The second week of the school holidays are always a little trickier, as the cries of ‘I’m bored’ get louder and louder. These ideas might save your sanity for a couple of hours!

1. MAKE A SCARECROW
You need: an old pair of pants, shirt and hat; 2 x pairs of stockings and an old pillowcase, 2 buttons for eyes, a permanent marker, straw or grass clippings for stuffing, strong twine, two wooden garden stakes nailed together into a cross

Firmly pack some straw into the stockings - these form the arms and legs of your scarecrow. The arms are shorter so you don’t have to fill them as full. Tie with twine to keep the straw packed in, then tie the arms and legs together to form the body. Do the same with the pillowcase and tie it tightly with twine. Sew (or glue) on the button eyes and draw your scarecrow’s face. Tie it to the body, then dress the body with old clothes and fill the torso with more stuffing. Put the wooden stakes in position and tie the scarecrow to it. Step back, admire your handiwork!

2. THE HAIRY GREEN FAMILY
You need: pictures, scissors, glue or tape, small plastic pots or yoghurt containers, potting mix, wheatgrass seed.

First, take a crazy picture of each child pulling a face – it’s more fun if everyone in the family joins in! Print and cut the faces out, carefully removing the hair. Tape or glue these to small plastic pots or yoghurt containers. Fill the pots with potting mix and sprinkle thickly with wheatgrass seed, topping with a thin layer of potting mix. Water gently. In around 3 days they should sprout and in 10 days you’ll have some crazy green ‘hair’ growing that the kids can give a haircut…and of course it’s very good in smoothies!

3. BIG GAME SNAIL HUNTERS
This idea is my favourite as it’s actually quite useful. Promise the kids 5 cents for every snail (or slug) they capture – you may have to adjust the rate for inflation, or if your garden is riddled with them! Arm the children with special ‘hunting’ hats, buckets and flashlights (even in broad daylight), and show them all the common ‘lairs’ in which their prey might be hiding - under the rims of pots, under ledges and eaves, behind climbers, under draping foliage, behind bricks and in nooks and crannies. Every snail your children 'liberate' from your garden is one less that can go forth and procreate in spring. How you dispose of them is entirely over to you and how squeamish you are!