Pants not pox

Daisy has chicken pox, and she is not happy about it. To cheer her up we read some of our funny books - stories about pants. First Pants by Giles Andreae and Nick Sharrat and then The Queen's Knickers by Nicholas Allan (pictured below).

My children love all the different designs of knickers in both books but yesterday they were particularly impressed with Her Majesty's special pants which transform into lifesaving devices at the pull of a cord. Handy.

I remembered a piece of fabric which I'd salvaged from an old cotton apron; it is the exact shape of a giant pair of knickers. I showed it to Buddy and Daisy and we had a laugh trying them against ourselves - their vastness was brilliantly comical. Then they decided that really they were far too plain and needed to be jazzed up a bit - just like the Queen's knickers.

And so began a lovely activity whereby we used the giant cotton knickers as a template for our own giant paper pants. Then we got busy designing and drawing, sticking and cutting. I think their imaginative designs are worthy of a royal seal of approval.

I designed a flowery pair of gardening knickers, Daisy decorated hers especially for a visit to the zoo, and Buddy drew buttons, switches and a pull cord on his so that his transformer pants could change into an amphibious vehicle in seconds.

Daisy really cheered up during all this designing and making, so much so that when we'd finished our pants (they each designed two pairs in the end) she helped to hang them on the washing line.

Then she gave us an impromptu Pants Dance beneath the giant knickers. Bravo! Here's to pants, not pox.