FREE summer holiday family fun
SALFORD
Shaun the Sheep, Lowry Outlet There’ll be plenty of free fun on offer at Lowry Outlet as it hosts a Shaun the Sheep event over four days in August.
Kids can join the games outside on the Plaza, lift the hens and search for yellow fluffy chicks or eggs, and roll the giant Shirley Sheep around the Hay Bale maze.
They can also try their hand at Cabbage Patch Keepie Uppie – keep the soft play cabbages out of the mud by throwing them into the coloured hoops – before stepping back inside the centre for Shaun the Sheep craft workshops and a Vegetable Orchestra Workshop.
Events run from Friday, August 11 to Monday, August 14, and will include free film screenings of films such as Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep (dates to be confirmed) as well as character appearances.
Lowry Outlet, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AH.
Pop-up Reading Corner and Storytimes
Salford Libraries have created a Children’s Reading Corner that will pop up at Ordsall Hall and Salford Museum and Art Gallery during the summer.
Children can browse the titles on offer and make use of the cosy reading areas.
The free drop-in event for under sevens is running at Ordsall Hall from July 31 to August 10 with storytime sessions at 10.30am and 11am on August 3 and 10 .
It will then move to Salford Museum and Art Gallery from August 15 to 27, with storytime sessions at 10.30am on Friday, August 18, and 2pm on Tuesday, August 22 .
For more details about these and other events, visit the website .
Mrs Tomlinson’s Sweet Shop, Lark Hill Place
Mrs Tomlinson’s sweet shop will be open for business every Friday throughout the school holidays.
Pick up some old fashioned sweets on the Victorian street where visitors can hear the sounds of horse-drawn carriages as they explore shops and houses including a chemist, grocers, a blacksmiths and an artisan’s cottage.
Admission is free and the shop is open from 10am to 12pm and then 1pm to 3pm.
Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Peel Park, The Crescent, Salford, M5 4WU.
BURY
Come to the Beach, Heaton Park A giant indoor beach will be at Heaton Park this summer – and the best bit is it’s free.
Come to the Beach features sand, deck chairs, a paddling pool, buckets and spades and more.
It’s the north west’s biggest inland beach and will stay open right through the summer, from July 22 until September 3.
There’ll be character appearances too – from the likes of Paw Patrol, Moana and Beauty and the Beast – as well as a seaside fun park with traditional rides and attractions, which can be paid for either individually or with an unlimited £8.99 wristband.
Check out the website or Facebook page for details of entertainment and character appearances plus discounts and offers.
Heaton Park, Middleton Road, M25 2SW. colouring sheets provide an engaging way for families to enjoy the gallery.
These are free to use and available at all times, while other children’s classes and workshops start from £3 per child. Siblings under four go free.
Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre, Moss Street, Bury, BL9 0DR. The Fusilier Museum A Six Weeks of Summer event is running across the holidays with free craft activities for kids.
Each session will focus on something different and see the children making a range of crafts from fluffy lion mane masks and bee mobiles, to stained glass butterfly decorations and wiggly 3D caterpillars.
Events run from 10.30am to 1pm every Wednesday and Friday from July 26 to September 1 .
See the full list of events on the website .
Fusilier Museum, Moss Street, Bury, BL9 0DF.
TAMESIDE
Outdoor theatre Families are encouraged to take along their picnics, blankets and folding chairs to enjoy Tameside’s free programme of outdoor theatre shows in parks across the borough. The line-up includes James and the Giant Peach at Ryecroft Hall Park, Audenshaw, on Friday, August 4; Dotty The Dragon at Stamford Park, Stalybridge, on Wednesday, August 9; The Walrus and the Carpenter at Dukinfield Park, on Tuesday, August 22; and Reynard the Fox at Hyde Park on Thursday, August 31. There are two performances a day at 11.30am and 2.30pm.
If You Go Down To The Woods Today, Portland Basin
The Ashton museum has been taken over by teddy bears – big and small, old and new – and each one has a special story to tell.
There are lots of hands-on things for children to do, including a teddy trail, teddy bears’ picnic and books to read. Take your own bear along to join in the fun.
The exhibition opens on Saturday, July 15 , and runs until next spring. Portland Basin Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm.
To celebrate the exhibition, internationally renowned knitting and crochet designer, Emma Varnam, has designed Portland Bear and the pattern to make your own version is on sale in the museum shop.
Portland Basin Museum, Portland Place, Ashton, OL7 0QA.
BOLTON
Fish feeds at the Aquarium Bolton’s top aquatic attraction is hosting fish feeds twice a week through the holidays.
The Aquarium, which is part of Bolton Library and Museum Services in Le Mans Crescent, will be open for families to watch the feeding from 1pm each Tuesday and Thursday .
Activity sessions will run alongside the weekday events from 1.30pm to 3pm and again on Saturdays. These are recommended for children aged four to seven.
Aquarium, Bolton Library and Museum Services, Le Mans Crescent, Bolton, BL1 1SE.
OLDHAM
Family fun days There are a number of fun days planned across Oldham parks where all the activities are free. The list includes: Dunwood Park, Sunday, July 23 and Sunday, August 20
Brush up on your craft skills and create something to take home with you. Join the fun arts and crafts activities in the award-winning park. Under eights must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Activities run from 1pm to 4pm.
Dunwood Park, Oldham, OL2 7UQ Gallery Oldham Free family activities are taking place two days a week through most of the holidays.
Activities run every Monday and Tuesday from Monday, July 24 to Tuesday, August 15 and include making bee badges and mobiles, bug hotels, whale puppets, snake
finger puppets and more.
Many of them are inspired by the gallery’s beehives, which are always a big hit with visitors.
The free craft activities are suitable for children aged four to ten. Face painting is offered for £2.
Gallery Oldham, Oldham Cultural Quarter, Greaves Street, Oldham, OL1 1AL.
STOCKPORT
Merseybay indoor beach, Stockport
Whatever the weather, Stockport families are guaranteed seaside fun as Merseyway Shopping Centre brings its Merseybay back for a second year.
Families are invited to build sandcastles, take part in summer craft activities and sit and relax in deckchairs at the free indoor beach from Wednesday, August 2, to Wednesday, August 23.
Located outside Specsavers, the beach will be open to children aged ten and under from 11am –to 4pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 3pm on Sundays.
Follow @merseyway or visit merseyway.com for more information and updates. Merseyway, SK1 1NE for the Great Underbank, multi-storey car park, and SK1 1HG for the St Petersgate/ High Bank entrance to the top-level car park.
TRAFFORD
FREE fairground rides, Manchester Airport’s runway visitor park
Sundays are fun days at the airport visitor park over the summer with free children’s fairground rides.
As well as the rides there are picnic areas, a purpose-built children’s play area and Concorde tours (charges apply).
If you don’t fancy making a picnic then you can refuel in the coffee house or restaurant.
Enjoy all this while taking in breathtaking views of the runway with aircraft landing and taking off and get up close as aircraft taxi pass the viewing mounds.
The event runs 11am to 5pm every Sunday in August, subject to weather conditions.
Parking costs £5 up to two hours, £10 from two hours up to four hours, and £12 for all stays over four hours. Free for visitors arriving by public transport, on foot or by bicycle.
The Runway Visitor Park, Sunbank Lane, Altrincham, WA15 8XQ.
Seaside and princess singalongs at intu Trafford Centre
You don’t need to go far to get some sand in your toes this summer as the Barton Square beach is back.
Take your little ones along for some beachside fun where they’ll be able to play in the sand with buckets and spades while you kick back and relax in the seaside deckchairs.
Visiting the beach and use of the deckchairs is free and there are charges for other activities including the water walkers, boats, bumper cars and more.
The beach is open from now until August 25 and is open 12pm to 6pm Sunday to Friday and 10am to 8pm on Saturdays.
The shopping centre will also be hosting a number of princess singalongs this summer.
Children can watch their favourite fairy tale films come true as beautiful princesses descend on the Trafford Centre every Tuesday from July 25 to August 29.
Join the princesses for a captivating sing-along in the Main Dome at 11am, 12pm, 2pm and 3pm.
Characters such as Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White will be performing, giving fans the chance to singalong to their heart’s content.
Rapunzel, Princess Beauty and Flynn will be there on July 25 and August 8 and 22.
The Glass Slippered Princess, Red Apple Princess and Prince Charming will be making appearances on August 1, 15 and 29.
intu Trafford Centre, Manchester, M17 8AA.
Emergency Services Open Day, intu Trafford Centre
The Emergency Services Open Day is a real highlight of the Trafford Centre’s events calendar.
Visitors to this free event will once again be able to meet real firefighters, sit in a police car and watch displays and demonstrations from all our local heroes.
The event runs from 10am to 4pm on Thursday, August 3, and the police band will be performing on the Orient main stage from 1pm to 3pm.
The main event is on the car park outside The Orient/Debenhams. intu Trafford Centre, Manchester, M17 8AA.
Red House Farm, Altrincham
Families can enjoy the area around the farm shop and tea rooms which is always free to access and free to use.
This includes picnic benches, a big sandpit, slides and swings and little climbing frames. You can buy a ticket to access the other activities including the maize maze, the barrel train and bouncy castle.
This year’s maize maze is an outline of the front of Windsor Castle and the great tower as it’s the centenary of the House of Windsor, so the place is celebrating all things royal and expecting lots of princes and princesses to join the fun.
The farm is open 9.30am to 5pm all week. Booking tickets online at redhousefarm.co.uk . Red House Farm, Redhouse Lane, Dunham Massey, Altrincham, WA14 5RL.
Imperial War Museum North
In IWM’s centenary year, families can discover 100 years of stories and view some intriguing objects. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August, families can drop into TimeStack Object Handling sessions to discover the personal stories behind artefacts from IWM’s collection.
Sessions are 20 minutes long. Meet at the TimeStack by the 1914-1918 section of the Timeline in the Main Exhibition Space on Level One.
A ‘Meet a Veteran’ event is also running between 11am and 3pm every Thursday throughout August.
Meet the volunteer veterans and eyewitnesses for a conversation about their personal experiences of conflict. Hear about everyday life in wartime and discover their extraordinary stories.
Meet in the Main Exhibition Space on Level One. IWMN, Quay West, Trafford Wharf Road, Manchester, M17 1TZ.