By Hayley Pugh A creative family has come up with an ingenious way to 'eat out' during the lockdown - by turning their playhouse into a mini restaurant. Despite eateries around the UK being closed, the Paterson family have still managed to 'go out' for a bite to eat every Saturday, and have so far tucked into culinary delights from all over the world including pizza, Mexican, Indian and even a 'fakeaway' burger - all from the tiny playhouse in their back garden in Perth, Scotland. Dad, Gary and mum, Liz came up with the brainwave as a treat for their children, nine-year-old Violet and six-year-old Arthur, to give them something different to look forward to after a long week of home-schooling. Each week Violet and Arthur help come up with a theme and transform their playhouse into a different establishment - dubbed the Teeny Tiny Restaurant - complete with decorations, props and personalised place settings. Liz rustles up a three-course dinner with whatever happens to be left in the fridge or freezer, while the kids raid the dressing up box for costumes and the whole family get involved making funny videos of the night for their friends and family to watch. Gary, 40, and Liz, 37, who run a print agency together, use their skills and printing equipment to create realistic signage and even turned their kitchen into 'McPaterson's' for the night, where the kids ordered burgers, chicken and chips all served in 'McPatersons' branded packaging to be delivered to their playhouse. Gary said: "The idea was born after the children saw Liz and I concerned about our business after the lockdown was announced. "They were asking if we were okay and they were starting to worry too. We didn't like this, so we wanted to do something fun with them. "Being honest though, it does also serve as a second purpose with an element of bribery for the them to do well during the weeks of home schooling too. "The videos just became part of the fun and we keep trying to better ourselves each week with the theme, props and dancing. "The kids are completely involved in every part of this. We all come up with silly ideas and then we eventually end up with the next weeks theme. "Some of the kid's ideas would be impossible but it's fantastic to see their imagination running wild with it. "They both help decide on the menu, based upon the theme, and then we all start thinking about how we can decorate the 'restaurant', what they can wear, what props we have and then how we can shoot a little fun video. "Both Violet and Arthur help with the designs, doing some crafts and making the decoration's with items we have in the house. "We can't really go out and buy things so the need to be creative with what we have. It's a great learning opportunity for them too. "We all help choose the theme based on what is in freezer and what's likely to be left in the fridge at the weekend. "All the food is produced as cost-effective as possible. Liz is absolutely head chef in the house and she has taken inspiration for each night from various cookbooks and TV shows. "I'm embarrassed to say we have amassed a very large collection of fancy-dress items over the years. Anything we have around the house could be a prop at some-point. "We also own a design and print agency so I can produce the artwork and then print it out very quickly. I need to head to the studio once-a-week to run something on the printers anyway to save the print-heads drying up. "It's more cost effective me printing the props than it would be to replace a dry printhead. "Without question we will be opening the restaurant on Saturdays after the lockdown, perhaps once a month to keep as fun family night, although friends have been requesting a table. "This all started as a bit of fun, but we would all miss The Teeny Tiny Restaurant if it closed now." Credit: CatersNews
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