Keeping them amused

There's always a problem of what to do with primary-school children on those annoying, rainy, teacher-training days when the children are a loose end and parents are forced to take days off work.

One solution, which takes a bit of organisation, is to club together with other parents to share the supervision. Two or three families can join up and parents can take turns to look after each other's children on the various training days.

Once you've got the children, how do you occupy them? Get them cooking. The cookbook It's a Yumee World by Aoileann Garavaglia and published by The Den and Blackwater Press (12.99), not only has the best brownie recipe I've ever tasted (and I'm an expert), but it's also easy to follow and fun to read. The desserts beat Nigella Lawson's hands down and it can be used to produce an entire children's menu, with vegetable couscous, fruit salad, tapas, smoothies and other healthy dishes.

I'm all for letting children cook. The other day I was in the supermarket and there was a mother with three sons, none older than 12, in front of me. Each boy was being given a day to plan the menu, and help to cook it. Brilliant. She's going to have happy daughters- in-law one day.

Dress-ups are another option. Younger children enjoy fantasy dressing, while older children enjoy experimenting with make-up and hairstyles. Charity shops are great for picking up odd bits of jewellery and fancy clothing.

Put it all together and the learning opportunities are limitless, as children read the cookbook, follow the instructions, role-play with dressing-up and write place- cards for the meal. Encouraging children to clean up afterwards teaches them responsibility.

All this may sound like a lot of work, but it's nothing compared to what our teachers have to deal with every day of the week. Try it once, and you may have a little more sympathy for them.