20 things to do and places to go in February

Need inspiration for a family day out this month? Look no further than our 20 events and activities happening around the country throughout February...

Family events in February

Scottish Snowdrop Festival
 Where: Various gardens across Scotland, <a href="http://visitscotland.com/surprise" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Visitscotland.com/surprise.</a> When: 2 Feb - 17 March In one of the first key festivals in the Year of Natural Scotland, 2013, you can visit over 50 gardens that will showcase beautiful snowdrop spots, some of which are open exclusively for the event. Properties taking part range from majestic castles and classic country estates to woodland walks, walled gardens and urban retreats.  There is even a magical Snowdrops by Starlight night time experience on offer and beach walks too. Cost: Prices vary, see website <div> </div>
Animation Workshop
 Where: Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, <a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north</a> When: 21-22 Feb Get expert guidance and use animation techniques in this special, free, two-day animation workshop. Bring your creation to life as a short film for you to take home and keep. Ideal for ages 10-14 years. Cost: Free, but booking is essential via learningnorth@iwm.org.uk or 0161 836 4000.
Weird Science Supersized Weekend
 Where: National Maritime Museum, Falmouth, Cornwall, <a href="http://www.nmmc.co.uk/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Nmmc.co.uk.</a> When: 16-17 Feb, 12pm & 2pm Join CBBCs Mark Brake and Jon Chase as they show you why our planet is such a great place for life, which ingredients caused life to begin in the oceans, where creatures could evolve in the Universe, when aliens might have existed, what they might look like and how we might be able to talk with them.  Cost: Adults £10.50, Children (6 - 15 yrs) £7.20
Horrid Henry's House of Horrors
 Where: National Media Museum, Bradford, <a href="http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/horridhenry" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/horridhenry</a> When: 16- 24 Feb Love Horrid Henry? Then join in one of a host of events at the museum over half-term including a visit from author Francesca Simon on the 20th, when she’ll be reading from her books and signing copies. Over the week, visitors will also be treated to video masterclasses in book illustration from award-winning artist, Tony Ross, who shares his secrets to drawing Horrid Henry. There’ll even be visits by Henry himself (hope he won’t be too horrid!). Other events include a chance to film your own Monster Animation, and to learn how to create gruesome special effects make-up or dress-up as a scary monster. Cost: Many events are ticketed - book early by calling 0844 8563797.
Sammy's Great Escape
 Where: Cinemas nationwide When: From Feb 15 Sammy and Ray, leatherback turtles and friends forever, are shepherding new hatchlings Ricky and Ella out to sea. Suddenly, a poacher swoops in and ships them off to be part of a spectacular aquarium show for tourists in Dubai. The kingpin of the place, Big D the seahorse, enlists them in his plans for a great escape. But with their new friends Jimbo the bug-eyed blob fish, Lulu the snippy lobster and a whole family of penguins, Sammy and Ray hatch breakout plans of their own. That is when little Ricky and Ella arrive, determined to break in to rescue them. After a series of thrilling adventures and narrow escapes, our heroes head south to meet up with Shelly, Sammy’s first and only love. Cost: Ticket prices vary
Digital and Creative Arts Workshops
 Where: Quad, Derby, <a href="http://derbyquad.co.uk/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Derbyquad.co.uk</a> When: 18 & 19 Feb Get creative at KidsQUAD: Mad Machines workshop where you work as a group to create and film a crazy machine design. The films will be then shown as part of the FORMAT International Photography Festival. Young people aged 12 - 16 can get involved with DigisQUAD: Ridiculous Robots workshop - digitally draw, design and build a robot using Adobe Illustrator in QUAD’s digital studio. Cost:  KidsQUAD: Mad Machines, £20; DigisQUAD: Ridiculous Robots, £30.  To book places call QUAD Box office on 01332 290606 or visit website.
Guinness World Records Officially Amazing Science Live!
 Where: Theatres nationwide, including Hull, Exeter, Cardiff and York, <a href="http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/science-live" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Guinnessworldrecords.com/sciencelive.</a> When: 22 Jan  - 13 April Guinness World Records arrives on stage with its officially amazing, record-breaking, science mad, all new live show. From the Producers of Brainiac Live! and Science Museum Live on Tour, the show explores the best, the worst, the weirdest and the unbreakable world records ever attempted. There’ll be an Official Guinness World Records Adjudicator and team of presenters taking part in genuine audience record attempts, so you too could be a record breaker. And you can learn how long you can stick someone to a wall and defy gravity plus how to measure the loudest audience. Cost: Ticket prices vary, see website.
Get crafty
 Where: Taurus Crafts Centre, near Lydney, Gloucestershire, <a href="http://tauruscrafts.co.uk/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Tauruscrafts.co.uk.</a> When: 9-17 February Make your own fun with a great selection of craft activities at the centre. There’s the chance to make your own teddy bear and design him a t-shirt, create knight and princess puppets, design jewellery, create recycled Valentine’s cards or you can even throw your own pot. Saturday 9th sees a food market at the centre too with lots of local producers selling delicious grub plus a hot food Sausage Saturday, with a cowboy casserole and hotdogs for the kids and a traditional hot corned Hereford Beef Brisket for the parents. Cost: See website
Rubbish!
 Where: At arts centres nationwide, including London, Warwick, Nottingham, Theatre-rites.co.uk. When: 15th Feb - 9 March Theatre-Rites present: Rubbish, a show for children age 6+, where puppeteers give new life to the things we discard. Rubbish will show children waste materials in a new light, celebrating unloved objects: a duckling formed from old tea things that have lost their shine, a bin-bag boy, and a jovial shoemaker crafted from old leather and the tools of his long lost trade; all valuable scraps from Rubbish’s magical junkyard brought to life onstage. By representing and re-creating scrap as characters onstage, Rubbish will allow children to engage with contemporary problems of national wastage in a fun and curious environment. Cost: Ticket prices vary per day, see website.  <div> </div>
Arenacross
 Where: LG Arena, Birmingham and Liverpool’s Echo Arena, <a href="http://www.arenacrossuk.com/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Arenacrossuk.com</a> When: 2 Feb (Birmingham); 10 Feb (Liverpool). The Arenacross tour is storming across the UK, a mix of white hot motocross racing from the best on the planet  - freestyle motocross legend Andre Villa and new up and coming star Chris Meyer from Spain, plus the best of British freestyle athletes Chris Birch, Jamie Squibb, Dave Wiggins and Dan Whitby. Prepare to be wowed. Cost:  Tickets start at £10 for children and £19 for adults with family tickets starting at £49.
Sausage Making Workshop
 Where: The Rose House Butchery, Ipswich, <a href="http://foodsafari.co.uk/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Foodsafari.co.uk.</a> When: 21 Feb Let your kids get stuck in, creating their own bespoke sausage filling - mixing meat, rusk and any ingredients they like from salt and pepper to garlic and chilli. They’ll get to fill the sausages into natural casings and then learn to link and tie them to take home. While they’re in the butchery they’ll get to see how a side of traditional-breed pork is cut and minced ready for sausages. Cost: £35 per child, aged 6-12.
Michaela Strachan's Really Wild Adventures
 Where: Theatres nationwide, including Tewkesbury, Derby, Harrogate, <a href="http://www.michaelastrachan.co.uk/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Michaelastrachan.co.uk.</a> When: 15 Feb – 13 March Popular TV presenter Michaela Strachan starts in a new children's show adapted from her book of animal verse.  Suitable for children from three years old, the show takes families on a journey through an alphabet jungle of animal rhymes.  From Antelopes to Zebras, from Orphaned Orangutans to Polar bear dentistry, this is a whistle stop interactive show full of poetry, puppetry, music and lots of fascinating wildlife facts.  Audience members will be invited on stage to explore a particular snake's particularly horrid habit, one lucky Dad gets to play a polar bear and everyone joins in Animal Pop Idol. Michaela will be available after the show to sign copies of her book Michaela Strachan’s Really Wild Adventures. Cost: Ticket prices vary, see Michaela’s website.
National Nest Box Week
 Where: Events nationwide, <a href="http://www.bto.org/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Bto.org/nnbw/index</a> When: 14-21 Feb Organised by the British Trust for Ornithology, this week is your chance to encourage more birds into your garden to roost. Everything from Blue Tits to Barn Owls need your help - so give them a home! There are hundreds of events going on around the country where you can join in and make your own nest box, listen to talks on birds or join bird walks. Just key ‘national nest box week’ and your home town into your internet search engine. Or go to the BTO website where you can send off for a free information pack which gives details on making and buying nest boxes, and how best to site them away from predators. Cost: Event prices vary
Moshi Monsters at Alton Towers
 Where: Alton Towers Resort, Alton, Staffordshire, <a href="http://www.altontowers.com/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Altontowers.com.</a> When: 16-24 Feb Alton Towers Resort opens its gates for the first time in 2013 for guests to enjoy a selection of family attractions, along with a range of Moshi Monsters activities. Join in a FANGtastic Moshi Quest all around the theme park to help the Monsters find an Ultra Rare Moshling. Collect magic seeds and seek out IGGY in a giant picture, there is lots of interactive fun to be had! Guests staying in the hotel can also complete activities such as partying in the Underground Disco, Poppet Mask Making, Badge Making and Face Painting where they earn Rox to redeem in the online game at <a href="http://www.moshimonsters.com/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Moshimonsters.com</a>. If that’s not enough, all six Monsters will be on park every day throughout half term to meet and greet their fans. Cost: Save up to 25% when you book tickets in advance online. Tickets start from £12. Hotel packages start from £33.75 per person per night including breakfast.  <div> </div>
Chinese New Year Celebrations
 Where: The Arcadian Centre, Birmingham’s Chinese Quarter, <a href="http://www.cnybirmingham.org.uk/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Cnybirmingham.org.uk.</a> When: 10 Feb Birmingham’s Chinese community welcomes the Year of Snake at the Arcadian Centre in the city’s Southside district. Dragon and lion dances kick off a full day of activities, which include acrobatic displays and cultural performances with stalls selling traditional Chinese foods. Cost: Free
Imaginary Worlds Family Festival
 Where: The National Gallery, London, <a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/families/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Nationalgallery.org.uk/families.</a> When: 17-18 Feb A new festival for children and accompanying adults that includes film screenings, puppet shows, animation workshops, a new family trail and art-making with aim of transporting you to imaginary lands and introducing you to new stories and characters. There’s a Pram Tour, Stay & Play drop in sessions, orchestra shows and more. Cost: Some events are free, others ticketed, see website to book.
Scary Scarecrows
 Where: RHS Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall and Rosemoor, <a href="http://www.rhs.org.uk/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Rhs.org.uk.</a> When: 16-24 Feb Follow the scarecrow trails, make your own scarecrow, or enjoy some scarecrow-themed stories at these three gardens over half-term. Cost: Prices vary, check website.  <div> </div>
Vikings!
 Where: The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, <a href="http://nms.ac.uk/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Nms.ac.uk</a>. When: 11-16 Feb Join in the Viking mayhem with lots of exciting events. Design your own Viking shield, meet the resident Vikings in an exciting new family show - a funny, fast-paced, musical, myth-busting extravaganza. Enjoy Viking-themed make and take activities or join the Glasgow Vikings group in their encampment for displays of how Vikings lived and fought. Cost: See website <div> </div>
Love is in the Air
 Where: The Welsh Mountain Zoo, Colwyn Bay, north Wales, <a href="http://www.welshmountainzoo.org/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Welshmountainzoo.org</a> When: 11-17 Feb. Love is in the air at the Welsh Mountain Zoo this half term with lots of lovely Valentine’s activities. There’s a chance to take part in a lovebirds trail, create your own love bug crafts plus make some special heart shaped treats for the Macaws and Amazon Parrots. Also enjoy a ‘Love your Bugs’ educational session and see the cheeky Californian Sea Lions take advantage of this romantic week special as they pucker up to their Trainers and Presenters in the twice-daily show. Cost: Adult (16+ years), £9.95. Children (3-15 years inclusive), £7.50.
Family Fun Guided Survival Walk
 Where: Wisley Common, Ockham & Chatley Heath, <a href="http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 12pt;" target="_blank">Surreywildlifetrust.org.</a> When: 21st Feb Take a fun guided walk across Ockham and Chatley Heath playing fun survival games along the way. There’ll be puddle jumping, building shelters and having and marshmallow toasting. Cost: Suggested donation, adults £2, children £1, see website to book.