Based in the premises of a local secondary school, Cuddles Eager Beavers, of which I am manager, is an out-of-school club catering for five local primary schools in Walthamstow, London, with a capacity for 30 children between the ages of four and 11 years. Catering to such a wide age range can produce its own problems.
One afternoon, a very distressed five-year-old boy literally threw himself on to my lap crying, 'I hate them, they won't let me play'. Through much cuddling and wiping away of tears, I finally got to the bottom of it. A group of eight-and nine-year-old boys had been playing Pokemon battles in the main play area. The younger child, seeing the boys having a great time, had tried to join in, only to find the game too difficult. The older boys had refused to let him continue to play. I approached the group of boys pre-armed with my 'be nice to younger children speech', to be greeted with cries of injustice from the older boys. 'He doesn't know what to do - he's spoiling our game,' they said.
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