Seven tiny adventures for a flat afternoon

Some afternoons simply refuse to work. Everyone is fractious, nobody wants to do the thing that was suggested, and the day has another four hours left in it.

Three for outside

• Follow a bird. Pick one, follow it for exactly one minute, then draw where it went. The drawings are always better than the birds.
• Texture hunt. Find something rougher than your jumper, softer than your ear, and colder than the doorstep.
• Puddle survey. Measure three puddles with a stick. Declare a winner. Award nothing.

Four for inside

• The museum of today. Choose five objects from around the house, arrange them on a tray, and write labels. Charge adults an entry fee of one biscuit.
• Blind drawing. One person describes a picture, the other draws it without looking. Nobody is good at this, which is the fun.
• Sock puppet news. Report on the events of the day. Waffle is usually the lead story.
• Build a nest. All the cushions. Yes, all of them. Read in it.

The point of all of these is the same: a small, achievable mission resets an afternoon far better than a big exciting plan that requires everyone to put shoes on.