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as it’s an easy escape from having to interact with your children when they might be in a difficult mood.

      So what can we do? With a little bit of planning, these fuzzy grey hours can provide an opportunity to enjoy something truly productive and fun. I don’t always get the chance to pick the kids up from school, but when I do I want to make it memorable for them. I think it’s quite exciting for them when I pick them up because it’s slightly unusual. ‘Dad’s here!’ I hear the words drift over the mass of kids in front of me as I spot their beaming faces across the playground. While I was competing it was so unexpected for me to pick up Daisy from nursery that she’d burst into tears as soon as she saw me. I then had to head back out of the door and re-enter so she could prepare herself for my arrival! It’s not the best feeling when your child bursts into tears at the sight of you, but I understand it.

      This time of day provides a wonderful opportunity for our young people, so if you can, actually make the effort to arrive at the school gates with a plan already in place. It might be that your kids choose to go to school by scooter or bike, and you follow behind. If this is the case, tell them before you set off that day, that today is a walking day and they should leave their machines behind. It’ll be hard at first, but they’ll soon see the benefits!

      There’s always something to look at, something to point at, something out there to talk about. Whether it’s why the wind is blowing in a certain direction, why the clouds look like they do, what plant is growing down there and how it can be used, or what creatures are living under that stone. So when walking back along the pavement from school or when strolling across the fields point things out, look up, down and all around. Ask questions, stimulate conversation and create intrigue. Nurture the inquiring mind so that it will grow to be interested – and interesting. Even the smallest thing that you might consider insignificant can be fascinating to young eyes. The trick is seeing it in the first place!

      Quick inspiration

       Make up an adventure story from the things you see

       Point out five unusual things on the journey home

       Talk about the weather

       Identify an animal

       Identify three trees

      Simple treasure hunt

      A treasure hunt is something very special and memorable. With a bit of planning it’s easy to set up, whether in the garden, a local park or even along the street on the walk home from school. A little detour to do something interesting can really make the difference to a young person’s day. This activity can be scaled up and turned into a long full-day adventure over a weekend or during the summer holidays. The longer it is, the more time is needed for planning, but the effort is certainly worth it. Don’t forget a torch if you’re planning a treasure hunt at night!

      What you need

       Pen and paper

       Some planning time

      What to do

      1 Think about the route you’ll take, either on the way back from school or once you get back home. As an example, give yourself 45 minutes to go around the block before dinner time. On your route there will be at least one of the following: a tree, a post box, a phone box, a loose rock and an old fence. Any noticeable features such as these are useful points towards which you can direct the budding treasure hunter.

      2 Devise a clue for each location. An example might be: ‘Leave the front door, take a turn to the east, find the next clue where nature’s bombs hit the ground and grow.’

      3 Your child can figure out which way is east by using a compass or the position of the setting sun, and once they work out what ‘nature’s bombs’ are they’ll lead you to the conker tree at the corner of the street. There they’ll search around excitedly under a pile of leaves or in the hollow of the tree where they’ll find the next clue you hid earlier in the day: ‘Thirteen steps to the left and straight ahead, Postman Pat mustn’t take the letter that’s in the flower bed.’

      4 In the flower bed next to Postman Pat’s letter box they’ll find the next clue.

      A treasure map of our village, by Jasper. X marks the spot – can you see it?

      These are of course simple little clues I’ve thought up for the purposes of demonstration here. You’ll have to adjust the clues depending on your children’s age, interests and where you’re holding the treasure hunt. There don’t have to be many clues, and the hunt doesn’t have to take a long time for it to become a fun outdoors activity that you do together. As a parent, it’s fantastic to watch your child work things out, get frustrated and then enjoy the fruits of their efforts by discovering the route and eventual goal. It’s also a wonderfully bonding experience … but be prepared. Once you’ve created your first treasure hunt, your child will demand many more. So get thinking about those clues!

      Scavenger hunt

      What you need

       Compass

       Tin foil

       Metal detector

       Camera

       Map

       Plastic collection bags/sandwich bags

      What to do

      1 Provide approximate distances (in child’s paces, ‘lengths’ of a school playing field or similar, or metres) and compass directions to follow to get to the point at which the next clue is hidden.

      2 Wrap objects in tin foil and hide them in the ground, under leaves or under non-metallic objects for your child to find with their metal detector. This could be a prize or the next clue.

      3 Set challenges of things outside that they have to photograph along the scavenger-hunt route. Only when they’ve correctly found, identified and photographed all the items you’ve listed do they receive the next clue or prize.

      4 Set them a route to follow on a map. Maps are wonderful things and map-reading a brilliant skill to grasp early on. They are fascinating pictorial views of the countryside, and learning the symbols and markings is great fun. Setting a route together and allowing your child to take you along the route is a hugely rewarding experience.

      5 Set the route based on items they can collect. Leaves, interesting stones, wood, tree bark, pine cones can all be collected in a bag. If all the items have been correctly identified and collected they have successfully completed the scavenger hunt.

      Using a combination of some or all of these ideas you can create an incredibly interesting, exciting and varied scavenger hunt, in which your child has to use their brain as much as their energy in order to complete it!

      Challenge

      As you and your child become increasingly accustomed to the process of a scavenger hunt you can start adding in extra components to make the hunt even more exciting. Switching between a clue they have to work out, a clue or item they have to find, even a challenge they have to complete before you give them another clue, is a great way to extend and enhance this game.

      My dad was a master of treasure hunts. For years my birthday parties would involve long hunts over miles and miles of countryside. Up and down hills, across fields, along rivers, up trees and straight through woods. A clue or riddle would lead to the next point, and so on until we eventually found the prize. This would sometimes take all day to complete. His clever little cryptic clues were

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