The first thing my kids do when we go into a room in a family-friendly hotel is to pick the place clean like vultures. If there are cookies on a plate, within seconds only crumbs remain. If there are puzzle books, within minutes the word searches are a spider web of biro crossings out. If…
Chester Zoo is to open a new river attraction in 2015. The Lazy Boat Journey will allow visitors to take a 15-minute boat trip through a forest where they will be able to view Sumatran orang-utans, tigers and banteng (Asian wild cattle). The ride will stretch for nearly half a kilometre, including a four metre…
This week seeks the opening of the Natural History Museum’s Ice Rink for the ninth Christmas season until 5 January. The setting for the rink is one of the capital’s most beautiful. The rink measures 1,000 square metres and stretches out in front of Alfred Waterhouse’s architectural masterpiece in South Kensington. Some 76,000 fairy lights…
Which is the world’s tallest mammal? The answer, if you head to Whipsnade Zoo near Dunstable in Befordshire this half term, should quickly become clear. The zoo has installed a nine-foot high viewing platform which lets people visitors come face-to-face with some of its best loved residents, the giraffes. The platform opens to the public…
The French capital is a perfect place to take children of all ages – it has open spaces, museums, grand buildings and family-friendly attractions. Here is my choice of ten interesting things to do with children when in Paris. The Jardin du Luxembourg On a sunny day, there are few places better to spend the afternoon with…
I like these, I like these a lot. The picture at the top shows the funky new cutlery set introduced by Air France for the 2.7 million passengers who fly with the airline each year who are under 12 years of age. This knife and fork set, from Catalan designer Eugeni Quitllet, is just part of…
Airports can be a tiring experience for kids and frazzle the adults too but some relief may be available at London’s Heathrow Airport this October half term. The airport has teamed up with the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Buckinghamshire, Puffin Books and the Royal Shakespeare Company, whose production of Matilda the Musical…
Theme park Alton Towers in Staffordshire is to open a five-acre CBeebies themed section in May 2014, Merlin Entertainments, the parks’ owner, has announced. CBeebies Land will include themed rides, attractions and live entertainment aimed at pre-schoolers. The company says that it will run a seasonal programme of events so “no two visits to CBeebies Land will…
Club Med is offering gift vouchers worth £160 to people who recommend the company to their friends and they go on to book a holiday. The company says its new Ambassador programme is not just about “selling” your friends’ details though – they get an £80 voucher towards their first holiday too. In addition, if…
