Every child is different. I find that with mine, an activity that the two of us do together in the morning will pretty much set him up for the day. Usually this involves us going out. A walk in the woods, a trip to the park, a play in the playground, a visit to the museum.

There's a lot to be said in favour of walks in the rain too! It is a really drizzly day out there, and I'm thinking that it might be a good plan for today. There's nothing like poking about in wet leaves with a stick. When he's got his wet weather gear on (trousers and jacket) we have the playground to ourselves too.

But you don't always want to go out, and frankly it isn't so much fun for mum and dad to do this every day as it is for the little ones. Sadly, the weather forecast for our area is for rain, rain, and to paraphrase (badly) a quote, it is rain all the way down.

So if you're looking to avoid the lure of the DVD and/or video game, here's a fab alternative. Cooking. Get them in the kitchen having fun, making a mess, and maybe even doing something a little bit scary (stirring a pot on the hob for the first time for example). Here's three top tips for making kitchen time fun, exciting, and a little bit different on a rainy day.

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Home Bargains are selling this Salter 'Kids in the Kitchen' baking set for just £4.99 - they claim the rrp is £24.99

• Click HERE to go over to Home Bargains

I say they 'claim' the rrp is £24.99 because there was something about this Salter 'Kids in the Kitchen' baking set that rang a few bells, then it dawned on me - I wrote a review about it last year!

So I scooted off back through the archives - you can read it in full HERE - and discovered that back then the price was £14.99, well I can't imagine it's gone up by £10 since then; either way - whatever the proper retail price is, you're not paying it at Home Bargains.

The Salter Kids in the Kitchen baking set includes the following:

• Large double handed sieve
• 2.5ltr mixing bowl with level markings
• Rolling pin
• 3 cookie cutters

I remember Lynley saying that whilst she was a bit disappointed with the items in the set, and I quote, "As the parent, I was very disappointed with the contents; there seemed to be more air in the box than items, and it didn't contain anything that you probably haven't already got in your kitchen anyway," her son absolutely LOVED everything and was chuffed that he had his own bowl and cooking things.

If you're going to be cooking up a Christmas storm in your kitchen (oooh that reminds me, I must give the Christmas cake more brandy today) and you have youngsters crying out to help, then this Salter 'Kids in the Kitchen' baking set might come in handy.

Happy baking with kids!