1 Go clubbing Worlds away from nursery rhymes in draughty church halls, Maggie & Rose is the new members’ club for kids. For children aged 8 and below, activities include Jackson Pollock-inspired art classes and making Spanish tapas in the specially designed kitchen. A snug with WiFi means dads are keen to come, too. Ten more sites are planned around Europe in the next three years. 58 Pembroke Road, W8; maggieandrose.com

2 Ready, steady, cook If your repertoire extends no further than fairy cakes, head for the children’s cookery school at Brook Hall, in Winslow, Buckinghamshire. The former chef/director of the Raymond Blanc Cookery School will teach your darlings kitchen skills such as rustling up fresh pasta. Half-day classes for children aged 6-8 and 9-12; brookhall.net

3 Find the hidden temple Indiana Jones would feel at home in the Forbidden Corner, an extraordinary folly in North Yorkshire, built by the British honorary consul to Ecuador for his own amusement. Statues blink at you, paths lead nowhere, skeletons lurk in underground chambers and a temple hides behind artful landscaping. Your job is to work your way through the maze. Unique, and just scary enough to give everyone a thrill. theforbiddencorner.co.uk

4 Go trainspotting Fans of Thomas the Tank Engine should head straight to the new Thomas Land at Drayton Manor Park, in Staffordshire, to meet the little blue engine and all his chums, and to try out Jeremy the Jet’s Flying Academy, the Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster, Harold’s Heli Tours and Terence’s Driving School. thomaslanduk.co.uk

5 Clown around The Circus Space, in Hoxton, east London, is one of Europe’s leading circus schools. Even under-3s can get a big-top fix, learning to juggle and balance. Older children can try acrobatics and static trapeze. The half- and whole-day courses are fantastic for hand-eye coordination and confidence – and great fun. thecircusspace.co.uk

6 Unearth a dinosaur (Or at least an ammonite or two.) At Charmouth, in Dorset, the geologist Chris Pamplin takes families (with kids aged 4 and up) on fossil hunts along the beaches. You could get lucky: the Victorian palaeontologist Mary Anning was only 12 when she found an entire ichthyosaur here. fossilwalks.com

7 Get with the crabs Sometimes the most memorable experiences are also the simplest. Crabbing is one of these timeless pleasures, best experienced at Blakeney Quay, in Norfolk, where shops sell the (very basic) wherewithal required to land buckets of the inedible prizes. Lashings of ginger beer optional but preferable.

8 Enter the Twilight Zone If you’re nervous about creatures in your hair, avoid the bat cave at Chester Zoo, where you’re on the same side of the glass as the bats are; but children will love it. There are plenty of other animals to see at the UK’s biggest zoo – 7,000 or so – and the monorail and water bus will be a boon for tired legs. chesterzoo.org

9 Surf’s up! The Nick Thorn Surf School, on Woolacombe beach, in north Devon, offers more than lessons – you can throw a surf party for summer birthdays. You get a private marquee area on the beach, surf equipment, an hour’s in-water surf coaching, party bags and certificates. nickthorn.com

10 Have a holiday the weather can’t spoil It’s a cliché, but Center Parcs really is good fun. Zoom on bikes around hundreds of acres of woodland, splosh in the pools and try everything from abseiling to zip wires. Harassed mothers can relax in the surprisingly fab Aqua Sana spa. Book one of the chic Woodland Lodges, designed by Tara Bernerd. centerparcs.co.uk

11 Throw them to the sharks At Deep Sea World, in North Queensferry, 20 minutes’ drive from Edinburgh, thrill-seekers aged 8 and up can learn to scuba-dive, then swim in the shark tank, James Bond style. Landlubbers, meanwhile, can come face to face with the predators in one of the world’s longest underwater tunnels. deepseaworld.com

12 Discover your inner child Jolt blasé teenagers out of their comfort zone with a ride on the Infusion rollercoaster, at Blackpool’s famous Pleasure Beach. The gentler Alice in Wonderland and Noah’s Ark rides will keep the small ones entertained. blackpoolpleasurebeach.com

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