1. BLOW MINDS IN MANCHESTER

Explore the big ideas of the last 250 years at the Science + Industry Museum in Manchester, with exhibitions covering everything from the textile industry that built the North to wonders of the Solar System. Book at scienceandindustrymuseum.org.

3. STEP BACK IN TIME IN WALES

Walk around Wales from Celtic times to present day at St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff. The open-air venue has more than 40 original buildings from various historical periods, all in the grounds of a 16th century manor house. Entry must be booked, check opening days and times at

8. ENJOY

ART IN THE OUTDOORS IN YORKSHIRE

Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield is Britain’s best open-air art gallery, where sheep roam between the renowned collection of permanent and temporary pieces. The 18th century park is currently home to four eye-catching works by Damien Hirst. Book timed entry tickets at ysp.org.uk.

Don’t resort to screens when rain or quarantine keeps you indoors – try these fun, free activities: 1

Stage an A to Z scavenger hunt where each child has to find something in the house or garden starting with every letter and collect them in a bag. The first to get the whole alphabet wins a prize.

2

Have a puzzle race. Pull out jigsaws with equal numbers of pieces and see who will finish theirs first. Start a league over the summer.

3

Start a band! Use plastic bowls, saucepans and wooden spoons as a drum kit. Make shakers from plastic bottles filled with pasta and rice.

4

Teach your child their favourite pop star’s dance routine after learning the moves at youtube.com/dancetutorialslive.

5Turn

the garden into a water park. Pump up the paddling pool, fill up empty water bottles with squeezy tops for squirting. Plastic sheeting on the grass will make an excellent water slide too.

6

Make and decorate paper aeroplanes, then have a competition to see which flies furthest. Find different designs at paperaeroplanes.com. 7

Get the kids to cook for you, following online demos created by top chefs especially for youngsters. See futurechef.uk.net/summerkitchen-glow-up.

8

Make a telescope using a kitchen roll tube. Decorate it and cut a viewing slot near one end. Draw landscapes to slide into it.

9

Write secret messages in homemade invisible ink.

Squeeze lemon juice into a bowl, add a few drops of water and mix. Dip a cotton bud into the mixture and write on white paper. Leave to dry and then pass your message to the person you want to read it. They can do this by heating the paper near a light bulb.

10

Collect lolly sticks and make a mini theatre. Turn the sticks into characters by drawing faces and sticking paper outfits to them. Then create collage backgrounds to stick to the wall. 11Kids’

author Rob Biddulph won a Guinness World Record for the largest online art lesson, in lockdown. He has more than 40 #DrawWithRob videos at robbiddulph.com/draw-with-rob.

12

Play bird bingo by drawing up game cards with images of the ones in your garden. The winner is the first to spot all of them.

13

Take a tub, throw in small plastic toys, fill with water and freeze. Your child can then hunt for treasure in the ice, using cold water, the sun and chipping at it with plastic tools. Best in the garden! 14

Storycraft Theatre makes use of cardboard, pens and loo roll, and are uploaded twice a week at Instagram.com/storycrafttheatre.

15

Make chalk bombs. Mix 1 cup of water, 2 tbsp of corn flour and food colouring. Use a soapdispenser pump to fill water balloons with the mix. Have your child draw targets on the ground with chalk or let them go wild. It all washes out.