Your kids may be delighted at the prospect of mid-term break, but you might not be! Fortunately for those of us looking for fun activities we can enjoy with the kids, there are lots of creative and thoughtful people across the country who have come up with some great events for you and your family to enjoy this February and March. Here are just some of them:

1. Dublin Film Festival – Fantastic Flix

Venue: Dublin city cinemas
Date: February 4th to 25th

Cost: Varies
Contact: Website or call +353 1 662 4260

The Dublin Film Festival always features a quality schedule of short films, documentaries, and full-length feature films, and 2017 is no exception. The Fantastic Flix children’s programme features a visit by children’s author Jacqueline Wilson and a special festival preview of The LEGO® Batman Movie. Whether you have a budding film buff in your house, or you just want to escape for a few hours with the likes of The Red Turtle, The Secret Garden, or My Life as a Courgette, check out the Fantastic Flix programme for younger viewers (see the link below).

2. Anyone for Science Workshop

Venue: Venues nationwide
Date: February 23rd; 10am-3pm
Cost: €45
Contact: www.anyone4science.com

Indulge your miniature scientist with this one-day workshop where kids are introduced to some pretty exciting (and completely safe) experiments. The theme this mid-term break is space, so PicoScientists (junior and senior infants) will take part in activities about space science, NanoScientists (1st to 3rd class) will learn about planets, the moon, and the international space station. They will also design and make their own spacecraft, space rocks, and astronaut food. Older MicroScientists (4 – 6th class) will design their own lunar lander.

3. Carlingford Adventure Centre

Venue: Carlingford Adventure Centre
Date: February 20th to 24th at 2 pm
Cost: €29 (book online and get 10% off with promo code midtermadventure2017)
Contact: Call (042) 9373100 or email [email protected]

The people at Carlingford Adventure Centre understand how difficult it can be to come up with ways to entertain the family, so they have thought up some fun activities starting daily at 2 pm. Have a go at the new Aeroball or the aerial thrills of SKYPARK, the park’s newest attraction.

4. The Little Discovery Camp/The Big Adventure Camp

Venue: The Mardyke Arena, UCC, Cork
Date: February 20th to February 24th; 10 am – 3 pm
Cost: €95 for members; €110 non-members
Contact: See website or call 021 4904762

Designed for junior and senior infants, the Little Discovery Camp is a gentle introduction to the world of camps, with face painting and pirate games, swimming, a bouncy castle and lots more fun activities. Older children will enjoy the Big Adventure Camp, where they get to play sports like hockey, basketball, and Olympic handball, do arts and crafts, and go abseiling.

5. National Gallery Mid-Term Workshop

Venue: National Gallery, Dublin 2
Dates: February 20th to 24th
Cost: Tickets €5 per workshop, available in advance from the Gallery Shop
Contact: (01) 633 3518

To tie in with the major exhibition Beyond Caravaggio and the way that artist used light and dark to create drama, the National Gallery is holding a mid-term break workshop called Candlelit Tales. Artist Fala Buggy will help your child discover the art of Caravaggio and his followers by creating their own dramatic masterpiece. There are five workshops in all, but don’t worry if you can’t make all of them: Each workshop stands on its own. The workshops are best suited to children aged 5 to 10 years, and numbers are limited to 25 children. All materials are provided.

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