FAMILY FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES, INSPIRATION FOR DAYS OUT & LOTS OF FUN
FAMILY FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES, INSPIRATION FOR DAYS OUT & LOTS OF FUN
The Falkirk Wheel splash park is so much fun. There are a couple of different parts to the splash park, plus a playpark and lots of other (paid) activities. We spent the best part of 2 hours here and could easily have stayed longer. It’s such a great place for a cool down on a hot sunny day, and best of all, it’s free!
Tollcross Park Children’s Farm a nice place for a runaround with a toddler, and the indoor education bit is brilliant. It’s definitely one for younger kids but Tollcross Park itself has beautiful rose gardens and is nice for a wander or scoot round too.
The Glasgow Botanic Gardens are a lovely sanctuary in such a busy corner of the city. The playpark is fun and theres lots of space for the kids to run free. The Botanics are the perfect place to let the kids let off steam without travelling too far or spending any money. As a bonus, I get to see the gigantic cacti too!
I really enjoy a trip to the Kelpies, and the kids do too. It’s outdoors, it’s free, and because the Kelpies themselves are just beautiful. The playpark is fantastic and it’s a totally wheel friendly place too.
Dumfries House is set in beautiful grounds. There are lots of bits to entertain kids and their Engineering Playpark (a water play area) is absolutely fantastic. We all had a blast!
The little lady loves a good playpark. I’m a fan too – outdoors, free, energy burning – perfect activity! So I thought I’d share our favourite playparks in Glasgow (or pretty nearby).
We made the most of the dry weather yesterday & headed to Free Wheel North at Glasgow Green for a shot of the balance bikes…
We’ve been along to the new playpark at Calderglen Country Park a few times since it opened. It’s great for younger and older kids, and the little lady LOVES it!
We’ve been trying to make the best of some pretty crappy weather lately and ventured out to Whitelee Windfarm in Eaglesham. It’s rugged & picturesque, and the wind turbines are pretty grand up close. They also have a wee cafe for a post-walk warm up.
I enjoyed wandering around St Mungo Museum and Glasgow Cathedral. There are lots of really beautiful artefacts and architecture. The little lady didn’t quite appreciate either of them though. She enjoyed exploring, but we’ll probably go to a more child-friendly museum in future.
We took advantage of the dry weather last night & got a bit Christmassy down at George Square. There is so much to see and do down there at this time of year, and it’s so beautiful all lit up! We spent a while wandering around seeing the big wheel, ice rink, huge Christmas tree & …
Bookbug bags are gifted to every child in Scotland. They are completely free and full of books and bits for you to share with your child. The books we received in ours were great. They included those in the photo above, all of which are still some of the little lady’s favourites, and most of …
We’d heard that a Gruffalo had been spotted in the woods around Kilmardinny Loch in Bearsden, so last week we thought we’d take a trip out there to see if we could find him. Turns out that the Kilmardinny Loch Gruffalo is the very same one from the book! There are 5 or so different carvings and …
Despite it only being a 10 minute drive away, I’ve only ever been to Pollok Country Park a few times. If we’re planning on going to a country park, I always kinda forget that Pollok Park is there and end up travelling much further. So the little lady and I went along this morning to get a toddler’s perspective and …
Guest post coming from me today so here’s a short intro to myself and the kid – Rachel: mummy to my little lad who is two years old, living in Glasgow and having great fun exploring the city through the eyes of a wee one. We’ve been meaning to check out the outdoor playgroup in …
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is on just now in Scotland Street School Museum. I always go to see it, but this year thought we’d combine it with a trip for the toddler to have a wander round the museum too. The Museum As I mentioned I went because I wanted to see the …
We braved the Scottish summer and went to Palacerigg Country Park. Nice little childrens farm and good swing park. Nice walk for dogs. Great little day out.
We went back to bounce & rhyme for the first time in AGES this morning. There’s songs & rhymes & stories & lots of other babies & toddlers. It’s still just as entertaining for the little lady as it’s always been. And it’s free. The groups are in libraries all over Glasgow. You can find …
We took a wee trip to The Tall Ship a few days ago. I’d been planning on going for ages, so when we had nothing to do one dry morning I thought we’d check it out.
The Museum
It’s a lot bigger than I thought. Not being much of a seaman (with the exception of a few dinghy sailing lessons years ago) I wasn’t quite aware of how far under the water large boats actually go! There’s at least 3 levels to it (I got slightly lost at one point so there could be 4!) with different exhibits about the workings of a tall ship & how people lived & worked on one in the early 20th century throughout. There is a lift to get to pretty much everywhere (except the upper level of the top deck) so it has good pram access.
There are buttons to press, ropes to pull, videos to watch, bells to toll, stairs to climb, decks to scrub and plenty of space to run around in. My little lady’s favourite things were climbing oh so many stairs, and scrubbing the deck, which she did for about 15 minutes. Thinking about it now, the tall ship is a toddlers dream…
There is a (very) small soft play area for toddlers on the bottom level (sorry, the cargo hold) with a tunnel, some soft blocks & a mini-drawbridge to play on. It could definitely do with a bit of updating, but my little lady was perfectly happy to crawl/run around in it. It would entertain young toddlers for a while, but it’s not for kids older than about 4. There’s also a basket of dress up clothes here which are quite fun.
The Cafe
We only got tea and a scone which cost us £2.50. Good tea, and the scone was nice. They do have a decent selection of hot & cold food, but I can’t comment on how nice it might be! It all smelled nice though.
The Cost
It’s free. They ask on the way in if you’d like to buy a guidebook, but you don’t have to.
The Verdict
As with all of Glasgow’s museums, the Tall Ship doesn’t specifically cater to young children too much, but it does so (I think accidentally) better than a lot of the others. The little soft play area they have needs a bit of a facelift, but since it’s part of the whole experience you’re not going to spend too much time in it anyway.
From a toddler’s perspective, it’s absolutely worth a run around. And with it being right next to the Riverside Museum, you could make almost a whole day of it.
The Extra Bits
Opening hours are from 10am – 5pm, Monday to Sunday. And the Riverside Museum is right next to it if you’ve got some extra time to fill.
The top deck (with the deck scrubbers) is outdoors, so make sure you have weather appropriate clothing because your little ones will probably like this deck best.
The Tall Ship at Riverside is located at 150 Pointhouse Place, Glasgow, G3 8RS
Chatelherault Park is one of my favourite places on earth. Walking through it’s big, beautiful, ancient forest makes me feel like I’ve gone back in time. We go here with our dogs quite a lot, especially during the week when it’s quiet. Some days you can walk for an hour hardly seeing another person! (Bit …