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Thursday 19 June 2014

Guest post: The weekend ahead

We have an really excited to have a guest post from Nisbah at Fiveadventurers.com who writes: 
"I'm not sure when my love affair with travelling began but I have the travel bug in a bad way. Travelling is my passion and my four adventurers are my life.  I want to show my little adventurers the world and I am always looking for new and different experiences to share with them.  I have a strong desire to inspire my little adventurers so they know that the world is a beautiful place and adventures come in all shapes and forms."

Things to do in the North West (Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Cumbria)

This weekend is looking to be a scorcher so below are some ideas to inspire you to get outdoors (but we also have some indoor ideas) to help all of our readers have a fabulous, fun packed family weekend.

Saturday
RSPB Big Wild Sleepoutsleepout
The RSPB are raising money for their organisation and are holding their annual Sleepout this weekend.  There may still be time to get a hold of their free Sleep out pack here   The event can be held at home or at a campsite, you choose.  The idea behind it is to get families outside in the great outdoors, spending the together and exploring (and most importantly toasting marshmallows).  Across the north west there are a number of organised sleep outs most have a number of activities arranged which are included in their costs.   Places which are holding the event range from Sizergh Castle in the Lakes to Chorlton Water Park.  The Sleep out in Lancashire is at the Scouts headquarters in Flyde.  Details are here  They have loads of activities ranging from bat walks to bush craft.  Just bring along a tent and your other camping gear.  It sounds fab!  I would have loved to have attended as it would be a great atmosphere for the children to experience coupled with great camping weather.  Remember booking is required! The prices are quite reasonable too, e.g. the event mentioned above in Flyde is £27.50 for a family, which includes participation in the activities that have been organised.

Barnaby Festival
This quickly festival has been long-standing tradition in Macclesfield 's history and the event has occurred since the 13th Century. Further details about the event are here.  The actual event runs over a two week period but this weekend is the big weekend and there are lots of different activities and events running throughout the weekend.  The highlight for me are the street science displays, the carnival parade and the trapeze skills displays.  It sounds like a great day out and I believe the wider range of experiences we give to our children, the more well rounded they will be.  Here are the links to the events on Saturday  and Sunday aimed at children.  For a different type of experience which will inspire your children, this event is not to be missed.

Baby Art
Manchester Art Gallery, hold monthly sensory exploration sessions for families with babies who aren't walking yet.  The sessions are free and the Saturday sessions are drop in so don't need to be booked.  Having visited for the art sessions aimed at toddlers, these sessions are great and allow you to really engage in different activities  especially younger children. Details here 

Amazing Fossils
Saddleworth Museum, Oldham have organised a prehistoric fun session between 11am-3:00pm to allow children to have hands on experience with taking part in activities such as making fossils, landscapes, minerals.  The cost is £2.50 per child (money is in aid of the museum) Adults are free, more details here.

Summer solstice
This Saturday marks the Summer solstice and there is going to be a celebration on at Chorlton in Manchester.  The event organisers have said it will be "hands on" affair with guests being invited to take part in music, performance and arts workshops.  There will be circus performers, drummers and live music at night.  The event is running from 12pm - 12am.  with the children's rides and workshops running from midday until 5pm.  There will be BBQ on at the green.  Sounds like fun, especially for the party animals out there read on here

Catch the Wind Kite festivalkites
This events attracts hundreds of people to Morecambe Central promenade ever year and will be running over both Saturday and Sunday. There will be fantastic kite flying displays, street performers, arts and craft activities for children.  Ideal weather for kite flying too which is 1 of the 50 things that children should do before they are 11! Click here for more information.

Lytham Art Festival
There are a number of events occurring across the town over the week long fesitival, further details can be found here and more information here. Even though children are allowed in most exhibitions the events more aimed for families are Sue Allonby telling stories, teaching French to young children (these are on Sunday) and Turbary Woods will be bringing their owls along to Lytham Square for everyone to admire!  A little bit of culture coupled with a picnic and some sandcastles will be a great day out.

fruitPick your own fruit
We have taken our children fruit picking and they have loved it.  Prices are usually cheaper then the shops and with free entry you only pay for what you buy and it makes for a fab, fun day out.  Farms are usually opened on both days at the weekend but I would recommend getting there on Saturday to make sure that the fruit has not all been picked.  Also I recommend a quick call before you set off as Poynton Farm last weekend they closed the fields on Sunday as so many people visited and picked most of the fruit on Saturday.  There are a number of farms across the north west who do offer the pick your own. The North West options are here But the two I follow on Facebook and we visited the second last year are Poynton Farm, Stockport and Kenyon Hall, Warrigton. Fruit aside the ice cream they sell was really yummy!!

Great British Tennis Weekend
With Tennis fever about to grip the country, hundreds of tennis clubs over the country are holding a number of open days to allow youngsters to have a go at the sport.  It looks like a great event and there's a number of clubs throughout the country who are getting involved.  As it's a free event it would be great to give it a go.  Who knows we may have the next Andy Murray in our midst! Find out more here
  
Sunday
Manchester Dayparade
Manchester Day is an event to celebrate everything that is great about the city.  Having lived and worked in Manchester for 6 years, I love the city and this event promises to be a fab day out for the family.  Over 2000 participants will out in full force, bringing colour, incredible sound and movement to the city centre. The flagship attraction is the fantastic parade which takes place through the city centre.  Last years parade was incredible and had such an array of different floats it really was breathtaking.  There will be lots of side attractions (use the link below to show what other events are on) and going off the success of last years event, this one will be bigger!  Just be aware that this event was really busy last year so make sure you keep the kiddies close by.  Full details here. 

Whatever you get up this weekend we hope you have a great time.  If you do any of the activities, then please share your pictures, we would love to see them!

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