Another little post about our half term day of fun. I hope you will forgive the lack of photos given I was supervising two little humans at the time.

I had promised my little friends that we would take a trip to the cinema during our visit, but it turned out there was nothing worth going to the cinema for.

Ever the crafter I decided we would recreate our own home cinema experience. I conjured up a recipe for toffee popcorn and made some popcorn boxes and tickets.

You can download the templates for the tickets and the popcorn if you’re in a similar fix, or if you’re just looking for a cheap school holiday activity.

You will need

1/2 cup Popcorn kernels (or a bag of sweet microwaveable popcorn)

125g/4.5 oz Unsalted butter

170g/6 oz Soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp Golden syrup

The templates

Step one

Pop the popcorn. If you’re using kernels and it’s the first time you’ve done it then you need to add some butter or unflavoured oil to a large saucepan and one or two kernels. Once they’ve popped you can add the rest.

When the majority of the corn is popped (the pan will be full), remove the pan from the heat and place the corn in a bowl. Get rid of any unpopped kernels.

Step two

Heat the butter, syrup and sugar in a pan until bubbling. Turn down to a simmer cook for 5 minutes, keep stirring so that it doesn’t catch.

Step three

Stir the toffee into the popcorn.

Step four

Spread out on a large baking tray. You only really want one layer of corn to stop too much of it sticking together.

Step five

Bake until golden (about 25 mins) on 180 degrees C/gas mark 4/350 F.

Leave to cool so that it crisps up.

Step six

While the popcorn is cooling, assemble the boxes and cut out the tickets. The kiddies can help with this, or you could do it in advance.

Step seven

Put your feet up and enjoy the film. Or do what I did and placate the children with sweets and clean up feverishly in the background.