6 ways to have fun for all the family this mid-term ...
With the midterm looming, how will you keep your kids entertained? Activity camps are great but if you have a large family they can be expensive. With the days lengthening and Spring making an appearance, switching off screens and getting out and about is definitely on the cards.
You don’t need lots of money to have fun: there are plenty of activities to engage children and keep them occupied for little or no cash. The best tip of all is to choose activities that you like yourself. Your own enthusiasm is infectious and with a little research you can find outings and activities that will be enjoyable for the whole family.
1. GET ON YOUR BIKES IN CORK
This 5km former train track is very family friendly and doesn’t interact with traffic.
The cycle path starts outside Carrigaline at a carpark on the side of the Carrigaline-Crosshaven road.
Bring a picnic and stop in Crosshaven, where you can go to the merries, or hike the steep hill to Camden Fort, closed at the moment for renovations.
Try this one on a Saturday and start at the lovely Coal Quay Farmer’s market.
Use the cycle lane along the quays as far as the Gate Cinema, crossing the Shandon Bridge and turning left.
You’ll pass Fitzgerald’s Park; with smaller kids, you could make this your destination, although older children will be well able to continue as far as the end of the Lee fields.
You could even make a detour to the Lifetime Lab, an award-winning science education centre, where entry for a family of four is a very reasonable €7.
With the new network of cycle lanes, there’s never been a safer time to cycle in Cork city.
If you have a toddler or older baby, a baby bike seat is a great investment; it allows you to enjoy cycling with older children without having to wait for a tot on a tricycle!
The routes below are well-surfaced and relatively level, making them ideal for in-line skates, scooters, skateboards, waveboards or whatever other wheels are the flavour of the month with your kids.
The leaves may not be on the trees yet but with birds nesting, frogs spawning and lambs on the hills, there’s plenty to see on springtime nature rambles.
If buggies are a thing of the past for your family, you could try giving your children a real hill-walking experience.
are a good start; the eastern hill is 694 metres, a manageable hike for kids from six up.
Older kids will make it up and down in around four hours, but this is a rugged day’s adventuring; a spare set of clothes in the car and plenty of bribes in the form of chocolate are recommended.
It’s a real sense of achievement to reach the top.
I’ve yet to encounter a child that doesn’t fist-pump at the summit!
Remember to take into account that the days are still quite short, so set off early and check the weather forecast.
For more buggy-friendly walks, check out the Heritage Ireland website.
This nature reserve in The Burren, Co Clare has several marked trails in the stunning setting of its river, lakes, limestone pavement and species-rich woodland, as well as the 17th century O’Brien Castle.
A 2,000 hectare nature reserve on the slopes of the Twelve Bens.
Accessed through the town of Letterfrack, attractions include exhibitions, nature trails, and an audio-visual show – all for free.
3. SEA NO EVIL
This early in the year, they’ll only last around an hour in the water and will need to get warm and dry in a hurry, so go to a beach with good amenities.
Inch in Co Kerry, Strandhill in Co Sligo and Tramore in Co Waterford all have year-round surf schools with changing facilities and friendly cafés for the vital après-surf hot chocolate!
Websites like www.surf-forecast.com are good for checking the waves.
Tramore Surf Shop even has a live webcam so you can see the conditions for yourself.
If that still sounds a little too bracing, wrapping up warm and equipping yourselves with kites, buckets and spades and nets still makes the beach a perennial favourite with kids of all ages.
4. GET CRAFTY
Dowtcha Puppets, Cork’s street-theatre specialists, are running two Mid-Term Masquerade Camps in the lead up to their St Patrick’s Day parades in Cork and Dublin.
Masquerade camps are a carnival tradition in community arts where people can make costumes, build floats and develop performance.
Children can sign up to take part in the parades and develop papier maché and fabric skills while working on their own colourful parade costumes at Dowtcha’s free workshops in the Marina Park in Cork.
Places are limited so get in touch via the website. It is recommended that children attend on both days so they complete their projects.
Dates: Thursday, February 19 and Friday, February 20.
5. YOUNG SCIENTISTS
There’s nothing like a child’s enthusiasm for exploring the world around them.
There are plenty of science-based workshops and camps nationwide over the midterm, but if you have more time than money, why not try out a few experiments at home?
From how to make your own hot ice to how to skewer a balloon without bursting it, a quick search on youtube will turn up loads of bizarre and funny effects that you can replicate at home.
2015 is the UN International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies. Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork will celebrate by hosting mid-term workshops for children aged 8 and up to explore spectroscopes, pinhole cameras, lenses and prisms.
€10 per child.
Dates: Tuesday, February 17 and Thursday, February 19.
6. MUSEUMS
Collins Barracks in Benburb St in Dublin is home to The National Gallery’s Decorative Arts and History collection.
There’s plenty to see, from military paraphernalia to costumes, but the Museum also runs free workshops and events; mid-term workshops on Thursday the 19th will celebrate the Chinese New Year.
2015 is the Year of the Sheep!
Children can search the museum for sheep and other animals and make their own animal from the Chinese zodiac. €2 contribution for materials per child.
There’s plenty on in the National Gallery’s other Dublin locations in The Museum of Natural History on Merrion St, and The Museum of Archaeology on Kildare St, as well as at The Museum of Country Life in Turlough Park, Co Mayo, all for free.
Details of all four museums and events here.
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