Author Archives: Edinburghfestivalsforkids

Special book event at the museum …

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Abigail by Catherine Rayner

 

This event looks great – being put on as one of the National Museum’s summer events for families. Author Catherine Rayner, who wrote the fantastic book ‘Augustus and his smile’ will be at the museum on Wednesday 14th August on the magic carpet for a special reading of her new book ‘Abigail’ all about Abigail the giraffe and her friends Cheetah and Zebra. There will be some Abigail-inspired activities to go along with it all and Catherine will be available for book signings after each session.

Sessions are at 14.00 and 15.00 and last 25 minutes.

This event is free (though there are limited places so get there early) and recommended for children aged 3-7

Catch it while you can….

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I am totally disappointed that I only found out about this today, but there are some fantastic free play opportunities going on right now at Leith Links….

Play On The Links is being run by the team from The Yard (the purpose-built indoor and outdoor playground for young people with additional support needs) and is a free play space on Leith Links for children aged between 5 and 12 years old (though I think younger children will also really enjoy it too !)…

Children have an opportunity to take part in all kinds of outdoor activities including den building, obstacle courses, water slides, arts, crafts and musical instrument making, using loose parts and recycled materials.

To find the activities, look out for the yellow flags…

Hurry though – its only on tomorrow and friday, so the 8th and 9th     11am to 3pm

 

First visit…..

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So, after a long weekend in London, today was my first visit to the festival and myself and the kids had a great old time…

The Golden Cowpat

We went to the Pleasance to see the show The Golden Cowpat which was really enjoyable – it had music from the beginning to end which helped engage both kids and enough audience participation and puppetry and loud noises that both my kids enjoyed it and sat through without too much wriggling !!! The two actors were fantastic and put loads of energy into the performance and spent time at the beginning interacting with everyone which I thought was a nice touch…..worth checking out.

We then trundled off to the Kidzone and spent some time there playing with the various toys and puppet theatre and then got stuck into the arts and crafts – the two ladies running that section were lovely and extremely helpful and I was pleasantly surprised at how affordable the prices were (!!) – lots of things to do for under £3. My daughter made a cool ‘shrinkie’ necklace for £1.50 and I think she is actually still wearing it while asleep as it’s much loved !!!

All in all a great start to our festival experience …..

Fringe by the Sea August 5th – 11th North Berwick

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I know it’s not technically Edinburgh, but I thought this festival deserved a little mention too – especially as we’ve been having such great weather lately that a day out at the beach in North Berwick could be easily combined with seeing something at this little festival.

They have a few things on for children :

Bookbugs – these song and story sessions last around 40 mins and are perfect for younger children –              August 6th – Baby Speigeltent    11.00

Mr Boom – The unique children’s entertainer, combining songs, dance and audience participation.            August 6th – Belhaven Speigeltent    2,.00pm    £6

Jo Jingles – There are two sessions of this on the 8th August, it’s a music, singing and movement class for babies and young children.    on 8th August   11.00am and 2.00pm Belhaven Spiegeltent  £5

I know it’s not really a children’s show, but I know a few folk in the fantastic band Orkestra Del Sol – and the band is always great- high energy and will totally get the whole family up and dancing with their Balkan musical mayhem !  definitely worth checking out….  August 7th  Belhaven Speigeltent  4.00pm   £15

Rastamouse and the Rocksteady Reggae School

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Sadly I will be away this weekend – but this event looks great !!!! If you are a fan of Rastamouse, or if your children like him too, then you should head down to the BBC tent this weekend…

.Rastamouse

Rastamouse and the Rocksteady Reggae school will be at the tent at Potterow on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August – skating in for a muscial celebration of rhythm, reading and storytelling.

For those families wanting to get hands-on experience of the Nuff Song vibe, experts from The Rastamouse Rocksteady Reggae School will be on hand throughout the day running interactive workshops to inspire music-making and performance. Workshops are 30 minutes long and  run from 09:30 – 16:00. These workshops will be in the Pink Tent and are unticketed.

Rastamouse Shows lasting for one hour start at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00. Shows are in the Blue Tent and are ticketed from 10am each day – ask at the BBC Information Point for details. So if you didn’t get tickets by applying online you can still get some on the day.

And you get all this for FREE !! – Suitable for families and children of all ages ….have fun if you make it along !!