CCH, with families who've been playing with us online since last year! We were also joined by Sanjeev Kholi and our funder the National Lottery who wanted to make a short film about Porridge & Play. The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland has funded Big Porridge & Play Glasgow since 2017 and last year helped us run sessions online all year, keeping our Children & Families Network connected & [...]
