“I just got out my daughters twistables and drew a picture for her (of me and her) and left it by her bed."

“I sometimes put a little note in DD's lunchbox telling her I love her. I draw hearts on it & put on stickers.”

“I draw a smiley face and write eat me on my DD's banana she takes for school"

“I find that nothing pleases DS more than when I stop what I'm doing when he asks me and do whatever it is he wants me for”

“I put a selection of his artwork on a notice board, he's so proud of it and I change it around when new stuff comes in.”

“DS LOVES a treasure hunt. I get posty notes and write a word on each one like "toilet" or "television" and he has to go from one location to the next, gathering the clues till he finds the treasure. Usually 1 sweet. ”

“Silly word games pass the time if driving.”

“With ds1 i read him a story every night under the duvet with his torch"

“Making cards for birthdays, Christmas, etc.”

“when we make the effort to go outdoors. Even when the weather is brutal, DD is happy to stick on her wellies and splosh through every puddle in sight “

“She really loves it when I do painting. We have all the gear, so it's essentially free at this stage”

“DS favourite thing is stories. He loves colouring and singing songs too.”

“He's learning to play cards now, not quite geting the hang of it but still enjoys it”.

“I have to say the most fun we had was climbing a hill in the the snow.... it was brill... kids me and dh had a blast and the kids slid down the hill on a plastic bag they found! They thought they were on a sleigh in Norway”

“Playdough (homemade or shop bought) , plasticine etc”

“We go on nature walks around the garden and collect leaves, twigs, conkers etc (depending on the time of year) bird spotting etc and then identify them from a book or online etc.”

“We live near to a few beaches and playgrounds so we go there alot too, DD loves collecting shells and bringing them home to paint or play with.”

“Dancing around the kitchen is another fave here! She is so happy when we do it too"

"we sometimes build a den out of chairs and blankets and put cushions underneath and have a mini picnic!"

“I make sandwiches for ds's lunch but sometimes cut them into really fun shapes"

“Mine love indoor picnics - we put a rug or duvet on living room floor and sit down with our a pile of sandwiches and treats"

"Helping wash the car"

“I played hairdressers with my daughter"

“The other day we did finger painting, she made a ferocious mess and was loving the fact I was down on my knees messing with her”

“My kids sit on a quilt at the top of the stairs and I pull them down as if it's a sled and hide and seek is a regular one.”

“Collecting an array of bugs and creepy crawlies in jars and then trying to identify them. We also pick lots of wild flowers and edible berries”.

“This year we picked rushes and made St.Brigids crosses".

“My dd is "writing a book"…. we have a scrapbook and she dictates the story to me and she draws the pictures to illustrate it. We do a page or 3 at a time.”

And literally, all these ideas take is time! Free fun, you cannot beat it!

Included in these were a selection of some really wonderful suggestions from parents on www.magicmum.com, thanks to everyone who contributed.