Is it an indoor cat?
It might be wanting to play in the evenings so maybe if you get it some toys you can distract it from your children. A water pisrol filled with water can be a good deterrent but only if the cat doesn't see you shooting it - you want to make it think that it is an act of God that occurs every time it does whatevr you don't want it doing.
Do you keep it's claws trimmed?