Aberdeenshire

* Watch divers feed the fish at the Macduff Marine Aquarium, check out an exhibition about the fishing village of Footdee at Aberdeen Maritime Museum or climb to the top of Scotland’s Lighthouse Museum in Fraserburgh. Tel: Aberdeen Tourist Information, 01224 632727.

WALES

Cardiff

* Animal Magic, at the National Museum and Gallery until April 18, shows how animals function in the wild and how they inspire artists. Activities for children aged seven to 12 include drawing, dressing-up, model-building and computer graphics, with 40-minute performances by the Anterliwt theatre company on selected dates. Be prepared to perform. Tel: 01222 397951.

A related exhibition at The Museum of the Welsh Woollen Industry has four themes: ‘Up, up and away’ featuring bird kites; ‘Something fishy going on’ with fish on wheels and made of wire; ‘Down on the farm’ illustrating sheep; and ‘Our best friend’ including portraits of bull dogs. Holiday activities include kite-making and flying. Tel: 01559 370929.

ENGLAND Brighton and Hove

* Children aged four upwards can handle large, live reptiles and see the dinosaur exhibition, April 10 (10.30-11.30am and 12-1pm) at Booth Museum of Natural History, tel: 01273 292777. Hove Museum offers two to five-year-olds creative activities based on its toy collection, April 16 (1-3pm), tel: 01273 290200. Brighton Museum’s Spring Chickens sessions for two to five-year-olds, April 23 (10.15am-12.15pm and 1-3pm) offers creative activities and object-handling on a spring theme. Tel: 01273 292797. Tickets pound;2.50 per child (booking advisable).

Bristol

* The Kuumba Project is running free evening drama workshops for 15 to 25-year-olds at Bristol Old Vic. Participants work alongside professional actors, find out about sound, lighting and stage management , and get the chance to perform at this year’s St Paul’s Carnival. Tel: Amirah Cole, Kuumba, 0117 942 1870 or Sharon Clark, BOV, 0117 949 4901.

* Craft demonstrations and butter-making in the dairy at Blaise Castle House Museum, which throws open its doors on April 11. Tel: 0117 950 6789.

Epping Forest Field Centre, Essex

* A special safari looking at pond creatures and their environment is being held for 10 to 13-year-olds, April 13, 10am-12pm. pound;4, bookable in advance, tel: 0181 508 7714.

Halifax

* Eureka!, the museum for children, is inviting young visitors to take a seat at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and join other popular characters from children’s books until April 25. Help write the longest story, become a poet and join in interactive plays and workshops. Tel: 01422 330069.

London

* Children aged seven upwards can make Easter bonnets and join an Easter Parade around the Ragged School Museum, E3, on April 14 (10.30-11.30am and 1.30-2.30pm). Or take part in a Victorian lesson on April 15 (11am-12pm). Also, on April 15 (1.30-2.30pm and 3-4pm), storyteller Linda Cotterell will tell tales of children throughout the world to three to seven-year-olds. Tickets free but available only on a first-come first-served basis. Tel: 0181 980 6405.

* Vi the World War II clippie, an 1890s Tube driver, Annie the B Type cleaner and their friends are telling their fascinating stories until April 18 at the London Transport Museum, Covent Garden, WC2, with special performances, April 10-11, 11am-4pm. For under-fives, there is a ‘Platform Promenade’ around the museum using music and rhyme to bring buses and trams to life, April 16-18 (four sessions daily). Workshops include: make your own souvenir guide, April 12-14; and drop-in colouring and collage-making featuring night-time animals, April 15-18 (11.30am-4pm). Linked to the exhibition, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, activities are free with the price of admission. Tel: 0171 379 6344.

* The Little Angel Theatre, home of British puppetry, at 14 Dagmar Passage, Cross Street, N1, is staging ‘The Frog Prince’, April 10-11. Also, ‘Rapunzel’ is letting her hair down throughout April. Suitable for children aged five upwards. Tickets: pound;6, pound;5 children and concessions. Tel: 0171 226 1787.

Manchester

* ‘Dinosaurs - big, bold and dangerous!’, at the Museum of Science and Industry until June 27, features dinosaur models brought to life by animatronics. Watch out for the Tyrannosaurus rex with teeth the size of butcher’s knives, the Deinonychus’s back feet complete with fearsome claw, and the Dilophosaurus, which spits at its enemies. Tel: 0161 833 0027.

Rutland Water, Oakham, Rutland

* Get on your bike and explore up to 23 miles of gently undulating traffic-free tracks around Western Europe’s largest manmade reservoir. There is an abundance of wildlife to see, especially waterbirds (including the odd osprey), a butterfly park, nature reserves, adventure playgrounds, a new climbing wall and watersports. Bikes can be hired from pound;2.95 at Whitwell and Normanton and include tandems, tricycles and trailer bikes for children aged four upwards. Tel: 01780 460705.

St Austell, Cornwall

* The Royal Shakespeare Company’s tour of ‘Troilus and Cressida’ and ‘A Month in the Country’ reaches Polykyth Leisure Centre, April 13-17. Tel: 01726 61585.

South Shields

* Discover the truth about cats in “Claws!”, a new exhibition at the Museum and Art Gallery until June 6. From Siamese to sabre-tooths, it explores the biology and behaviour of these animals, their care and conservation and how they relate and react to humans. Free Easter holiday and weekends activities are available. Tel: 0191 456 8740.