With the school holidays upon us, CHARLOTTE CIVIL picks her favourite things to do with the young ones this summer

1 FUN GETAWAYS
Hertfordshire's fabulous The Grove (01923 807 807/www.thegrove.co.uk) is offering Summer Weekends (left) until August 29. Children can enjoy theatre workshops (four to 12-year-olds only), bike rides, games on the urban beach, karate lessons and tennis in the Walled Garden.

While the children are having the time of their lives, parents can enjoy the extensive leisure facilities available including the Sequoia Spa and golf course (extra charges apply for both).

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Summer Weekends from £290 per room (three sharing), B&B. Price includes all children's activities.
Second rooms for children are discounted by 25 per cent.

2 ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK
Budding child rock stars get the chance to perform on a Haven Holidays break this summer. The Paul Nicholas School of Rock and Pop Jamming Sessions, created by the Just Good Friends actor, will take place at three of Haven's Holiday Parks every week over the holidays.

The free, hour-long sessions aimed at eight to 16-year-olds will take place at Marton Mere near Blackpool, Presthaven Sands at Prestatyn in Denbighshire and North Yorkshire's Primrose Valley, near Filey. Youngsters will have the chance to strum a guitar or play drums on stage.

Haven Holidays (0871 230 1900/ www.haven.com) offers seven nights at Presthaven Sands from £549 (four sharing), self-catering. Seven nights at Marton Mere from £599.

3 SHOW TIME
Little ones will love In The Night Garden Live (0844 581 1251/www.nightgardenlive.com). The popular BBC children's TV series comes alive this summer with magical puppets, such as Tombliboos, right, and an inflatable theatre, which will tour nationwide.

The show's characters, including Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy and Makka Pakka, will visit Liverpool (until August 1), London (August 14-30), Glasgow (September 11-26) and Birmingham (October 9-24).
Tickets from £5.

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4 DOWN ON THE FARM
Visit a real working farm where little ones get to take a ride on a wagon pulled by a shire horse. Wimpole Home Farm (01223 206000/www.wimpole.org) in Cambridgeshire is also home to rare breeds of sheep, pigs, chickens, goats and horses. There are a host of farm activities for children to get involved with.

Older ones can groom ponies, collect eggs and help at feeding time, while there is an adventure playground and pedal tractors for smaller children.

Open daily from 10.30am-5pm.

Admission £7.70 adults, £5.20 per child.

5 TOWERING FUN
Portsmouth's landmark Spinnaker Tower (02392 857520/www.spinnakertower.co.uk) is playing host to traditional seaside entertainment.

The 557ft tower will have a range of "sky high" activities on offer until September 5, including Punch and Judy shows, storytelling, treasure hunts, sandcastle building and even knobbly-knees contests to create some belly laughs.
Deckchairs will also be available to add to the nostalgic feel. Admission £7.25 per adult, £5.75 per child.

6 CLOWNING AROUND
With some three miles of puzzling pathways, the 6ft-high Maize Maze at Millets Farm Centre (07826 132 416/ www.milletsfarmcentre.com) is sure to be lots of fun, so long as you can find your brood. The 10-acre labyrinth, at the farm near Abingdon, in Oxfordshire, is in the shape of two clown faces if viewed from above and children can collect clown symbols as they try to make their way out.

The maze is open daily until September 5. Admission £5.95 per adult, £4.95 per child.

7 HAPPY CLAPPING
The Horniman Museum and Gardens (0208 699 1872/www.horniman.ac.uk) in South London's Forest Hill is home to a series of unique collections that help you get a wider appreciation of the world, its people and cultures.

The exhibits include displays of art and culture as well as a section on anthropology. Children can marvel at unusual and rare instruments such as a 3,500-year-old Egyptian "clapper" and a 1937 Carlton jazz drum kit.

This month and next, daily events and activities will include storytelling, art and craft sessions, courses and workshops. Admission is free.

8 PLAY AND STAY
Castle Park Heritage & Arts Festival (0116 252 7000/ www.leicester.gov.uk/castleparkfestival) features a huge range of events in the heart of Leicester's Old Town, August 23-30. There will be history-themed tours, comedy, music and concerts. The final day of the annual event is Family Day and from 1pm to 5pm children can try Maypole dancing or get up close with wild birds in the Birds of Prey display. Admission is free.

Stay at The Barceló Hinckley Island Hotel (0800 6528413/www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk) in nearby Hinckley and take advantage of its Stay, Play & Explore package that includes free entry into other attractions, including the National Space Centre, Twycross Zoo and Conkers Adventure Park.

Family rooms from £99 for the first night and £55 thereafter (four sharing), B&B. Quote promotion code "Stay, Play, Explore" to receive the discounted offer (subject to availability).

9 WACKY RACES
For motoring magic, the Beaulieu National Motor Museum (01590 612345/www.beaulieu.co.uk) near Brockhurst, Hampshire, is perfect.

Junior speed freaks will love the F1 Supercars and modern classics as well as cars from James Bond films, Del Boy's Reliant Regal from Only Fools And Horses and the Bluebird, which broke the landspeed record in 1964.
The World Of Top Gear attraction includes many of the vehicles from the TV team's challenges. Open daily from 10am-6pm. Admission £16 per adult, £8.60 per child (under-fives free).

10 CRAB A WINNER
Why not get your claws into the Annual Crabbing Championships (01502 722 359/www.walberswick.ws/crabbing) next Sunday?

The event in the coastal village of Walberswick, Suffolk, is now in its 30th year. Over a 90-minute period, contenders armed with a single line and bait must catch the heaviest crab to win. The competition winner will receive an engraved silver salver, a gold medal, £50 in prize money and a pot of crab paste.

Admission £1. Equipment is provided for a nominal fee.