Super Summerhall…

I keep on hearing more and more great things about the venue Summerhall since it first opened and this festival season it seems it’s the place to be !  Added to this, they have just opened their new children’s play and activity space called Animal Antics …this place looks FANTASTIC and I’m super keen to go check it out: offering soft play, fancy dress, arts and crafts and a library all in one space !! Open Thurs-Sun from September, during the festival its open 11 – 16th August / 18 – 19th August  and 23rd August.

As well as providing a cafe and a great space to hang out and keep the kids occupied, there are some great children’s shows happening at Summerhall this festival, lots happening in a yurt, and I’ve heard some great personal reviews about some of them- this show in particular :

L’Apres-midi d’un Foehn -Version 1 – This show involves plastic bags beginning their own life – with beautiful musical accompaniment, the ‘plastic dancers’ are propelled by air currents to dance. A growing number of my friends have been to see this show and both their children and themselves loved it – it states it is ‘strongly recommended for those aged above 5 years’

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These events happening during August also look great :

YurtaKids! UnLeashed_Scatenati – This is a seafaring journey, an adventure with no words: just light, sound and action. A trip for little ones over waves of sound, as cleverly manipulated chains play centre stage in an experience of metamorphosis, discovery and enchantment. Suitable for ages 0-5..

YurtaKids! The Red Bike – Discover the eccentric history of Marta’s family – they make a living by putting toys inside chocolate eggs but their lives are complicated by Mister Moneybags, the villainous ‘owner of everything’(!), of the chocolate egg factory and of the house and also of the moon and the stars. But Marta and her family have a plan…Ages 5+

Crying out loud presents Daydream – This unusual events definitely looks worth checking out – and the whole family could go at once…Come in. Settle down. Close your eyes and listen. Are there bees living in your ears? Has the sea stopped crying? Is the house sighing? Let the music caress you (inside a 40’ shipping container).

The performance runs every 15 minutes in three 4 hour blocks through the day

  • 11.00 – 15.00 (last show 14.45)
  • 15.30 – 19.30 (last show 19.15)
  • 20.00 – 00.00 (last show 23.45)

So – lots of reasons to go and check this venue out – playspaces, events, a cafe, shows, yurts…..I’ll be heading down their way very very soon !

http://www.summerhall.co.uk/

Be an Absolute Genius this weekend in the BBC tent..

This weekend the theme is science at the BBC tent…both Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th will feature the CBBC science buskers for scientific fun and energetic experiments in the PInk tent from 9am till 4pm !

In the Blue tent there will be the show ‘Absolute Genius’ with Fran Scott delving into genius ideas from the past – expect explosions !! This is a free event and is ideal for 6-12 year olds and their families. The 10.30am show on Saturday has already been ticketed in advance but tickets for the other shows at 12.30pm / 2.30pm / 4pm will be available from the BBC Information Point at Potterow from 9am on a frist-come-first-served basis, these events last for 30 mins.( I imagine the same will apply on Sunday with the 13.00pm / 15.00pm / 16.30 pm shows having tickets available on the day from 9am.)

If you head along I hope it’s lots of fun….

Special book event at the museum …

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….

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…..

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 …..