Half term is round the corner! And Daily Info has the perfect ways to spend the extra time with the bambinos. Check out our picks and book some of these fabulous things to do.
Theatre
Theatrical endeavours are often the perfect treat for the school holidays and there are a handful of shows that may take your fancy. At the North Wall there's Belongings (21st & 22nd), the critically-acclaimed show from Tangled Feet and Rowantree that explores what it means to belong. Or you can head to the Aylesbury Waterside with more traditional fare in the form of Baltimore-set musical romp Hairspray (17th to 22nd).
The Mill Arts Centre has a trio of touring productions from fairy tale ballet Snow White & Rose Red (15th) to immersive, humorous show Dance in the Dark (20th) to Folksy Theatre's charming Angelica Sprocket’s Pockets (23rd).
Alternatively your youngling may want to get involved in theatre. Creation Theatre's School of Creativity is back with day-long workshops throughout the week, with sessions including on stand-up, Shakespeare and making a play in a day. And the North Wall has two workshops to take part in. YouthLab are running a Dance Masterclass (17th to 19th) with Lîla Dance and NW Intentors are covering Street Dance Theatre (17th to 19th), where you can explore the likes of hip hop, house and breakdance.
Museums
Come rain or shine, Oxford is home to plenty of museums to spend some time in this holiday. At the Oxford University Museum of Natural History there's Dino Discoveries, with plenty of dino-tastic activities, crafts and touchable specimens. Meanwhile the Museum of Oxford will be hosting a pair of family workshops with The Romans are Coming! on the 17th and Creature Creations on the 20th. And at the Oxfordshire Museum you can make bird suncatchers, flying dinosaur models and feather art, whilst you can end the week with the Ashmolean's One World Family Festival with an array of activities, performances and crafts from different cultures.
Setting out to almost singularly make your child's half term that bit brighter is the Story Museum with the likes of live-drawing from the award-winning former children's laureate Chris Riddell, performances of Mischief & Mayhem in Moomin Valley, Lego Master Builders Club and three Story Explorers Skill Courses all around Myths & Legends. And over at the Oxford Castle & Prison there's DIG!, where children can dig for finds, create replicas of historical objects and learn what can be found in the Castle grounds.
Further afield you can head to Didcot Railway Centre and meet Wallace and Gromit on Saturday 15th. Or head to Henley to the River & Rowing Museum where you will able to do a different activity a day, mixing space, pirates and princesses. And over at the Banbury Museum there are craft activities where you can make the likes of spoon characters, fishy friends and a seed garden, as well as daily free-play sessions with Lego.
Finally you may want to head to one of the mansions or manors that surround Oxford. Waddesdon Manor are holding activities throughout the week, with Outdoor Adventure Workshops, Doodle Jams, and craft workshops. Over at Blenheim Palace you can meet sheep, make a birdseed ball and take part in leaf crafts. And Cogges Manor reopens for Half Term where visitors can meet farmyard animals, play in their adventure fort and explore the 18 acres that surround the farm.
Outdoors
Wrap up warm and head for an outdoor adventure this half term. The Earth Trust are celebrating British garden bird with Little Acorns sessions in their gardens exploring our connection with nature through crafts, stories and more. They'll also be running a day of Orienteering Adventures at the Wittenham Clumps. And over at the Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre there are wild stories, mask making and bird box crafting sessions to take part in.
And finally you could, of course, head to the farm this half term. At Millets Farm Centre there are performances from WhatNot Theatre, pottery painting workshops, a disco night at their soft play amongst many fabulous activities. And Hogshaw Farm are hosting a Wild Cinema Week with daily screenings of The Wild Robot as well as opportunities to meet the farm's wildlife and plenty of all-weather play zones.
Happy half term!
Image credits: The Story Museum, Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Earth Trsut