Sitting on retro floral carpet waiting excitedly for Don to appear on our box TV is one of my earliest and fondest childhood memories. The simplicity of ‘Draw with Don’ was magical, all I needed was a piece of paper and a pencil.

The memory is etched in my head and brings back many joyful memories which earlier this week came flooding back to me when I heard Don Conroy has started this own YouTube channel.

Draw with Don is part of many Irish adult’s childhood memories such as Red Lemonade, Tip the Can and Bluebird’s Big Yellow Teapot.

I found myself reminiscing about Bosco, The Den, Zig and Zag, Dustin the Turkey, Snotser, Soky and even evil Podge.

‘Knock, knock, open wide… see what’s on the other side; Knock knock, any more, come with me through the Magic Door’, or do you remember when you got to see inside Bosco’s house, oh the excitement was palpable.

The Den first broadcast on the 29th of September 1986 on RTÉ1 and it moved to what I would have known as Network 2 in 1988, even today I find myself still saying ‘turn on Network 2’.

My favourite puppets were Zig and Zag, a pair of furry twins from the planet Zog. If I remember correctly Zig was beige with green hair and red zogabongs, and Zag was purple with green spots with dreadlocks and yellow zogabongs. And I loved the nursery rhymes read by Zig and acted out by Zag, it always made me giggle.

For 25 years Don thought a nation how to draw on RTE’s The Den and today through Don’s new YouTube Channel he will teach us once again how to draw. What a great way to pass the time with kids and bring back many Irish childhood memories. Taking to Twitter to share the good news, Don revealed he was beginning the channel “due to popular demand”.

Conroy’s first video shows you how to draw a clown and today he is going to not only teach a nation of kids but me, my all-time favourite, how to draw a Barn Owl. This is one video I will have to try, for nostalgic reasons of course!

Like my childhood all you need is a pencil and a piece of paper and as Don says ‘let’s stay safe and stay creative together!’.

Click here to start drawing with Don