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As the school holidays start to run out, are you running out of ideas to keep the wee ones entertained?

This page on surviving school holidays may inspire some easy ideas for low-cost or free things to do together.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland news website asked an unemployed father from Clydebank, a mother from South Uist and a recent graduate from Edinburgh to keep a diary of their living costs across a week and give their opinions on the price of food, fuel and heating.

The . Read their diaries of living costs and the conclusions they've come to about their spending.

Battle of the Brains is a new series of quiz shows hosted by Paddy O'Connell. Two teams featuring some of the brightest brains in Britain go head-to-head in a game of nerve, strategy and skill.

Available on the iPlayer, or on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO weeknights at 6pm when it is followed by Eggheads, the show where every day a new team of challengers take on probably the greatest quiz team in Britain, made up of some of the country's top quiz champions.

Ever wished you could get your brain to work a bit better? Without any hard graft? If so, keep reading...

Mindreader Drew McAdam has practiced 'mind power' for over thirty years in his stage show. He insists nothing he does is 'psychic' - it's all about technique and practice. And now he's sharing his secrets with the next generation.

In this week's edition of School for Genius, Drew explores the world of body language, lie detection and why your body always gives away what you're thinking about... He also reveals how you can make the most of this, and gleans extra tips from Scotland's five-times world champion bowler Alex Marshall, and junior champ Mark Taylor.

Listen to School for Genius here

And watch Drew in action in the following video, where he demonstrates a real life case of 'mind over matter'...

Or learn a simple technique for improving your memory...

The next edition of the programme is about communication and secret persuasion. Come back to view the video from August 4th.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland news website has asked three readers to keep a diary of their living costs across a week and give their opinions on the price of food, fuel and heating.

, an unemployed father from Clydebank, a mother from South Uist and a recent graduate from Edinburgh. Get their thoughts and findings next week.

The whole family can share the joy of gardening. Entertain your 4 to 7 year olds with a range of educational activities that have been developed in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society.

Hands-on projects for indoors and outdoors, bug studies, easy-to-grow plants, facts and games, and helpful hints and safety tips to ensure your child's gardening time is both educational and fun.

At the Sharp End looks at the challenging role of head teacher in an area of Edinburgh with one of the worst health records and lowest life expectancy in the city.

Ruth Wishart talks to Lindsey Robertson about her decision to leave her job at Sciennes Primary to take the head teacher post at Castleview Primary, Craigmillar.

Memory like a sieve? Can't remember anything on your shopping list? Mind magician Drew McAdam takes time out from his stage show to teach a Primary 7 class some powerful memory techniques we can all use in Radio Scotland's School for Genius.

Here's one of them. To remember a list of 10, 20 or even 100 objects in order, all you have to do is get your imagination involved. In this video Drew demonstrates how the system works.

To find out more, listen to School for Genius

The next edition of the programme is about the mind-body connection, and how to make that work for you. Come back to view the video of a real life 'mind over matter' demonstration from July 28th.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland's headquarters at Pacific Quay will be bursting with activity at this weekend's

There'll be fun activities for all the family, from news reading and sports commentary workshops with presenters/reporters to appearances from Raven, Nina and the Neurons, and one of Dr Who's most feared enemies.

Pre-book a building tour, give radio presenting a go, or chill out in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Headroom Tent.

The festival is also playing host to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Silk Screens, a series of free outdoor film screenings and live events focusing on the lives of British Chinese in the run up to the Beijing Olympics. There will be performances from professional and community Chinese artists throughout Saturday afternoon culminating in a display of silken abseiling.

The Blast truck is in Inverness this weekend for the at Bught Park.

There's lots going on with workshops in photography, fashion, news reporting, urban opera and more. Find out more about Blast and what's on offer this weekend, and have a look at the creative stuff that happened when the truck was in Glasgow last month.

Listen to a Radio 4 series following the exploits of a computer-obsessed 14-year-old with learning difficulties who is taken to Mongolia by his father to experience the more exciting side of life.

Dexter, who lives in Glasgow, heads off on an adventure of a lifetime, hunting with nomads in the far West of Mongolia. Will real life be more exciting than computer games?

Follow his progress on the iPlayer this week.

A refreshing night's sleep may be the best way to boost memory, a study suggests.

Researchers found sleep appears to have a dramatic impact on the way the brain functions the next day. Read the full article at .

Watch Schools Question Time, produced by pupils, with a school leaver on the panel, and an audience made up of people aged 18 or under.

Find out more about the challenge, the audition process and the winners. St Stephen's High School, Inverclyde were finalists and attended the filming after being awarded 'Highly Commended' by the judges.

We'll let you know here when the 2009 Schools Question Time challenge opens for entries.

Compete to become the UK poetry recital champion in Off By Heart.

Primary school pupils from all over the UK are invited to enter the competition which will be shown on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in Spring 2009. So get your school learning and reciting poetry, be it Burns, Morgan or McGonagall, and go for the chance of getting on the telly.

More information and resources will be posted on the Off By Heart webpage next month.

Test yourself against others with two new ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO quiz series.

Des Lynam hosts Sport Mastermind, a spin off series of the classic quiz. Four contestants answer two minutes on a sporting specialist subject and two minutes on sporting general knowledge.

And Jeremy Paxman returns with a new series of University Challenge. The opening episode is University of Hull against London's City University.

Or have a look at what other tv or radio game and quiz shows are available on the iPlayer at the moment.

Radio Scotland's popular psychology series explores what makes us all tick in Mapping the Mind.

Listen online to the latest programme as Edi Stark discovers why music manipulates our emotions and examines the ways it can help people cope with physical pain.

A wee quick reminder to register for September's before the choice seminars are booked up. Hear what the has to say.

This is an automated update to test out our new homepage system - hope it works - otherwise I'll sort it when all back to work next week, before the producer finds out.