There really are few activities more fun than skimming stones with your kids. In Irish, to skim stones is ‘sciotar uisce a dheanamh’ which is where the anglicised word ‘skittering’ comes from (i.e. sciotar). What I really love about the Gaelic though, is that ‘sciotar‘ is also the word for ‘giggle’ or ‘titter’. In my head whenever I see the stone hit the water I see it producing a giggle – probably completely deluded but, sure, there you go!
The attached video was taken back in 2011 when I took my kids down to Loch an Ghleanna Mhóir to teach them how to make water giggle. It’s nice to be able to pass on these … er … practical skills that they can utilise for the rest of their lives. They now know how to use saighdiúrí (soldiers – another post, I’m afraid), suck Fiúise (Fuschia) and pop lus mór (foxglove) so that’s the next generation sorted.
My work here is done!
