Puppeteer Emma Boor on the joys of playtime which can be enjoyed cheaply at home

It’s that special time of year when many a happy hour is spent with a catalogue in hand or a laptop switched on.

We’re searching for that ideal toy to fill our offspring with the ultimate joy (that is also affordable!).

We all know that sometimes a purchase can be a real hit. A few select toys will be played with relentlessly while others that looked so promising in the advert just don’t really deliver.

For younger children, though, sometimes it’s not the actual gift that holds the most joy at all. It’s the box the toy comes in! Much fun can be had getting into the box, popping out of the box, making the box into a car; or a bus; or a den. It’s children’s boundless imaginations, after all, that makes real magic happen.

The children at my weekly experiential sessions Stories Alive (Chipping Norton) and Play The World (Pegasus Theatre, Oxford) never cease to surprise me. Recently while we played at pirates on the high seas, I asked what shall we fish for? “Carrots” was the response. Why not!?

My sessions are filled with music, stories and puppet characters. I try hard to encourage parents to play with their children using simple things they can find easily at home.

From clothes pegs to the humble plastic mixing bowl there is a whole world of ‘object’ play to be explored. All that’s needed is a little creativity, a bit of time, the loss of a few inhibitions, as well as a moment of temporary disorder in the homestead!

Most adults find playing on children’s terms challenging. Who really wants to dress up as robot in order to attack a space station and its alien inhabitants for the hundredth time? Especially when there is tea to cook and piles of paperwork to attack instead. Play is a mindset, and it’s not always easy to switch into it.

What objects spark your enthusiasm? Maybe this Christmas you, as a parent, can be inspired to get involved in a bit of ‘object’ play.

So put away your laptop for once. And maybe you don’t need to get that catalogue out after all... unless of course you are going to wear it as a hat or make it into paper darts!

Emma Boor creates and stars in the Christmas puppet pantomime with an environmentally friendly twist) at Jacqueline du Pré Building, St Hilda’s Oxford, from December 14-22, at 4.30pm, 10.30pm and 2.30pm. Tickets £7. Call 01865 305 305 to book.