The shoemaker extraordinaire

I love it when I get to see my children's creative ideas flow out of them and straight into their play. This happened yesterday when Daisy a) retrieved two empty tissue boxes from the recycling box and b) decided it was time to play shoe shop.

She asked me, 'What do you want your shoes to do for you?' in the manner of Steve Light's The Shoemaker Extraordinaire, a book we'd read together at a friend's house about a week ago. I was meant to reply something along the lines of 'I'd like them to make me taller or faster or snazzier.' I was playing catch-up at this point though - not quite remembering the thrust of book - so Daisy vetoed all my early, more practical ideas; in the end I was allowed to ask for shoes that made me jump higher.

Then Daisy set to work cutting, decorating and lacing up the boxes to meet her specifications. Of course this was easy for her - she was, she informed me, the best shoemaker in the world.

Eventually it was time to open:

'Daisy's Jimna Shoe Shop

Best Shoe Shop In The World'

She made a sign for the door, set up a counter and fetched her cash till before I was allowed in. She measured my feet using a ruler and tape, and double-checked the type of shoes I had ordered. At last it was time for my fitting and I was presented with the finished footwear.

Yes, they were rather roomy and, let's face it, rigid - they were boxes after all - but Daisy was completely immersed in the pretence of the game. She was sure she had made me the ultimate jump-enhancing shoes, so I paid up my 20p eagerly - and jumped around the shop gratefully.

Watch out FitFlop - there's a new kid on the block, and she means business.

[How lovely to be featured on this week's It's Playtime - check it out for more fantastic play ideas]

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.