& CULTURE From lambing I

So, if you’re holidaying at home then use our guide to plan a great day out.

We’ve covered everything from the chance to be a junior surgeon or go down a coal mine, to meeting Fenella the Holmfirth tiger and new-born lambs.

Our guide takes in low-cost or free events; arts and theatre; and venues further afield.

In Kirklees, half term starts on Friday, February 16, with schools returning on Monday, February 26.

Events for Animal Lovers Cannon Hall is once again hosting its Lambing Festival during half term. Around 300 ewes at the Cawthorne Farm are currently expecting and should be delivering their precious bundles of wool in the two weeks leading up to February 25. The festival includes daily talks on lambs and sheep; lamb bottle-feeding demonstrations; tractor trailer rides and other animal-related activities. Entry is £7.95 for all. Visit cannonhallfarm.co.uk for opening times and bookings.

Bagshaw Museum, Batley, is hosting a special half term day of bird-related activities, featuring Snowy the owl, on Tuesday, February 20, at 11am, 1pm and 2pm. Sessions cost £2 per child and no booking is necessary.

Tolson Museum, Huddersfield, has an activity day on Wednesday, February 21, themed around National Nest Box Week. Sessions are at 11am, 1pm and 4pm cost £3 per child.

Free pet workshops at Pets at Home, Huddersfield, from February 10 to 25, on how to care and keep gerbils. The workshops are part of the store’s My Pet Pals Activity Club. Places need to be booked at petsathom.com/workshops

Be an artist Oakwell Hall, Birstall, is offering free Art in the Barn sessions every day from Saturday, February 17, until Sunday, February 25, from 11am.

Huddersfield Art Gallery’s drop-in family art day on Thursday, February 22, gives children the chance to take inspiration from the gallery’s collection and then make their own art. It runs from 1pm until 3pm. Cost is £1 per child.

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton is running a series of family-friendly events inspired by its collection in the beautiful parkland, including Ai Wei Wei’s Zodiac Heads. There’s also a workshop to make demonstration placards and create a protest song to mark United Nations’ World Day of Social Justice. For details of all events visit ysp.org.uk. Admission is free and most children’s activities are free or low cost.

Enjoy live performance Huddersfield Town Hall is the venue for The Mrs Sunderland Festival, taking place every day throughout half term. Entry to hear contestants perform in one of the North’s biggest music festivals is from £4 a session.

The Lawrence Batley Theatre hosts the true story of the Holmfirth tiger Fenella in a production, A Tiger’s Tale, by the M6 Theatre Company, on Saturday, February 17. Fenella’s journey from circus train in South Africa to West Yorkshire, with a family of acrobats, is told using circus skills, puppetry, live music and song. Suitable for ages four to 10, tickets are £8 from thelbt.org.uk or 01484 430528. There are shows at 1pm and 3.30pm.

Circus skills, illusion and magic come to the Lawrence Batley