Back to nature
If the concept of being cooped up in the home with the children fills you with dread, take them along to the Epping Forest Field Centre, near Loughton in Essex, so as to be running family activity events from pond-dipping to stargazing (18-20 February, activities about £6pp, booking required, 020-8502 8500, field-studies-council.org/centres/eppingforest.aspx).
Down in Surrey, Painshill Park near Cobham is running Wild Woodland Camps Monday to Friday for eight- to 13-year-olds. There’ll be an additional theme for every day, from wild winter art to bushcraft, and youngsters would be ready to try their hand at bivouac-building, archery, animal tracking and orienteering (18-22 February, £35 an afternoon, booking required, 01932 868113, painshill.co.uk).
In North Yorkshire, families can follow a bird-themed trail round the beautiful grounds of the ruined 12th-century Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden. But when the February weather’s bad, head to Swanley Grange Learning Centre for nature-themed crafts and bird box making (16-24 February, site entrance adult £8.60, child £4.50, family £21.80, 01765 608888, nationaltrust.org.uk/fountains-abbey).
For budding scientists
Brighton Science Festival
The Brighton Science Festival would be in full swing during half-term with heaps of kid-friendly workshops round the city (01273 777628, brightonscience.com). Help solve an imaginary crime using real forensic techniques consisting of fingerprinting, analysing hair samples under a microscope and identifying tyre tracks at a whodunnit workshop (20 February, £10pp, family ticket £30) or find out about dinosaurs and fossils on the Booth Museum (18-20 and 22 February).
Flight would be the focus this week at Enginuity, one of the great museums to be found on the Ironbridge Gorge industrial heritage centre in Shropshire (16-24 February, adult £8.25, child £6.95, 01952 433424, ironbridge.org.uk). Children can build and launch their very own rocket, how one can generate water from electricity and construct an earthquake-proof tower.
With its number of anatomy specimens and surgical instruments, the Hunterian Museum on the Royal College of Surgeons in London (rcseng.ac.uk/museums/hunterian) would possibly not seem an obvious destination for a jolly day trip, however the museum is operating hard to shake off its fusty image with family-friendly tours of the gallery (free, 21 February) and the likelihood to satisfy a 17th-century barber surgeon and his choice of leeches (£2, 20 February).
Get creative
The Wimpy Kid Show at Northcott Theatre, Exeter
Exeter would be a hive of creativity with two festivals designed to inspire budding artists and authors. Extreme Imagination is a children’s literature festival at venues round the city (16-24 February, artsandcultureexeter.co.uk). One of the highlights are The Wimpy Kid Show at Northcott Theatre with a view to bring to life Jeff Kinney’s best-selling books with activities, quizzes and movie clips (18 February, £5), and a dragons, myths and tales event on the Killerton estate, offering children the possibility to create stories and follow a detective trail round the grounds (16-24 February, site entrance adult £8.70, child £4.35, family £22, nationaltrust.org.uk).
In the West Midlands, stop-motion animation would be the theme of a workshop for youngsters aged 11 and over on the Public in West Bromwich (21 February, £4pp, 0121-533 7161, thepublic.com). Children will discover ways to create a brief film using a storyboard, digicam and animation software.
Visitors to Belsay Hall in Northumberland are invited to go into the mystical world of Lewis Carroll by following an Alice in Wonderland Trail round the gardens (16-24 February, site entrance adult £7.70, child £4.60, family £20, english-heritage.org.uk). There are six characters in finding along the way in which and a certificate for all who complete the path.
Travel in time
Evacuee Experience Family Days, Weymouth
The ever-popular Jorvik Viking Festival returns to the streets of York this week attracting some 40,000 visitors with its mixture of battle re-enactments, guided walks and family-friendly events (16-24 February, jorvik-viking-festival.com). Visit the Viking encampment (complete with longship) on Coppergate Square, participate in a sword-fighting workshop (£3pp) or test your hand at Viking crafts equivalent to leatherworking, willow weaving and rune stamping.
Young historians will jump on the chance to be an Egyptian curator for the day on the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate. Children six and over can handle ancient Egyptian artefacts, discover ways to record and label replica objects, and create a display case (19 February, £2pp, booking required, 01423 556188, harrogate.gov.uk/museums).
Twentieth-century history will come under the spotlight at Nothe Fort in Weymouth, Dorset, that is running Evacuee Experience Family Days (18, 20 & 22 February, £7pp, 01305 766626, nothefort.org.uk). Normally available to high school groups only, the experience should be open to families this half-term with lessons in a 1940s schoolroom, air raid drills, and a taste of rationing in a wartime kitchen.
Child’s play
James Bond cars at Beaulieu Motor Museum
Wannabe 007s can race a James Bond-style Aston Martin on an enormous eight-lane Scalextric track at Beaulieu National Motor Museum in Hampshire (16-24 February, adult £20, youth £12, child £9.95, family £52.50, 01590 612345, beaulieu.co.uk). Youngsters aged 16 and under (sorry Dads) can compete for the fastest track time of the day and win Scalextric prizes. If you happen to can tear yourself clear of the track, the Bond in Motion exhibition is definitely worth a trip, with its selection of iconic Bond vehicles, from high-speed bikes to Aston Martins. There’s also a half-term quiz trail to check your knowledge of 007.
The V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, east London, could be going back to the 1980s this half-term with a brand new Wave Kids activity week (18-22 February, free, museumofchildhood.org.uk). Take part an inventive retelling of Shirley Hughes’s popular children’s book Alfie Gets in First, design your personal Pac-Man badge or Care Bears greeting card and tackle the infamous Rubik’s Cube to win a prize.
For something more active, Ropes and Ladders in Llanberis, Gwynedd (01286 872310, ropesandladders.co.uk) offers outdoor activities for children from four years old. There’s an adventure ropes course specially for less than-eights, and high ropes activities for bigger ones. All equipment and instruction provided. Low-level course £10 per child, high ropes £20 per child, booking recommended.
