Leaf Me Alone!

I wondered if a few autumnal activities for 9-12 year-olds might help other parents out there with a troublesome "tween" on their hands. It's at this age that their independence starts to really kick in (a good thing), but sadly kids often haven't got a clue how to handle it (an understandable thing) and end up talking to you as if you were their absolute worst enemy (definitely a bad thing). Sometimes a blast of fresh air and a quick five minutes doing something completely different can be just what's needed to break up any brewing tensions.

Look to autumn leaves for inspiration. First off, stand under a tree and have a go at Catching Wishes. As the leaves come fluttering down, try to catch one. This is much harder than it sounds as leaves are a bit like supermarket trolleys and have a directional mind of their own. For each leaf that you get, you can make a wish. This is best done out loud so that you can get plenty of ideas for Christmas presents. Hmmmm, now will it be world peace or an ipod touch.....?

Next, get them to collect a few leaves with good, strong, bumpy veins on them. Go for a couple of different varieties. If they haven't tried leaf-rubbing for a few years, then encourage them to revisit it. It's strangely calming and satisfying which could be just what they need right now. If they think this is all too babyish, or have indeed thrown all their wax crayons away in favour of fancy felt-tips, get the silver foil out. For a shimmering alternative, just cover the leaf with foil and rub over with a bare finger.

And lastly, something a little more active. Get some sticky tape and carefully wrap some, sticky side facing outwards, around heads, wrists, thighs and ankles. Select some leaves (horse chestnut are particularly good for headdresses) and press down on to the tape. Once you have transformed yourselves into leaf warriors, perform a stamping, shouting, shaking tribal dance to dispel any remaining anger.

However big and bad they are trying to be, remember that they are only little.