Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a. Pancake day, really crept up on me this year; probably something to do with a full moon on the spring equinox, and so a really early Easter with a chance of mad bunnies. So his morning I’ve trialled a few pancake making devices, some things that you can rustle up around the home to help kids learn to flip them like a pro.

You will need
frying pans - though big heavy ones are great for cooking the real pancakes in, for kids to help they need one they can lift
old bits of cloth and cardboard
an easy-to-dry kitchen

for the pancakes (makes 12-ish)
100g plain flour, sifted
2 eggs
200ml milk mixed with 75ml water
50g butter

Get the kids to mix up the flour, eggs and milky bits as soon as they come in from school… this kind of batter can be used straight away, but works better if you let it sit for an hour or so before frying up.

Now it’s time to make your pseudo-pancakes for practice time.  Draw and cut out circles of fabric/cardboard roughly the same size as the base of your frying pans.  Take these bits of material and soak them in tepid water… or chilled if you’re feeling mean.  Now teach the kids to flip them with a deft forward-up-and-back motion of the wrist.  Do it well and the water won’t spray; too quick or too hard and everyone starts to get wet.  High arcing flips to land the damp pseudo-cake on ones own head are to be commended.

After a little experimentation I recommend using the thighs of old jeans as the material of choice.  It gets good and damp, yet slides well out of pans.  Felt is a tad too sticky when wet, old flannels are a too crumply, art-foam sheets form little suction cups on the pan, whilst thick cardboard - though initially good - starts to come apart after 10 minutes or so.

Mop the kitchen floor and attempt with real pancakes.

Pancakes are a great way to introduce kids to safe stove top cooking.  As you have to hang around the cooker it gives them more time to watch and see what happens to the flame/halogen top, than your usual stick on a pan and bring to boil.  So get one pan good and hot, drop in a lump of butter until it sizzles.  Then take the batter mixture and pour out a couple of tablespoons, I’ve always found this is best done from a ladle so it all arrives at the same time whilst giving a long handle for littler hands.  Cook for less than a minute until you can pull back a corner and see that the bottom has gone all brown.  Now it’s flipping time.  Hot pan, check for others, two hands, flip and catch.  Award points for any pancakes that make it up to the light fixtures or maybe give a special topping for the most fragmented, so that all feel encouraged.

Depending on age you might like to flip with both you and the child holding the handle, or perhaps you might pre-cook a handful and slide them off into a cold frying pan to be slung around with abandon.

Enjoy (with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of sugar)

tag... play for today, 2up, 3up, 5up, 8up, be helpful, cooking, enjoy and achieve, stay safe

I may spend most of my days at play now, but once upon a time I dabbled with theology. There are precedents I’m told, though on closer examination the company of the yurodivy (eastern orthodox fools-for-Christ) might not be comfortable… I wear more clothes for starters. But there is much to learn from figures like Ryokan, an 18c Buddhist monk of whom it is told that he forgot to claim his food on a regular basis because he was off at play with the village kids.

My latest find is the story of Jesus at play. Now a little biblical back ground; the New Testamenty bit as we know it was formed by different early churches having different favourite book written at different times, taking the Roman churches some 400 odd years (Synod of Hippo - a great name) from Christ’s death to form some sort of consensus. In the east, though mostly settled around the same time, the orthodox churches took closer to 1500 years (Synod of Jerusalem - not such a catchy name) to iron out all wrinkles.

One of the books that didn’t quite make it - probably because the child Jesus has a habit of divinely smiting bullies, kids that just don’t play nice and whinging parents - is the Infancy Gospels of Thomas. On the other hand he does bring them back/cure the withering after they’ve been seen to learn their lesson (there are two greek versions around, do go for version B, it’s more story and less bully smiting). It does though have a great story of Jesus at play. A story that, though being lost in the west, surfaces in Coptic mysticism and later the Qu’ran (5:110) possibly because of the depths of play and divinity it calls forth.

The Second Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ - Chapter 1, from the 2^nd verse

²When the child Jesus was five years of age and there had been a shower of rain that was now over, Jesus was playing with other Hebrew boys by a running stream, and the waters ran over the banks and stood in little lakes; ³But the water readily obeyed him after he touched it only by his word, for it instantly became clear and useful again. ⁴Then he took from the bank of the stream some soft clay and formed out of it twelve sparrows; and there were other boys playing with him. ⁵But a certain boy seeing the things which he was doing, namely, his forming clay into the figures of sparrows on the Sabbath day, went presently away and told his father Joseph, ⁶“Behold, your boy is playing by the river side, and has taken clay and formed it into twelve sparrows, and profanes the Sabbath”. ⁷Then Joseph came to the place where he was, and when he saw him, called to him, and said, “Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day?” ⁸Then Jesus clapping together the palms of his hands, called to the sparrows, and said to them: “Go, fly away; and while you live remember me”.

There is so much good play in this story. There is mucking about in mud, there is creativity (even without the miraculous ending) and there is a healthy disregard for what has to be rather than what might possibly be. And best of all there is the slightly anarchic twisting of authority and the side-lining of a snitch. Such play is really human, yet a reflection of the divine… something I am lucky enough to get to see in much child’s play.

Maybe there is a lost Christian tradition of transformative play to be found in this story… or if not a lost tradition, one that is perhaps just a little too good at hide and seek.

tag... play, philosophising

My local and ever friendly ELC has a little sale on at the moment; where you can pick up a spirograph and a spin painter for just a tenner. Having picked it up, it’s good value. For the price of a DVD we’ve already had 4 hours of creative play and produced some Hirst-esqe art to boot.

Spirographs (or spiral art, magic, or kit depending on copyright infringement) are a great play resource, to be whipped out whenever there is a quite moment that might lose its quietness. Not only do the spirals within spirals reuse the paper waiting or the recycling van; but I’ve a strong hunch that the guided movement are an aid to building up those pen pushing muscles that are needed by early writers.

Spin painters are a giggle. They’ve usually got a little tray that can be spun, by hammering a button, so that any runny paint is spun out to make fantastic patterns. I recommend using that really cheap photo paper - the stuff that make photos fade to sepia after a year - as the glossy texture helps the paint to spiral out. My task for the near future is to see if I can hack together this paper tray with the junior pot throwing kit that came No1 child’s way last birthday. With any luck, and some double sided sticky tape, we’ll be able to make amazing high speed splashes whist at the same time redecorating the kitchen with an interesting border.

Thinking along the same lines, I wonder if it’s possible -come summer - to peg some paper to the middle of the whirly-gig rotary washing line for some great kid-made wall art.

tag... play for today, 5up, enjoy and achieve, makes

The right to play is the child’s first claim on the community. Play is nature’s training for life. No community can infringe that right without doing enduring harm to the minds and bodies of its citizens.

David Lloyd George
Prime Minister of Great Britain 1916-1922

Thank you foolscapandquills

ps  And a Happy 50th Birthday to that uber-toy that is Lego too.

tag... play, philosophising

The kids of today are in a sorry state; have you seen the limp products that pass as chemistry sets these days. Finding one with a little meths burner, a cute liebig condenser or anything even slightly toxic is nigh on impossible (and to my dismay I can’t even find the ‘junior mad scientist’ one I had as a kid to bequeath to my boys). It falls upon me to introduce them to proper science through makeshift concoctions of any household stuff I can get my mits on.

You will need
Household Borax powder (I got enough for a couple of gallons of snot for £3.50 from the Green Shop)
PVA glue (I like the vats of the Eco Friendly version)
water
green food colouring
a jam jar and lid per child

First of all stir up a Borax solution. Take a cup, add some warm water and a tablespoon of Borax. Let it sit whilst you measure out the rest of the stuff so that any excess settles to the bottom. Do be careful, Borax whilst in powder form is a little toxic; so don’t stick it up any noses. Once it’s in water though, it’s about as toxic as salt… which is more toxic than you might think, if you just ask a passing slug.

You will need 3 parts water to 2 parts PVA glue, measure them into your jam-jar and add a couple of drops of dye. Now screw that lid down and give it a good shake until the water and PVA become one sloppy, runny and slightly foamy green mess.

Now for the cool bit. Add 1 part Borax solution. A little less for a gloopy goo (for fake boogers); or a little more for more rubbery snot (this can be used as a farty-putty, scoop it out of the jar and press it back in to make really rude flatulent reverberations). Then get them to shake and shake and shake. Over the next minute or two a lump of snot will form and start bouncing around the jar. I found that a bigger jar helped this happen smoother and faster; though it worked quite well on a small scale too.

Scoop and smear.

ps. do make sure you know your chemicals, and if you do try syribia’s recipe for different types of snot and slime at Instructables

Enjoy

tag... play for today, 5up, 8up, enjoy and achieve, geeky

I’ve been spending the last week or so knee deep in playdough. It seems to be everywhere, in the kitchen, at nursery, in the carpet, in my pockets… everywhere.   Little kids seem to love the stuff.  And as they start school it is worth a little effort to keep their interest in all kinds of modelling going, for particularly as they start writing they need those squeezing muscles that dough helps develop.

But playdough does bring its problems.  Learn these tricks and become a playdough pro.

Make it
Shop bought stuff isn’t the cheapest, though it’s worth buying at least one set for the nifty airtight tubs it comes in.  Then you can make you own, adding colour or glitter to please.

Brush it
Playdough will end up in the carpet.  It’s one of those universal truths of childcare.  But fret not, it can be fairly easily removed.  First remove any lumps as best you can then wait for it to dry.  If you’re in a hurry DO NOT take a hairdryer to it, you’ll cook it in place forever.  Once it’s nice and crunchy go and find an old tooth brush and start combing the carpet in towards the middle of the offending smear.  Have a quick vacuum, repeat if necessary.  Should there be a coloured stain left try first with a little water (again moving from the outside to the middle of the stain), I’ve yet to have to break out the big guns, but should all else fail fetch the carpet cleaner.

Scratch  it
If you’ve got the stuff engrained in the knees of your trousers don’t wash it in hot water until you’ve left it to dry and given it a really good scratch and pick.

Poke it
It’s like removing mud from the soles of your footy-boots, or from the treads of your trusty but elderly hiking yompers.  There is something quite tranquil about poking around removing playdough from your shoes.  It’s one of those funny little activities that you do with your kids; sitting out on the porch, pokey stick in hand, talking through the day that’s been, and those that are still to come as the sun comes down.

Enjoy.

tag... play for today, play, 2up, 3up, enjoy and achieve, makes

Time seems to let memories seep away; which is why I went out and bought Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. Now the PS3 does a lovely job of the graphics, the cut scenes are a delight - being funny and star-wars-ey at the same time - and the game play is smooth. So why a paltry 3 stars? Because of the bicker factor. To be precise, because of the bicker factor and my parenting co-play philosophy.  It must be my memory, ‘cos it was just this problem with the first one in the series we had a few years back.

All multiplayer games have a bicker factor; that element of them in which you or your own turn across the room and say “come with me… now… hurry… quick… nargh… too late”. In mutiplayer gems like Marvel Heroes, or the Fantastic Four this is overcome by a game play in which every one bundles in to whatever is going on on screen. But in Lego Star Wars there’s a little too much co-op “we have to do this together… on the count of 3… 3!” which does frustrate the younger ones. Lucky they’ve parents who don’t mind being handed a controller, but that kinda’ takes away the sense of achievement for them.

On the other side the game promises online co-op, which - if we can get it up and running with the cousins - puts a certain amount of distance between partners, forcing cooperation rather than complaints. We’ll see.

tag... review, play for today, 5up, 8up, gamer

Invisible ink is sooo cool. Forget the painstaking warming of lemon ink writing above a candle flame (but do let older kids give it a go), and find yourselves a UV invisible ink pen and torch . My local toy shop sells them for a couple of quid each… though you do need more pens than torches, the magic ink has a habit of drying up after the first month.  These pens come with a little led torch that allows you to check for counterfeit notes, they double for a little blue torch in their own right, they’re great for pikapika pictures and they read what you’ve just written in uv ink.

I’m planning a late night treasure hunt with these uv wonders.  I’ve found they can leave messages on - and can be wiped off again from - most hard non-porous surfaces  (please do still check in an unobtrusive area first).  Further research here at the welikeplay house-work minimising laboratory has also found that these unseeable messages denature over about 3 to 4 weeks so there really is no need to clean.  Saying that, I know there are permanent security markers around, perhaps be a little more cautious with these.

So in the evening - after bedtime -invisible messages are going up on windows, tiles, fridges, framed photos and mirrors around the house.  Perhaps even interspersed with invisible messages on my forehead for good luck, particularly as they’re branded non-toxic.  As with all treasure hunts they’re best created backwards.  Bury the treasure in a sock draw, scrawl on the outside in uv pen then find the next spot and refer back.  As long as you can remember where you’ve just been and your last stop - not as easy as it sounds, believe me - your trail will link up nicely.  The next evening, just as it gets dark, take them to your last stop and their first clue and hand out the torches.  Make a cup of tea and sit back contentedly as they charge around the house.

Enjoy.

tag... play for today, 5up, 8up, enjoy and achieve

If you’ve a spare 10 minutes you really should see Gever Tulley’s TED talk “5 dangerous things you should let your kids do“.  To quote:

If we’ve rounded every corner and eliminated every sharp edge and every pokey bit in their world, then the first time the kids come in contact with anything sharp… or not made out of round plastic, then they’ll hurt themselves.

And in short… and you’ll be missing a treat if you don’t have 10 minutes… playing with fire and sharp stuff teaches them to be safe and smart.

tag... play

There is something about post-Christmas detritus; a mixture of panic when you’ve found a little plastic hoojit which obviously complements the lost fankle of some bizarre robo-toy, and joy as it gets cleared and a sense of sanity returns to the household. But before you dump it (to Crumpit) there are a few treasures to pull out of the trash.

After a binge on Pringles and other tubed snacks the welikeplay den has been host to the word championships of pringle pinging. This noble sport requires an empty box or waste-paper bin to act as the goal, which is positioned in the middle of the room. All participants are armed with a Pringle lid or two - which we’ve taken to marking with a permanent pen to stop squabbles - these are then flexed between thumb and fingers so that they pop out, hopefully landing on target in the bin/box/goal. Points are scored for accuracy and style. For instance a ricochet shot fired blind from behind the sofa that narrowly misses the goal is still worthis worth a good 12 points, where as a lazy but accurate flip from a father slobbed out on the sofa is only worth 2.

Time to start stock-piling lids; we’re finding that for a two-kid and one-not-quite-grown-up game you need at least six, if not twelve marked lids.

Enjoy.

tag... play for today, 5up, 8up, running wild