Keep Calm and Carry On

in Mum on the Rock

That’s what we have been trying to do here at PACS since Lockdown began. Our Facebook page has been awash with ideas on activities you can do with the children. Our sensory table at Playgroup is always a firm favourite with the little ones and pre lockdown we had a term of activities planned. We would love to share some of these with you as they would also work at home:

  • First up is planting fun. All you need is a tray, some chocolate cereal for mud, some small pots that would work as plant pots, a spoon for a spade and some flowers if possible! Your little one can dig and plant to their hearts content! 
  • Another favourite is “what’s in the bag?” Gather up some items from around the house: socks, duplo, small toys, kitchen items that are safe and place them in a drawstring bag. Ask your little one to put their hand in the bag and guess what’s inside. 
  • And lastly, why not try messy play with Cornflour. Mix Cornflour with water in a bowl and wait for it to form a gloopy mixture. If you have food colouring add some to the mixture. Then let your little one play. It’s great for your little child’s sense of touch and easy to do. 

And don’t forget that Story-time, Cooking and Song-time and other fun videos continue to be delivered virtually via our Facebook page. But, don’t forget to look after yourself…


As the days have turned into weeks, weeks into months, we’ve realised how important looking after our own wellbeing has been not just for us but also for our children. We all have bad days, we’ve all had days where we want to cry. That’s perfectly normal. One of the messages we’ve tried to spread is that parents and carers shouldn’t feel guilty for wanting time out. Have that cup tea, read that magazine, hide in that bedroom. Your mental health is also important. 


Craft Corner Potato Prints

Potato prints are quick and cheap to make, and the patterns can be as basic or as sophisticated as you like, so it’s a good craft for all ages.

Step 1
Choose decent sized potatoes. Cut potato in half and then at a 0.5cm depth, scour just through the skin surface, not cutting through too much. Always ask an adult to do the cutting.

Step 2
Insert cookie cutter, a good depth then cut around the edge of the cutter, taking away the potato on that level.

Step 3
Ease cookie cutter out of the potato and voila your stamp is ready.

Step 4
If you wish to freestyle it with a shape you don’t have a cutter for, I scoured out the pattern on the potato first and overlaid a paper template, then punched through into the potato, and carved it out with knife. Thanks to Molly Mahon for the forget-me-not inspiration! 

Step 5
With a paint brush apply paint then get stamping. 

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