For a special treat, a trip to your nearest theme park is a magical, if tiring, day out. This treat could be used as focus point for good behaviour in the run up to the event. (Just make sure you have plan B if you decide they just didn’t get enough stickers in the reward chart.)

Go to the Zoo

Children love animals so an outing to the zoo will delight the family. Can be educational too, with conservation programmes and endangered species to learn about.

Rainy afternoons indoors

When the weather is far from sunny and you feel stuck indoors try these fun activities to bring a bit of laughter back into the house.

Play-dough

If you’re feeling adventurous have a go at making your own play-dough, as it is relatively cheap to make a huge batch. It will also keep for a few weeks in a plastic bag. This does mean you can let your imaginations run wild making whole villages, forts, woods, or any other ‘make believe’ play scene. Don’t forget you can build the creations on a tray so they can be moved off the table when you need to eat tea! However, there are a few ingredients that you might not necessarily have lurking in your cupboards so perhaps stock up when you next do the shopping. Top tip: Put out a few dried pasta shapes. They make great structures stuck into the dough and youngsters can have lots of fun pushing and poking the play-dough with them.

Make your own Play-dough 1 mug of plain flour ½ mug of salt 1 tablespoon oil 2 teaspoons cream of tartar 1 mug of water A few drops of food colouring if desired [To make larger amounts of play-dough simply double or treble the quantities] Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the dough comes away from the edges of the pan and becomes difficult to move with the spoon. Remove from heat and cool. Knead.

Alternatively, use shop bought play dough which normally come with a range of cutters and accessories.

Baking

Have a go at baking scones with your children. The ingredient list is minimal, they have a short cooking time and can be eaten almost immediately.

Scones Ingredients 150 grams self-raising flour 50 grams margarine 1 egg OR 3-4 tablespoons of milk For sweet scones add 25 gram of sugar and/or 50 grams of dried fruit For cheese scones add 50 grams of grated cheese Method Set oven to 220oC/Reg.7 and grease baking tray. Put the flour and margarine in a large mixing bowl and rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and dried fruit OR the cheese. Add the egg or the milk and mix to a soft dough (best if a bit sticky, add more milk if dry). Roll or pat out onto a floured table to 2 ½ cm thick. Cut scones with any size cutter that you have. Place on baking tray and bake for 10 – 15 mins. Scones are cooked when firm.

Den Making

Making dens indoors is great fun for all. You’ll need to gather up some things from around the house if you want to make a serious den, but then the structure can stand for hours. They are the perfect place for teddybears picnics or fairy tea parties or any other ideas you have. An activity could be to make and send out invitations to toys for ‘tea’ at the den. You can also create decorations, signs and motifs for the den. Construction ideas – large flat bed sheet suspended over clothes airers or chairs to support the roof, pegs to secure, pillows and blankets for flooring.

Making snacks or tea together

If children can’t get outside to play, have a go at making tea together. Preparations may take a little longer and this is not something to attempt if you’re feeling tired, but here are a couple of fool-proof recipes which will delight the children because there is lots of whisking involved.

Top tip: Don’t forget to encourage cleanliness in the kitchen. All wash your hands before cooking and perhaps make or buy a special apron for those budding chefs.

Pancakes Sieve 100 gram plain flour and pinch of salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add 2 eggs and ½ pint of milk. Gradually draw in the flour, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Whisk thoroughly. Use straight away or can be kept for a couple of hours in the fridge. Cooking the pancakes is best done by an adult as it requires a fairly hot pan, then all you need to do is choose a yummy savoury or sweet filling.

Eggy Bread - 2 servings Crack 2 eggs into a flat bottomed bowl, add a splash of milk (season with a little salt and pepper for older children if preferred). Then whisk until combined. Lay a slice of your favourite bread into the egg mixture, allow egg to soak in, then turn over. (Don’t leave the bread in the egg mixture for more than a few seconds otherwise it will fall apart.) This recipe works best with ‘day old’ brown bread, rather than fresh white slices as these tend to go very soggy. Lift out of mixture and into a hot frying pan of melted butter and a little oil. Cook until golden on first side, then flip over and brown the other side. Serve straight away but remember they will be hot. You can also get the kids using the shape cutters to make tea even more interesting!

Planting Mustard or Cress seeds

A packet of cress and a few yoghurt pots create a stimulating activity. Let the children decorate the pots with stickers or paints first if time. Alternatively you can simply tie ribbon or string around to identify the pots. Lay several layers of kitchen towel in the bottom of the pots or cotton wool and moisten until completely wet. Sprinkle seeds over the bed of towel/cotton wool. Place on a sunny window sill and check regularly that the paper is moist. The cress is ready to crop when about 50mm high, which will be about 6 days after sowing.

Chill out

A visit to the library is a fun trip any time of year and children never tire of lovely books. Don’t forget, though, libraries have other resources too. Rent videos and DVDs and all sit down together for a well earned rest and cuddle with your children.

Mini Adventures

The Little Picnic

Plan a local outing with a ‘little picnic’. This activity is for whenever you want to get out, but doesn’t require huge planning or travel or cost! The idea is to visit somewhere really local and combine it with a snack time rather than a mealtime. So you could go to your local park or green space for cloud watching or perhaps a bench somewhere in town for people watching. Take a drink and a special snack, this could just be a favourite biscuit or piece of fruit wrapped up in a safe parcel. Involve your child with the selection and packing of the snack so that they are excited about the mini adventure.

Woodland Walk

Even if there is drizzle in the air, you can be outdoors and take cover under nature’s umbrellas – trees! With raincoats and wellies a woodland walk can be enjoyed even when the sun doesn’t shine. Try collecting fallen leaves for pictures and printing when you get home. Useful websites: www.woodlandtrust.org.uk

Messy Play

Toy Bath

Grab a plastic washing up bowl, or toy bath if you have one, and fill with warm soapy water. Get the kids washing the dolls or scrubbing those grubby toys – useful and lots of fun! Make up a set of rules first though, otherwise you might have more things washed than you bargained for.

Head and Feet Prints

The holidays are definitely the time to go for this messy but brilliant activity. The best equipment for this is a roll of lining wall paper – this is relativity cheap and sturdy for the job in hand. Then you need your favourite colours of non-toxic child friendly paints and get the children to apply the paint onto their hands and feet using sponges or brushes. Then print away. You may find they start to use other body parts so you set the rules. Finally, have a few buckets of warm soapy water and old towels ready for cleaning up outside, this ensures no paint get in to the house.

Gloop

You will need 600 grams of cornflour, 2 cups of water, food colouring is optional. Plus a large container for mixing and aprons or play clothes.

When you’re kitted up with aprons, mix the water and food colouring into the cornflour. Encourage the children to feel the mixture before and after, running it through their fingers and describing the sensations. Although this activity may seem messy, it is easily wiped up and washed off hands (although food colouring does stain skin!).