October's review for Asmodee Blogger Boardgame Club is a little late (sorry!), but earlier in the Autumn they sent us Picture Show: Shadow Charade Game for review. This is a great family game which doesn't involve writing clues, miming, drawing, or even acting - instead players use pre-cut magnetic shapes, a screen and lighting, and recreate their scenario, word or phrase using the medium of shadow puppetry. 

Suitable for anyone aged over around 7, and 2 teams of 2-4 people each, or even more if you can fit them around the table, it's loads of fun! 

Inside the box is everything you'll need except the batteries - 3 x AAA, and a crosshead screwdriver to fit them. 

Before first play you'll need to allow 10 minutes to 'press out' all of the magnetic shapes. Be careful because they are thick and well made, but some are a little bit easy to bend, and you don't want to lose a foot. 

 "If we did not act now, then the chances of the NHS being overwhelmed wold be very, very high."
Chris Whitty. 

After the news that England are going into a month long national "lockdown" was leaked last night (and apparently it wasn't meant to be this time), Boris had little choice but to hold an England Coronavirus briefing. 

He was joined by England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance - (who both looked like the adrenaline is flowing, now they've had the gate opened and can say what they feel instead of biting their tongues).

Obviously they started with evidence from Chris and Pat:
The weekly case rate and rate change slides are grim. The darker they are, the worse they are, and they're dark. Spread in people aged over 60 (who are far more likely to be seriously ill) is everywhere, and the charts for this age group are not light.
The ONS data shows that prevalence has been going up rapidly over the last few weeks (since school reopening), we have around 50k new cases per day and rising.
Measures are slowing growth, but really they are not flattening the curve. The NW seems to be making headway, but not quickly enough.
Cases are rising in all areas, including in people over 60.
Hospital admissions are going up in an accelerating line. Currently in the NW hospital admissions are almost at the peak we saw in Spring, in all other areas, it's rising rapidly. (As soon as you have big numbers, and are still doubling every 9 days, you get to massive numbers very quickly.)
If we do nothing, then by December we are looking at 3,000 hospital admissions a day (and these people don't all arrive and leave, they may be there for weeks). 

Boris says "No sensible Prime Minister can ignore these figures." I agree. He explains he doesn't want to close anything, and they hoped that local measures would be effective, but they weren't. He thanked people who have put up with restrictions for a long time (Thanks!). 

"We have to be humble in the face of nature." I TOTALLY agree. We are just animals on a rock. We will never be bigger than nature, but we can use our intelligence to fight back... 

He explains we DO NOT want to be in a position where Doctors and Nurses are forced to choose who will live, and who will die - and that isn't just COVID patients, it's everyone who ends up in hospital, for whatever reason. (This has happened in many places - Ecuador, Lombardy, New York - and it's truly horrific for anyone involved)...

Inside our box we had some of the brand new Miracle Cake Bars - Chunky Double Chocolate. We all tried them straight away, and I'm very pleased I split one between us because they do qualify as a small meal. 

They're lovely. Incredibly filling and containing just 131 calories which seems to be mainly comprised of fibre (over 1/3 of your recommended daily intake). They also only have 0.7g of sugar each, and you'd never know it. This is sweet and chocolatey goodness.

It's all very different, but that doesn't mean we can't still make it fun! When we look back, we won't really remember 2 weeks of self-isolating that turned into nothing, or all the hours we were trying to work while the kids asked endless questions. The things we'll remember the most will be the times we laughed at technology fails, the zoom calls with Grandma, the fact we sent parcels and letters. The precious hours getting to really know our family, the NHS, the rainbows, Marcus Rashford, and most of all, the way we still made it work.  

Here are lots of people who are still making it work in order to entertain us, and maybe teach us a few things along the way... Throughout the post are some printables that you can click on, save and print off on A4 paper... 

To book onto sessions you need to join the Bright Sparks, which is free to families on low incomes, and during the Coronavirus pandemic the £15 membership is also being waived, so that everyone can benefit. The sessions are FREE. Toddler sessions run on Tuesdays, family sessions on Saturdays. Sessions are open to all, and have to be booked via the Z-Arts website up until midnight the night before (you only need to book one ticket per family).

Toddler Sessions - Tuesdays, 10.00 - 10.30am
1st December, led by Gill - Kitchen Disco – let’s get fruity! Join Gill in a playful bendy yoga session themed on the fantastic story 'Kitchen Disco'.
8th December, led by Natasha - Hibernating - with The Very Hungry Caterpillar as inspiration.
15th December, led by Tom - Sticks and Stones workshop - create some winter characters that may be hidden outside. 

Family Sessions - Saturday 11.30am - 12.30pm
21st November, led by Gill - Find joy in the everyday - a mindful nature treasure hunt and then join Gill in creating a superb stick crown and some fantastical sculptures.
28th November, led by Yemi - Make & believe heritage in your home! You will uncover, search and explore items that represent your family’s culture.
5th December, led by Natasha - Christmas creations – reuse, recycle and repurpose.
12th December, led by Janine - Create your own Dreamcatchers - collect items on a winter's walk and join Janine to teach you the magic of  creating your very own Dreamcatcher.
19th December, led by Tom - Storyteller Tom shares his tips and tricks for creating new settings where your stories can be set.  Walk around your neighbourhood and put the things you see into your stories. 

Waterside are working with renowned family theatre company Wrongsemble to deliver an alternative online Festive Christmas show – HUMBUG – to homes and schools throughout the country.
All ages can enjoy seven filmed episodes of this exciting story throughout December, accompanied by an interactive HUMBUG ‘Fact File’ filled with 13 artefacts sent directly to your home.
HUMBUG takes place deep beneath the city, where a secret world full of wonder awaits; a place where wizards bake endless gingerbread, goblins bottle festive cheer, and there’s a whole department devoted to detangling fairy-lights! This is the Ministry of Make Believe.... Recently strange things have been happening at the Ministry. From nose-less snowmen, to exploding baubles, and a forest of bald Christmas trees – things are not quite right… It’s almost like someone (or something) is trying to sabotage Christmas! Together with Secret Agent Dash, audiences will help to solve the mystery and save the day!

1 - 31 December 2020, 7 short films - A £10 family ticket gives access to all 7 episodes of this online digital adventure throughout December, and is accompanied by an interactive HUMBUG Fact File filled with 13 artefacts sent directly to you.

Find out more and book online at Diverghub - online platform for Waterside arts & theatre