By Kate Hodges
24th January 2019
EVENT and DO Tall Tales
It’s National Storytelling Week – a time where the oral tradition is celebrated and the air is thick with wild tales and monsters conjured from the imagination. Join in the fun at an event near you – there’s a map of what’s happening here. We like the sound of the Festival of Stories in Southend, and the full-blooded The Big Blind, which sounds perfect for older teenagers. Can’t make it along to an event? Find ‘story medicine’ alchemist Susan Perrow’s top tips for telling your own tales here and explore more ways to share stories here.
EVENT, LEARN, RECIPE Burns Baby Burns
This Friday is Burns Night – a celebration of the life and poetry of Robert Burns (find out more here). Why not host your own? There’s a fairly strict running order, with music, poems, and the famous ‘Address to the Haggis’, where the biggest ham in the family reads out a tribute to the culinary delight, then slices it open. This year, we’re going to try some veggie versions of the traditional dishes. Find a filling and nutritious, plant-based take on Cock A Leekie soup here, the excellently named Rumbledethumps here and some tasty veggie haggis ideas here.
EVENT - Super Supper
The Big Burns Supper in Dumfries is the world’s biggest contemporary Burns celebration, and there are events for all ages alongside the big music headliners, comedy acts and theatre productions. Scotland’s biggest free youth music festival, Youth Beatz takes over the BBS Spiegeltent on Thursday, there’s a family roller disco on Saturday, and Family Sunday features a blend of local bands and juke box bingo – an interactive music quiz that’s totally free. Next weekend, join in a huge interactive video game that will be projected through the centre of the town. Plus, we love that kids and students go free to the music shows!
RECIPE - Packing a Punch
This weekend’s RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is a wonderful, inclusive way for even the smallest of children to connect with nature. It’s the world’s largest garden wildlife survey – half a million people spend an hour counting the winged creatures that come into their garden, balcony or park. Don’t worry if you’re an ornithology novice – there’s a neat guide to the feathered guys you’re likely to spot here. This year the event celebrates its 40th birthday – find out about its history here. And we have been enjoying finding out which garden bird personality we all are – find yours online here
MAKE Holding Folding
It’s useful to always have some simple, ten-minute craft ideas that you can make with minimal materials to hand. These mesmerising paper flextangles are fun and the instructional video makes the method clear. Or try downloading and creating some paper foldables – we like the Brooklyn hipsters and the accordion calendar. Alternatively, there’s a rainbow of fun, downloadable ideas at our favourite Print-and-do site, Mr Printable – find games, puzzles, activities and home decor, all beautifully designed!
