Calling all parents of young children!

Are you stuck for ideas what to do with the children every weekend? Fed up with seeing them spend too much time on the computer? Getting bored with the Wii? If any of these sounds like your family then it's time for a return to some nostalgic outside activities.

Nothing beats pure old-fashioned fun, that's why I've come up with a list of some of my favourite childhood pastimes - many of which won't even cost you a penny, but will guarantee hours of fun and years of happy memories.

Join me with a trip down memory lane with your children. All the activities are suitable for either boys or girls, depending on your own children's likes and interests and up to the age of about 10 years old. I bet in years to come they will be doing them with their children too.

Ideas for Girls

1. Make a den - all children love nothing better than their own secret place away from the grown ups. Corners of gardens, sheds and hedgerows all offer lots of hiding places

2. Plant seeds and watch them grow - choose something quite exciting like sunflowers or plant seeds which will grow in to something they can eat

3. Press flowers in a book and make a collage - late summer is the best time time to scoop up loads of wild meadow flowers

4. Make daisy chain necklaces and bracelets - perfect for a hot summer afternoon

5. Toast marshmallows over an open fire

6. Make a wish on the north star in the night sky

7. Search for seashells on a wintry beach - remember to take them all home with you afterwards and after they've been washed and dried will look lovely in a little bowl in their bedroom

8. Make mud pies - gorgeously yucky

9. Play hopscotch - can you remember the rules?

10. Make rose petal perfume - get the children to experiment with different colour petals to see if they make different scents

Boys

1. Make a tree house - can be simple or a mega huge structure but make sure you supervise them when using power tools or hammers!

2. Fly a kite - exasperating when it goes wrong but soaringly satisfying when you get it right

3. Sleep outdoors (in a tent) - loads of fun even in the back garden

4. Roast chestnuts over an open fire

5. Go hunting for frogspawn

6. Find the distant Andromeda Nebula Galaxy in the night sky

7. Search for crabs on a rocky beach - even better fun on a deserted winter beach

8. Make a weather station - search on the internet for tips on how to do it

9. Learn how to use a compass - fun and useful

10. Play conkers - are they harder if you put them in the oven or soak them in vinegar?

A recent survey by the National Trust highlighted the fact that many youngsters could identify sci-fi characters but couldn't name a magpie. So let's generate some enthusiasm from parents and kids for having fun outdoors!