An 11-year-old girl has invited Nicola Sturgeon for tea and cake once the coronavirus pandemic is over, as Scotland’s First Minister answered questions from children about the virus.

Ms Sturgeon told young Dylan she would love to visit once the crisis had passed and revealed Tunnock’s caramel wafers were her “favourite biscuit”.

Parent Club, an online information hub for parents in Scotland, invited children to send in their questions and concerns by video to the First Minister.

On Tuesday, a video of their questions and the SNP leader’s responses was released online.

Dylan asked the First Minister: “Who’s taking care of your mental health, and once this is all over would you like to come over for a cup of tea and a piece of cake?”

Ms Sturgeon replied: “When all of this is over I would love to come for a cup of tea and a piece of cake or maybe a Tunnock’s caramel wafer, which I can tell you is my favourite biscuit.

“It’s important right now that everybody looks after their mental health …

“I’ve got lots of support within the Scottish Government, people trying to help me deal with this and my husband is trying to look after me as well.”

She told the children it was important for people to look out for each other, saying: “We will get through this and we’ll get through it together.”

Lulabelle, it's so hard for little girls like you not to see you granny just now. But the reason you've got to stay from granny just now is to protect granny

The First Minister also spoke about the need for proper hand washing, the coronavirus symptoms to be aware of and the importance of staying at home.

One of the youngsters to pose a question was three-year-old Lulabelle, who asked: “Why can we not see our granny?”

Ms Sturgeon responded: “Lulabelle, that is the hardest question for me to answer, because it’s so hard for little girls like you not to see you granny just now.

“But the reason you’ve got to stay from granny just now is to protect granny.”

She explained older people were more at risk from the virus, and said: “You can still phone her, FaceTime or Skype her.

“Make sure you keep in touch because grannies and granddads are undoubtedly missing seeing you as much as you are missing seeing them.”

Gino, 7, asked: “Can my dog catch coronavirus? Her name is Bella.”

The First Minister responded: “The good news is we don’t think that dogs or animals will become ill from coronavirus so Bella should be fine. That’s something I’m sure you’re happy to hear.”

Archie, 11, asked: “When can I see my friends again?”

The First Minister responded: “I hope you can see your friends again as soon as possible.

“I can’t give you a date unfortunately because we need to wait and see what happens with the virus, if it slows down the way we hope.

“We’ll try and get back to normal as quickly as possible.”

Ms Sturgeon told 11-year-old Millie, who asked when schools would return again: “I don’t think you should expect to be going back straight after Easter and it may be, though we don’t know for sure yet, that you might not able to go back before the summer holidays.”