photo by Siona Watson

The first tip is a wonderful idea for fall family fun. You could do bark and leaf rubbings with crayons or charcoals and paper, or make casts of animal tracks. Visit www.bizarrelabs.com/track.htm to learn how.

OUTDOOR FAMILY ACTIVITY: Make a plant field guide. Collect plants, and press them in either a plant press or a heavy book. Look them up in the evening. This does take a little planning on your part with a few books. If you don’t have them, don’t worry. Look the plants up when you get home. We have an eastern tree guide full of leaves. Over the years, we’ve tried to find every tree in the book. We mark down where and when we’ve found them and then added a leaf. This book is now packed with great care as we don’t want to damage any of the leaves hanging out. Going on 10 years, “Don’t forget the tree book” is said more than once when we pack for a trip. We have gone to our local Goodwill and secondhand store for ID books on everything from shells to mushrooms to wildflowers. It’s amazing how competitive kids can get about knowing the proper names for things. We’ve collected dozens of items such as odd pine cones, abandoned turtle shells and butterflies off car grills (ick), all in the name of knowledge. — Laurie B., Florida

CHILD SAFETY: Did you know that Pringles cans are excellent for holding sharp knives? I did this when I still had babies. I never had to worry about them getting a knife because it was in a can in the top of the cupboard. — Ellise, e-mail

BREAD-TIE GARLAND: I know that this may sound silly, but it actually turns out looking nice. Last year, I saved the colored wire ties that come with the bread loaves that we buy, and the kids and I started linking them together like a paper chain. We wound the ends around the chains so they wouldn’t scratch anyone. So this year, we did the same thing and added the bread ties from this year to the garland. We’ll have to save bread ties for another year to complete the garland. — M.H., Texas

AVOID FADING: Whenever I have dark clothing, I always add a big cupful of salt to the first wash. It is supposed to help set the dye and keep it from fading. I’ve heard that white vinegar also helps set the dye. I wash mine inside out and in cold water only. — Pat, Virginia

BEAT THE CLOCK: There are a lot of uses for a timer. Some people use it to give the kids turns on a favored toy. I think beat the clock has always been my favorite. Set the timer for 15 minutes or five minutes, depending on how you feel, and just go crazy, racing around getting as much done as you can. Often, that is all it takes to get the room in order, the house dusted, the garbage taken out, or a dishwasher loaded and running or unloaded. It can tell you just how long a particular task takes when you give it your all. That is so useful. If I know it takes me three minutes or less to unload the dishwasher, then I don’t feel so much as if it’s a big job, and I tackle it and get it out of the way. — Margery, Canada

REUSE TISSUE BOX: I use the square Kleenex boxes for my son’s small action figures and toys. They stack neatly. — Melissa, Ohio

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