Hello! Sean here, AKA Mr M, and I’ve borrowed the keys to Jo’s blog for the day 🙂
The other week while Jo was channeling in her inner Sonia in Liverpool, I spent the weekend having some quality time with the kids. Until about 7:30pm when the kids went to bed and I had some quality time with a Chinese takeaway and a large glass of white wine.
If, like me, you’re filled with utter panic over “What to do with the kids” when you have two days to fill, you’ll know the relief that comes when a few options present themselves. Thankfully Jo is never short of an idea or two and let me know about some of the new things happening at The Rainbow Factory.
We’ve been quite a few times to The Rainbow Factory, even holding Emilia’s 4th birthday there. Far from being “more of the same” the great thing about this place is they present new things in a familiar setting over and over.
This time we were treated to a Goldilocks theme – Part of the current “Heroes and Villains” theme running till October 6th. And although the plays start on the stage, they slowly drawing the kids in to the play by acting it out all around them and really making them a part of the story.
What amazes me about the actors is their patience and efforts in making even the most shy child inclusive. Emilia especially has a tendency to switch to feeling a bit quiet – but they can read this and work well to slowly draw out some interaction from your kids. Playing games with the characters was great fun for all the kids… and us parents too, if we’re being honest.
Craft activities before and after the play helped pace things nicely, and Robin especially loved making himself a very hungry caterpillar, while I especially loved a nice cup of tea.
A quick visit to run around the new storytellers garden, and it was time to head off in time for Robin’s nap, where no doubt he was dreaming of long haired princesses, daring princes, and hungry caterpillars.