Tag: parenting

Happy Stone Circle Sunday! The youngest and I went out to Avebury Henge, the world's largest neolithic standing stone circle and henge.

Alt

On verdant grass and under clear skies, a boy in a white-and-blue 'Sonic the Hedgehog' t-shirt strolls in front of a line of about half a dozen enormous standing stones.

I don't want to withdraw any of our children from sec [sic] education lessons.

Alt

Part of an email, written in Comic Sans, reading: Ages 10 – 11 Puberty for boys and girls revisited. Understanding conception to the birth of a baby. Becoming a teenager. All lessons are taught using correct terminology, child-friendly language and diagrams. / Content on relationships is compulsory for all children as well as work on reproduction and body parts, which is also covered as part of science lessons. However, parents can decide to withdraw their child from sex education lessons. Class teachers can provide more information if you wish to discuss this with your child’s teacher. / If you would like to withdraw your child from sec education lessons, then please put this in writing by the end of this week 6th June.

However they're spelled, they're a great idea, and I'm grateful to live in a part of the world where their existence isn't the target of religious politics.

But if I can withdraw consent to receiving emails about sex education in Comic Sans then that'd be great, thanks. 😅

Today's Hide And Seek With The Kids is brought to you by the Bishop's Palace, St. David's, Wales.

Alt

Dan crouches on a stone spiral staircase.

What's that, girl? Two children are lost somewhere in this bookshop?

Yeah, I should probably find them and take them home for lunch.

Alt

Dan, in a bookshop, holds a book called How To Speak Dog, alongside a French Bulldog.

Y'all seemed to enjoy the "overworld" map I shared the other day, so here's another "feelie" from my kids' ongoing D&D campaign.

The party has just arranged for passage aboard a pioneering (and experimental) Elvish airship. Here's a deck plan (only needs a "you are here" dot!) to help them get their bearings.

Alt

In the style of a passenger ferry, a floorplan for a dirigible, weighted down by polyhedral dice. Fantasy world quirks like bilingual text in Common and Elvish and the emergency exit sign depicting a fleeing witch complete the effect.

In preparation for Family D&D Night (and with thanks to my earlier guide to splicing maps together!), I've finally completed an expanded "overworld" map for our game world. So far, the kids have mostly hung around on the North coast of the Central Sea, but they're picked up a hook that may take them all the way across to the other side... and beyond?

Banana for scale.

(If your GMing for kids, you probably already know this, but "feelies" go a long way. All the maps. All the scrolls. Maybe even some props. Go all in. They love it.)

Alt

On a dining table lies a old-style map comprised of 12 sheets of A4 paper, sellotaped together. The map shows the 'Central Sea', an inlet from the 'Terminic Ocean', around which various settlements, forests, mountain ranges, and swamps can be found. An underripe banana sits in one corner of the map, weighing it down.

White's move. Mate in three. A giant chessboard is the perfect environment to teach a child some basic chess strategy, right?

Alt

A girl studies a chessboard on a lawn, watched over by two men: Dan and JTA.

Brought the kids up Knipe Scar with limited and challenging art materials (huge sheets of paper and thick marker pens) for a lesson in drawing what a landscape makes you feel, rather than focusing on what you can actually see.

Alt

Two children on a rocky green hillside each draw on a sheet of A1 paper.

"I know that losing your job was hard," my 8-year-old said to me this evening, "So you can borrow this." He handed me his newest soft toy.

"It'll help you feel better when you're sad. Keep him for the week."

😭

Alt

'Squishmallow' soft toy in the shape of a fat snake with a starry belly, sitting on a grey pillow.