The long summer holiday needn't mean kids kicking their heels. Why not send them outdoors with a cheap and cheerful plaything?

CHILDREN moping round the house? Glued to the television, transfixed by computer games or just getting under your feet and on your nerves?

Send them outdoors for fresh air and exercise. And if you want some cheap and cheerful incentives to get them out there, try some of these. All of these are variations on traditional favourites, but with just a little gimmick that might make them more immediately appealing. Most of these are under a tenner, many are a lot less than that. Many of these ideas don't even need another person to play with. So there's no excuse.

HULA HOOP

After we'd bought this, we had to go to the bank, where two old ladies in the queue immediately wanted a try. It was the same when we went in the office - everyone wanted to have a go at it. This was a fairly standard hoop, with a jazzy pattern. You can also get them with flashy lights and swirly ribbons. So if your children don't like it, you might.

(£4.99, Woolworths; £1, Pound World)

FOOTBALL

So who needs another 21 people for a game of football? Easy to get a ball tied to a stand or one that attaches to a belt round your waist so you can practise kicking to your heart's content and never have to go into next door to ask for your ball back.

(Kick Off Soccer, £4.99, Woolworths; Training Ball, £3.99, Wilkinsons; Swing Soccer, £10, Poundstretcher)

SKITTLES

Maybe not quite the same as ten pin bowling, but cheaper - and plenty of running back and forth to put the skittles upright again.

(£2.99, Sainsbury's; £4, Poundstretcher; £1.99, Morrisons; Early Learning Centre have an inflatable bowling alley - a sort of glorified Lilo and water filled skittles, £10, very posh.)

SKIPPING ROPE

Nothing as simple as nicking a bit of old washing line any more. Today's skipping ropes are much more sophisticated. You can even get motorised ropes so that you don't have to press gang smaller children into standing there twirling it for you. Other ropes have counters, light up, are made of beads - which strikes us as possibly vicious. Skipping is not just for girls - you can remind boys it's a vital part of a boxer's training too.

(Jumbo Skipping Rope, £1.50, Poundstretcher; Cosmic Flo-Ropes, £9.99, Woolworths; Princess Skipping Rope - lots of pink beads - £4.99, Woolworths; basic skipping rope, £1, Pound World, £3, Early Learning Centre; skipping rope with counter, 99p, Wilkinsons; motorised skipping rope, £28.99, Toymaster and Woolworths.)

BADMINTON SETS

Simple - a bit of string tied to two chairs will do for a net. And a shuttlecock is unlikely to break windows or greenhouses.

(Badminton sets of varying degrees of sophistication, £7.99, Woolworths; £1, Pound World; £1.99, Wilkinsons; £2, Toymaster.)

FRIZBEE

The cheapest and simplest. Worst thing they'll do is fly over the hedge. Widely available from 79p-£2.

BOOM BATS

Yes, just a bat and ball, but a bat that makes a noise when the ball hits it. Irritating for those within earshot but wonderfully satisfying for those playing with them.

(£3.50, Early Learning Centre; £2.50, Poundstretcher; £3.99, Woolworths; £2, Toymaster, which also has a Barbie version at £5.)

CHEERLEADERS' POM POMS

If your little girls think all sport is boring and games are for boys or babies, then let them practise being cheerleaders. They can work out their own routines, high kicks and shouts - and get plenty of exercise in the process.

(Cheerleaders' pom poms, £6, Marks & Spencer; Cheerleader's set - pom poms, baton, ribbons, £8.99, Woolworths; ribbon twirlers, £4.99, Toys 'R' Us; pom poms and baton, £3, Poundstretcher.)

GOLF

Lots of golf sets around, ranging from big cheerful plastic clubs for toddlers to more sophisticated putter sets that might keep granddad amused too. Easy to invent your own crazy golf course in the garden - that should keep them occupied for a while - or you can buy ready made sets.

(Golf sets, £2, Poundstretcher; £4, Woolworths; £4.99, Toys 'R' Us; Crazy golf sets, £9.99, Woolworths; £10, Early Learning Centre.)

KITES

When it's too windy for badminton, it's just right for flying a kite. Terrific range for all ages and abilities.

(For starters: pocket kites, £4, Woolworths, £5, Early Learning Centre, £2 Poundstretcher. Early Learning Centre also has a simple stunt kite, £10.)

We also liked: metal detector, £5, from Poundstretcher; tennis trainer, £2, from Poundstretcher; mini skateboard, £4.99, from Woolworths; croquet set, £1.99, from Wilkinsons: garden archery set, £9.99, from Toymaster; pogo bouncer, £7.50, from Early Learning Centre and the Hip Hoppa, £7.99, from Argos. We liked the inflatable rugby set, £4.99, from Toys 'R' Us, which also had a selection of wooden cricket sets rather than the toddlers' plastic version.

There are also lots of space hoppers still around, though known by different names. The Early Learning Centre has some at £5; Morrisons, at £3.99.

Woolworths also has a box set of ten games for £34.99 including tennis, badminton, soccer and a skipping rope.