The Fringe for Kids for five to 18s runs from August 10 to 30 and includes dance, opera, puppetry, musicals and drama from homegrown and overseas performers. Shows include: A Trip to the Farm (children get the chance to act), Magic Bob’s Cabaret, Wind in the Willows. Winnie the Pooh, circus workshop (juggling, rolabola, unicycling, diabolo, plate-spinning), Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, Abigail’s Party, Don Giovanni, and Swan Lake - the Ballet of Clowns. There are also several workshops and performances in schools. Booklet from tel: 0131 226 52575259.

ABERDEEN

As part of the Arts Carnival at the Arts Centre, Scottish Youth Theatre tutors will lead an intensive acting and improvisation course for 12 to 18s, August 11 to 15 (1.30-12.30pm; 1.30-3.30pm). Fee: Pounds 40. Also at the centre, performances of Peter Pan by Bad Dab Theatre, August 14 to 16 (7pm; Saturday 2pm,7.30pm); and, until September 3, a free exhibition of wire toys, textiles and artwork from Africa in association with ScotlandAfrica ‘97. Tel: 01224 635 208.

WALES

CARDIFF: NATIONAL MUSEUM

Regular 20-minute performances of The Famous Five and the Spiffing Dinosaur Mystery, August 8 to 10 and 12 to 16. Trapped in the museum, Julian, Dick, Ann, George and Timmy the dog get mixed up in some dinosaur and fossil detection. Plus 45-minute dinosaur art workshops for ages three upwards, August 9-23 (four sessions daily). Tel: 01222 397951.

SOUTHERN ENGLAND

WARMINSTER, WILTSHIRE:LONGLEAT

Doctor Who celebrations to mark K9‘s 21st birthday. Celebrity guest appearances. Hand sculpting art workshops for five to 12s all summer, Pounds 3.50. Pre-booking necessary. Tel: Sarah Bew, 01985 844400.

BRIGHTON: BOOTH MUSEUM

Tales of feathers and flight with storymaking activities suitable for families with children aged five upwards, August 11 (10.30am-noon). Bring a feather. Pounds 2. Tel: 01273 292777.

NORTHERN ENGLAND

CARLISLE:TULLIE HOUSE MUSEUM

“Mastering mobiles” family workshop, August 11 (10.30am-noon), Pounds 1.50, plus free “spooky” drop-in museum activity day with skulls and skeletons galore, August 12 (10am-4pm) led by the natural history curator (under-12s must be accompanied). Printmaking workshop for anyone aged eight upwards, August 15 (10am-3pm). Fee: Pounds 10 adults, Pounds 8,Pounds 6 concessions. Tel: 01228 34781.

SUNDERLAND MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY

“Ugly bugs” model and mask-making, August 11, and “Sun-catchers” (make a real painted glass window), August 12 (10.30-noon; 1.30-3pm). Children under eight must be accompanied. Must be pre-booked. Tel: 0191 565 0723.

DERBY MUSEUMS

Free activities linked to Derby artist, Joseph Wright’s, bicentenary include: find out about Red Indians and make something Red Indian, August 12, and create a violent volcano painting, August 14, at the Museum and Art Gallery, plus silk painting at the Industrial Museum for ages four to seven (all at 10-11. 30am). Children aged eight to 11 can find out about bones at the Museum and Art Gallery, August 11, create a silk painting at the Industrial Museum, August 13 (both at 2-3.30pm) and join in Georgian pastimes at Pickford’s House, August 14 (10-11.30am). Must be pre-booked. Tel: 01332 716654.

LEEDS: THE ROYAL ARMOURIES MUSEUM

“The world of 007”, the official James Bond exhibition until August 31, includes the Aston Martin DB5 from GoldenEye, the golden gun from The Man with the Golden Gun, and the Acrostar Jet Plane from Octopussy. Attractions include hands-on CD-Rom stations, a cinema and stunt models.

Tel: 0800 106666.

LONDON

CANARY WHARF: GALLERY WEST

An interactive extravaganza, “Music 100 - the history of recorded sound”, takes visitors from the days before recorded sound to 1997 and beyond. Find out what sound is and how it is transmitted, replicate your own voice, experiment with a stereo, and remix a single. Tel: 0171 537 1555.

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM:

Children can find out what grandma and grandpa wore in “Do touch the exhibits”, August 9 to 17 (four sessions daily), which ties in with the Forties Fashion and New Look exhibition. Dress up Forties style, learn about make-do-and-mend clothes and rationing, sample such cosmetics as gravy browning leg make-up and beetroot juice lipstick, and see Utility clothes and outfits made from parachutes and blackout curtains. Tel: Christopher Dowling, 0171 416 5310.

CHELSEA PHYSIC GARDEN: “Vice or virtue? A medicinal history of chocolate” runs until September 7. The garden’s 18th-century benefactor, Sir Hans Sloane, witnessed the “restorative” qualities of chocolate when administered by Jamaican mothers to “sicklie babies”.Visitors can test their taste-buds by guessing the mystery botanical ingredients in chocolate and sampling a “medicinal drink”. Tel: 0171 352 5646.

ROYAL AIRFORCE MUSEUM, HENDON, NW9

Flight Activities Week, August 9 to 17, with an appearance on August 12 by the RAF Falcons freefall parachute display team. Tel: 0181 205 2266.