A View from the Playground

Avoiding the Crayons!

"Uh oh! No!" The toddler has just spotted that the last piece of paper has finally been used up. There are no more scribbling possibilities as doing graffiti on the walls is a banned activity following The Black Crayon Incident. We must venture out. Going outside is a veritable feast of organisation and re-organisation with a toddler and baby. You need a pushchair, a mountain of nappies, wipes and little plastic bags to put them in. Heaven forbid you forget to take the appropriate drinks, snacks and a change of clothes. Just in case.

I’ve been researching the education activities at museums local to St Albans and we are in luck. Mill Green Museum is running a bread-making drop-in session. We love going to Mill Green as it’s a small friendly welcoming place. Perfect for toddlers to run around and enjoy. I can also easily manage to move the baby in the pushchair and park the car. Two of my recent concerns.

When we arrive at Mill Green, there are lots of people standing in the road directing traffic. I assume it’s the gas board or British Telecom doing something, as its such a quiet little place. No, its actually people directing the parking for the bread-making. It appears that between 350 and 500 people regularly attend these sessions. So much for my easy morning.

An hour or so later, the toddler is happily running about the garden at Mill Green eating his freshly made ‘bunny rabbit roll’. The sun is shining and all is right in the world. Yes, there were lots of people, but there was also plenty of space, lots of dough to go around and a general atmosphere of small children having the time of their life. That certainly beats staying in and fighting over the crayons.