Flour/sawdust trail
A flour or sawdust treasure trail is a simple activity, and a great way to get kids outdoors and active. Either as a high-energy exercise done at speed with a teenager or at a slower pace with the family as a whole, it is a fantastic way to encourage movement and can be such a good laugh. As with the treasure or scavenger hunt, it can turn into a long full-day undertaking, but it’s also perfect to use up the last of the day’s energy after school, or even in the dark with a torch.
What you need
A bag of flour or sawdust
What to do
With younger kids who can’t be left alone, set up the trail in advance. It doesn’t have to be long, but again the beauty of this is that it can be done in both urban and rural settings.
1 Every 5 to 10 metres drop a small pile of flour or sawdust to mark a trail for your child to follow. This can be on the edge of a path, on a tree branch, on a wall or piled in any other place that is not immediately obvious.
2 Make sure you mix up the location of the flour or sawdust to keep the difficulty up and interest going. If you discover it’s too easy for them, then next time use bigger gaps between drops so they have to really search and even double back on themselves.
3 Be thoughtful of where other people will walk, so avoid dropping flour or sawdust right in the centre of a busy pavement or anywhere it will look unsightly.
4 Allow yourself a 10-minute head start and make your way off along the route, dropping a small amount of flour or sawdust at regular intervals.
5 Your kids will race after you at top speed following your trail with intent. With the head start, you’ve given yourself time to create false paths and decoys, where you can double back on yourself and continue along the correct route. When you’ve come to the end of the intended route, why not hide and wait for them? Climb high into the branches of a tree and sit watching their progress as they approach the tree you’ve led them to and the trail runs cold. Eventually they’ll think to look up, where you’ll be waiting.
6 This is an active challenge that stimulates thought and observation. Watching your child work out problems, see the next clue, charge after it and on to the next is hugely satisfying and great fun! We always bring the hunt back round in a loop to our house, where dinner will be waiting or where there’s a hidden chocolate prize that can be eaten for dessert.
Challenge
How about creating a trail that finishes at a pub where you can all have dinner together, or ending the trail at a perfect site to start a little fire to cook some marshmallows over? There doesn’t always have to be a prize. The fact that you’re doing something together is the prize – all that kids really want is time with you.
Shelter with a hot drink
This simple activity can be done anywhere and can turn a boring trip home from school into a fun little memorable experience. The beauty of this is that it can be done whatever the weather – in fact it often works best when the weather’s at its worst!
What you need
A flask of your preferred hot drink and some non-breakable cups
A large plastic sheet/tarpaulin
What to do
1 Take a flask containing your hot drink with you on the school pick-up, along with a large plastic sheet or tarpaulin. It’s even better if it’s raining because there will be fewer people out, making it even more exciting.
2 If going by car, find a spot to stop and park up. The verge at the edge of a field or next to a park or playing field is ideal.
3 Hunker down against the hedge or under a tree, sitting on the plastic sheet and pulling it up over your backs to keep out the weather and create a small, dry shelter.
4 You’ll soon warm up in there, especially while sharing a warm drink. It’s your time to be together, talking and watching what goes on outside when everyone else heads for home. It’s also a chance to watch the wildlife that stays out feeding in the rain and watch the passers-by, too, although they probably won’t even notice you there. It’s an opportunity to enjoy time together in, let’s face it, a very unusual place!
This activity is so basic, so simple and doesn’t cost a thing – and yet I expect 99 per cent of people reading this have never done it.
I first did something similar with Daisy in the summer when she had just started nursery. We stopped on the way home from pick-up and bought an ice cream each. Having a whole ice cream herself at that time in her life was a real treat, so she was already excited and happy. It happened to be a beautifully warm summer’s afternoon, and as I parked the car on the edge of a field close to home, overlooking the crops swaying in the breeze, we both knew this would be a good moment. Daisy and I sat on the bonnet of my car looking over the landscape and enjoying our ice creams, and we certainly weren’t expecting what was to happen next.
We started to see ladybirds flying all around us. As we noticed them landing on us, more and more appeared until the air was thick with these little red and black bugs. They covered my car, flew on to our clothes, into our hair and all over us. We were amazed, gobsmacked by this little event happening around us. It really was a sudden natural phenomenon. I assume we had parked in the path of a swarm moving across the fields. They were possibly descending on the crops to feed on greenfly and we just happened to be right in their path.
The point I want to make is that Daisy still talks about that 40 minutes we spent in the field with our ice creams and the ladybirds. If we hadn’t made the effort to stop, we wouldn’t have experienced that natural event. It’s only a small thing and it didn’t take long, but it’s a lasting memory for Daisy and me. We treasure that event, one that won’t ever happen in exactly the same way again. But next time, maybe something different will!
The funny thing is, when we really need to do this sort of thing we just don’t. As an adult, doing something out of the norm when you’re at your most stressed is usually the very last thing you’ll want to do, even though it’s usually the time you need to do it the most. That first step out the door is the hardest thing, but once you’ve taken it you realise its value. I hope my children still want to do this with me when they are teenagers. I have a sneaking suspicion that they will.
Set an insect trap
I’ve always been fascinated by insects and indeed would go so far as to say I love them. They’re incredible creatures that thrive all over the world, sometimes in the most hostile environments, and are the most diverse and ecologically important group of land animals. Nobody knows exactly how many different insects there are, although it’s estimated there are as many 30 million different species of these weird and wonderful creatures. One of the most useful things about them is that they’re absolutely everywhere. You can always find an insect, and so wherever you are in the world there’s entertainment to be had. In a city centre, leaning against a wall or waiting by a bus stop with a hedge behind you – have a look, peer into the undergrowth or between the cracks in a crumbling wall, as there’s always something there to spot.
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