It’s time to bring a little fun into our lives during hard times

FOR A while there, someone was adding googly eyes in odd places along the country roads and paths near my home. I first noticed them on the little stone bridge; then, a field gate. With each lockdown daily walk, a new set would pop up, peeking out from the bottom of a fence post, or tucked into the roots of a tree, halfhidden by the long grass.

I was intrigued by this, because it is exactly the kind of thing I would have done if my children had been younger.

I imagine it’s a parent, but, of course, it may not be.

In my head, it is a thoughtful dad, coming up with new ways to make the daily exercise a bit more interesting for his bored nine-year-old; or a creative mum, inventing a googly-eye-treasure- hunt to get the troops off their gadgets, on to their bikes and scooters and into the fresh air.

Spotting these googly eyes became a fun diversion on my now not-quite-daily walks, but for the last few weeks, no more have appeared.

Schools are back and more people are able to return to workplaces, so perhaps that game is over for now. Shame.

If lockdown was hard on parents, having to draw on all resources of patience, ingenuity and creativity to keep their children entertained, it must have been a gazillion times harder on the kids.

This fact has been recognised by Glasgow theatre company Wonder Fools, who announced this week they have commissioned a group of playwrights to create new works for young people, written specifically to be performed remotely, or live in the space if government guidelines allow.

Positive Stories for Negative Times, in partnership with the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, is a response to the lack of physical spaces for young people to participate in creative activities due to the pandemic, and the detrimental impact this is having on their mental health and wellbeing.

It is a clever idea, the plays – judging by the extracts – are brilliant, and the way care is being taken to involve isolated, vulnerable and marginalised groups is laudable.

Easing young people out of this pandemic will be a challenge, and their mental health has to be a priority.

It would be great to see more ingenious projects like this one tackling the problem head-on, and providing ways for young people to reconnect, be creative, and have some long overdue fun.