Late September - it's not quite cold enough for the heating to go on, it's dark by half past six, and somewhere between school pick-up and tea a small voice asks what they can do.

I spent a lot of years answering that question. What I learned is that the best autumn activities aren't the elaborate ones. They're the ones you can start in two minutes with what's already in the house — or already lying on the ground outside.

Here are ten that have always worked for me