Mrs. Welikeplay is a woman of few vices, with the major exception of yarn. Wool has a strange effect on her, she suddenly finds the need to store quantities of it in pretty bags up and down the welikeplay HQ. Being a good husband I feel it is my duty to purloin the occasional ball to use with the kiddywinks to make stuff; reasoning that if she has a little more space she can indulge in acquiring more. If only I had a way of using up shoes too.

You will need:
Two straight twigs for every child/adult. 15-20cm long seems good.
Yarn, wool or string in as many colours and hues as you have hanging around.
If you have them - beads, sparkly things, interesting autumnal treasures

You may need to help younger kids with this first part; take the two sticks and cross then at right-angles to each other. Tie one diagonal loop around the join, and then a tie a second across the other diagonal. Now the children can start weaving under and over around the cross, changing wool whenever it suits them. They can also add their interesting things to the weave as they go to make it more pretty/chaotic.

When they’re done, tie off the wool with a long end. This can be tied to trees in your garden to be revealed as the leaves fall over the next week or two.

Enjoy.

tag... play for today, 3up, 5up, makes, out and about

This, in the UK, week is road safety week.  Parents and minders might like to try some of the following links:

• Uk Gov stuff
• Mayor of London’s kids zone
• Make a pledge to drive safely
• for minders, use the pre-school resources from ‘Brake’ - the road safety charity.

Enjoy.

tag... play, out and about, stay safe

The ultimate toy of toys.  There is nothing to compare.  It is the stick.

Every time I wander in the wild with the kidlings a stick is, almost without exception, found.  It’s never just picked up, it’s selected by size shape and form for a purpose.  Perhaps it will be a long whippy one today, with extra length and flickability especially suited to scything grass.  Or perhaps it’s a Gandalf-esque staff complete with a “You shall not pass” in a slightly higher voice than expected.  I don’t often get gun sticks any more; last time I was shot by a stick I lay down and played dead until the kiddywinks got bored, it hasn’t happened again.  Once, when I was prepared, we had flag sticks with squares of fabric and ribbons tied on.

Sometimes we’re blessed with too many sticks to hold.  Then it’s time to build a lean-to.  Find one big fallen branch - at least 6 foot long and with a v end if possible - and a tree.  Lean the big stick up against the tree and then stack smaller twigs along the supporting sticks length.  15 minutes hard child labour will have a fairly draft proof  lean-to.  Pack a thermos of pea soup, and tell them it’s nettle (though real nettle soup ain’t bad if you add cream); or a pocketful of chocolate raisins and convince them its bunny poo.

Enjoy.

Update
Typical, I blog about the inevitability of sticks, go for a walk with my boys and they avoid any stickage whatsoever.

tag... play for today, 3up, 5up, 8up, out and about

… any mighty oaks that grow will be made to live outside. We’ve been planting acorns in our own acorniums™ (not really a ™ thing, I’ve just learnt a new bit of blog code).

You will need
a couple of shot glasses (you have small kids now, when are you really going to need your whole collection again)
some small stones
some acorns picked up from your autumnal wandering

Spend some time washing the stones in a shallow bowl of water, this is such good fun for little ones. No3 girl could spend all day doing this if she was allowed. Fill the shot glass with the stones, slowly. Most shot glasses are fairly indestructible, but take it slow nonetheless. Drop an acorn on top, then fill with water to below the acorn, or it will go mouldy; kind of cool in itself, but not the desired result. Place in airing cupboard and peek and top up every week. Soon you’ll see some white roots winding down through the stones and maybe even a little shoot. You have an acornium™.

I’m told, though I’ve never remembered to keep watering long enough, that you can pot out to bonsai pots quite successfully. Perhaps this time?

Enjoy

tag... play for today, 2up, 3up, 5up, out and about

I love crunchy autumnal walks. The cold crisp air, small children bobbing like balloons through the trees, the colours and the sounds; it’s childcare bliss. The only down side seems to be the pockets full of collected treasures that are presented to me. Yellow and red leaves, conkers half shelled, sycamore and pine and bits of interesting bark. Collecting isn’t the problem, it’s the storage. These things will pocket-compost if left; not nice.

These treasures have to be kept special though, so I’ve been racking the grey cells and come up with the Autumnal Scan. Once we’re back from the walk we’re going to polish up all the treasures and drop them artfully onto the computer’s scanner. Voila, one printable picture to stick up. While the detritus can be happily fed to the worms.

Enjoy.

tag... play for today, 3up, 5up, be healthy, collecting, enjoy and achieve, geeky, out and about

For many Halloweens now I’ve had little ones around, and it can be a scary time for some of them. Not only do they get their first glimpse of night as they perhaps stay up late for the first time; but the night is populated with all kinds of weird things.

Over the last two years I’ve adopted a smiling lantern policy. Not only is a carving pumpkins one of those shared family activities that helps small children ‘own’ a part of Halloween. But by making it non-threatening it is almost as if it makes a household guardian that keeps away the night. Conversely a scary face that’s been made in the house brings the scaryness within the safe walls of home.

So carve a smiley face; use a drill to make nice round holes rather than scary triangular eyes. You can also print out my masks up sign to help the bigger kids think about the really little ones.

And let them enjoy.

tag... play, be helpful, out and about, philosophising, stay safe

It’s the 23rd of September, the first day of autumn, and time to indoctrinate the next generation into my preferred extreme sport… leaf jumping.

The rules are simple, find a pile of leaves - collected by patient hands, or gusts of wind - and jump. There is no scoring, only a feeling of crunchy satisfaction. And I’m not alone, there is even a Facebook group devoted to the art. I can only hope this week brings some cold crispy days to indulge this pastime in.

Leave a comment dedicating yourself to this sport this autumn, or go admire our new Leaf Ninja T’s

tag... our shop, play for today, 2up, 3up, 5up, be healthy, nature, out and about

… or the sidewalk stance.

Children can be very focused on their feet as they walk, perhaps because its a lot closer to them than us. It takes some time to adjust to their ways, but the perspective they give is so cool. Pavements take on a texture of their own when studied, and play ensues.

You will need
a 5-10 minute walk
20 miuntes to do it in

read on »

tag... play for today, 3up, out and about