Hot Days, Slow Play. Why Children Need Slow Play in a Fast Digital World
It’s Friday, it’s 32 degrees, and if your house is anything like ours, the energy is melting faster than an ice lolly on a windowsill.
There’s a kind of pressure in weather like this, the pressure to make the most of it. To dash to the coast. Set up the paddling pool. Pretend it’s a Mediterranean villa and you’re not just hanging washing next to a broken garden gnome.
But here’s what I’ve learnt, not just from the heat, but from building Weebert’s World alongside Andy, from our kitchen table in Shropshire: slowing down doesn’t mean switching off. In fact, slowing down might be the most creative thing you can do today.
The heat is here. The pace can drop. And that’s where the magic sneaks in.
When Andy first started making robot sculptures from scrap, old watch parts, broken cameras, vintage Meccano, he wasn’t trying to go viral. He was just trying to get through the day. To make something with his hands. To build beauty from brokenness.
And when I wrote the very first story about Weebert (who is no bigger than a can of beans and has opera glasses for eyes), I didn’t know anything about publishing or branding or algorithms. I just knew that children need more space to play, imagine, build things, and make mistakes.
So now, with the sun blazing and schools winding down, I want to offer you a gentle alternative, not another thing to buy or rush to, but something closer to home:
Permission to play slowly.
Why children need slow stories more than fast screens
So much of childhood today is designed for speed. Fast food. Fast WiFi. Fast videos on loop. Swipe, scroll, repeat.
But imagination doesn’t thrive in noise. It doesn’t rush. It needs boredom. It needs space. It needs time to say, “What if this spoon was a spaceship?” or “What if my robot could fly?”
Weebert’s World was created to give children that space again, through handmade characters, gentle storytelling, and stop-motion animation that invites children to watch less and imagine more.
In our world, robots are made from scrap. Flying sheep save the day. And the biggest adventure often starts with someone saying, “I’m bored.”
What if boredom was a feature, not a flaw?
Behavioural science tells us that people make decisions based on feeling, not facts. And nothing feels more powerful, or more underestimated, than boredom.
Boredom is often the beginning of creativity. It’s the pause that lets a new idea sneak in sideways.
When children are given the space to be bored (especially on hot days like today), they’re far more likely to:
🧠 Problem solve
🧩 Invent something
🪛 Make a mess
🎨 Create something new
Our stories are designed to meet children in that space. No loud noises. No flashing lights. Just good old-fashioned character, curiosity, and heart.
A little world with a lot of heart
We’re not a big studio. We’re just Andy and me, two kids who fell in love at 15, now in our 60s, building something with hope, solder, and story.
Weebert was never about making it big. He was about making it matter.
And if today’s heat is slowing everything down, embrace it. Spread a blanket under a tree. Put down the phone. Watch an ant carrying a crisp.
Or pop over to Weebert’s YouTube channel and let your child watch a story that doesn’t overstimulate, it gently invites.
Then ask them: What do you think your own Bert would look like?
That’s where the fun begins.
Join our slow and joyful rebellion
If you’re a parent, grandparent, carer or teacher who wants to raise imaginative children, who believes in curiosity over consumption, and who knows that sometimes the smallest stories are the ones that stay with us, you’re in the right place.
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This is not just a children’s brand.
It’s a love letter to imagination.
And you’re very welcome here.
Lotty x
Co-founder of Weebert’s World (and proud owner of too much imagination)