Auchingarroch Wildlife Park, Comrie

One of our favourite places to hang out with the animals in Scotland is Auchingarroch in Comrie, mainly because of all the baby animals (baby chicks! baby chicks! I want to squash em and squeeze em and hug em and love em!...) Lots of animals to see from the coatimundi to the racoons, wildcats, lemurs, pigs, rabbits, ponies, yaks and various other cute and fluffy things. The hatchery indoors has animals that can be handled like rabbits as well as all the baby chicks (baby chicks! .... here we go again...)

A hike up the hill to see the otters leads on to the deer and beyond there is a great viewpoint, worth a trip up here for the view alone, and a chance to see the famous tartan sheep on the way down.

Pony riding was £2.50 for a trip twice round a pretty small field wasn't nearly as great as it could have been, given the amount of space in the unused field next door, so we were a bit disappointed with that. But nice to see it offered and kids enjoyed it.

Also missing were all the prairie dogs which used to burrow everywhere and steal your picnic - wasn't quite the same without them, sadly.

Lots of outdoor stuff in the park and crazy golf, and lots of space for picnics, and a new soft play area for the under 7s in a covered barn. The barn for the over 7s is a bit neglected with hardly any play equipment so this could do with a makeover.

All in all a good day out, but over priced without a voucher to soften the blow!

Loch Leven's Larder, Channel Farm, Kinross

So, not exactly with the kids today, as they are all back at school. More of a grown up coffee and scone, (nice selection - date & walnut, cherry, cheese or fruit!) After a recent revamp the shop is looking fantastic, filled with lovely goodies that I wish I could afford, but it's always nice to browse. Great selection in the food larder with lovely condiments, preserves, and fab selection of kitchen gadgets, posh stationery, fresh veg and great gifty items like toiletries, scarves and candles - it's very easy to find a birthday present or two here!

Good breakfast menu between 9.30 and 11.30 - eggs benedict looked particularly fab this morning, but I was restrained and only had a scone. There are two new "pods" outside the cafe for private booking for parties, I am thinking a birthday afternoon tea would be perfect in one of these.

I've never been delighted with the waitress service at Loch Leven's Larder - it seems immensely hard to other three hot drinks and three scones and receive the right order without having it triple checked, and children are not a high priority here, have often had them served last rather than first, which doesn't take much effort or common sense, but it does seem sadly lacking most of the time.

And the children's play equipment (slide and a wooden train) is still around, but no improvements on that scene. Considering children must make up a good chunk of their customer base, there's still some work to do on that front - a box of toys in good working order, some colouring sheets, and some investment in the playpark would be well worth it, but that doesn't seem to be high on the agenda. Shame - until then, it will be strictly mums for coffee while kids at school and no weekend visits with the family.

Loch Leven Leisure Pool at Kinross

Swimming this morning at Kinross - we love the pool on a Sunday morning, as it's not too busy with plenty of space for swimming as well as the one-to-one lessons going on. Instructors here and all staff in general should be commended for how friendly they are.

There is a raised floor at one end of the pool from 10-12ish, which creates a shallow water area for non-swimmers, with a wee slide and lots of squeezy toys and foam bricks etc thrown in the pool to make it fun.

The pool is always freezing, and the showers are old and dodgy, but if you want to do some "proper" swimming rather than trying to squeeze between people at Perth Leisure Pool, it's a good place to be. Don't tell too many people though  - I like it quiet!!!

The Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh

I can't call it The Botanics, as my grandmother would turn in her grave. She lived next door to The Royal Botanical Garden and so from an early age I have been well trained in getting the name right! My daughter and her friends look on a trip here as their favourite thing to do in Edinburgh. We take a bus from Hanover Street (23 or 27) down Dundas street and through Canonmills, to Inverleith Row, where we can access the garden by its east gate. It's an easy 10 minute bus ride, and for those little ones who don't get to go on buses all that often, sometimes the trip on the double decker is one of the funnest (sorry, most fun) parts.

Our favourite parts are the Rock Garden (also known to us as the Fairy Garden) where lots of little paths take you around the waterfall and pools, and the Glasshouses (which ask for an entry donation, about £10 for two adults and up to four children). The glasshouses have two large ponds with fish and amazing lily pads, as well as tropical houses and other amazing botanical stuff.

We like the child-friendly cafe and terrace, and we also like exploring around the Chinese Garden as well as outdoor pond with ducks, and various interesting trees for hiding underneath. In fact, every time we go, we find something new that we haven't seen before, from the exhibition centre at the West Gate with it's colourful wigwam decorated with children's drawings to a new path we haven't explored yet!

Most of all we like that our kids go off and play imaginative games among the flowers (sorry botanists). It's great to see them playing outside with nothing more than their imaginations, hunting for fairies. Oh, and it's pretty too!

Aberdour Silver Sands beach, Fife

"What is that bright thing in the sky?" The children were amazed. Being Scottish, they had never seen it before. "It's the sun" I explained. "And when it shines, we go to the beach....."

Aberdour Silver Sands is one of my favourite child-friendly beaches, with great views on a clear day across to Edinburgh. It's a smallish beach so can get pretty busy on a sunny day as everyone takes advantage of the weather. Not too far to go from sand to water for paddling, swimming is harder as the water is very shallow with shifting sand banks, creating islands that you can paddle out to. Care should be exercised with the "sinking sands" even though they cause much excitement and screaming from children!

There is a handy beach front cafe (although it couldn't be less beach friendly if it tried - no beach wear, no bare feet, no using the loo unless you buy something- the rules go on and on. Surely they should just put an outside tap in for feet washing and try to smile, it would make a huge difference!) There is a public loo outside for 20p which is modern and clean if you want to steer clear of the cafe with your flip flops...

There is a bouncy castle and kiosk selling candy floss and icecream on the grass at the top of the beach, which could be seen as advantageous if you don't mind shelling out (ha ha no pun intended) but the kids came back a bit disgruntled after the bouncy castle. For £1.50 each for 10 minutes they said they weren't allowed to touch the sides, and they couldn't bounce properly as there were too many tiny people on it. Bah!

Plenty of car parking for £1.50 for a day, and an easy 2 minute walk to the beach from the car park. We took the train and it was a 10 minute walk from the station, fine on the way there, but would have been arduous on the way back lugging our beach gear and sore feet (thanks to A for our lift back!)

National Museum of Scotland, Chambers St, Edinburgh

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh is a great trip for a rainy day, and it's free! Since kids are free on the train in Scotland over the holidays, this makes for a relatively cheap day out. You can even take your own picnic, as they have a special picnic room within the museum ideal for families.

There are 5 floors full of exhibitions to numerous to detail here, suffice to say there is a great display of animal life that kids will enjoy, and a whole hall dedicated to sciencey gadgety sort of stuff with lots of hands on displays and buttons to press. Add to that the many stairs up to the roof terrace and the cool glass elevator (very Willa Wonka) and hey presto, plenty to keep the kids occupied for a day out. Museums are totally exhausting though, although we couldn't work out WHY we were so pooped after a couple of hours. Luckily there are plenty stopping places for a rest on the way!

While you are in Edinburgh, you have to have a look for the Chris Hoy Gold Post Box, in honour of his Olympic medals.

Muddy Boots Farm Park Balmalcolm in Fife

Muddy Boots is still my favourite Fife Farm Shop, a great place to take kids, brilliant food, friendly service and I love the fact that there are chickens everywhere - you do feel like you are on a real working farm. They try to be different with the kid's play equipment and have some great stuff for all ages of kids. The Muddy Munchkins area for under 7s has plenty to do, sandpit, jumping pillow swings and slides, tractors to ride, and is great for an hour or two for the wee ones.

For £6.50 over 7's can enjoy a bigger jumping pillow, grass sledging, go karts, and access to the indoor soft play castle, suitable for preschoolers and bigger kids alike.All ages can enjoy the barrel bug ride (£1) which is driven with enthusiasm and fun and the piglet racing (£1) to choose a piglet and win a return trip free!

Well stocked farm and gift shop which is lovely to browse, and a good menu for kids and special diets in the cafe, with it's roaring hearth in the centre.

Muddy Boots is not just for summer holidays with the kids - in fact I went last year on the first day of the school term, for a great lunch with friends, nice coffee, and no kids at all!

Levenmouth Leisure Centre

We go swimming a lot, and today we fancied a change of scenery so we headed off to Leven swimming pool, officially Levenmouth Leisure Centre. It's well signposted when you enter Leven with loads of car parking, and kids are only £1 at Fife Swimming Pools in the summer holidays. We didn't go on the big flume, but kids aged 8+ looked like they were having a great time. The pool isn't as big as Perth Leisure Pool, but it does have massive sprinklers, fountains and a wave machine  - the highlight for our kids. There's a jacuzzi but it isn't warm - in fact we were surprised how cold the pool was when we first got in, but recovered eventually. I've seen better showers and better loos, and the pool is generally a bit run down, but the kids loved it so if you can grit your teeth on those things, I'd say it's worth a trip.

Noah's - Soft Play in Perth

Noah's as it is now called - no longer known as Noah's Ark - has undergone some renovations in the last year meaning it's much brighter and cleaner than it used to be. There's a big soft play frame with areas designated as suitable for different age groups for under 3s, under 5s and over 5s. At 7 my daughter still enjoys playing in the larger frame, but you can't be sure the popular staffed climbing wall will always be in operation so it's best to phone and check if this is something your kids are keen on. For £1 you can have a shot on the small motorbike track (best for under 5s) and there is also a ceramics painting room, go-kart track and ten pin bowling on site.

I still miss the curly fries, which disappeared off the menu over a year ago but the new menu is reasonably priced with good value kids meals, and if you can put up with the horrors of little ratbags throwing chips at each other at the neighbouring tables, you can enjoy a decent bowl of soup or all sorts of unhealthy but quite tasty options.

Noah's benefits from little or no competition in the local area, so simply by virtue of being there they are always busy, especially at weekends. At busy periods they try to enforce a two-hour time slot, but as this is just a recommendation no one pays much attention to it, and it's always horrifically busy on a wet weekend!

Glasgow Science Museum

Kind of ashamed to admit I've never been here before, but we finally made it. Glad we picked a dry day to visit, as it was very busy ... I can't imagine how busy it would be on a wet day! The showings for the IMAX were sold out when we arrived at about 11.30am, so if you want to see those you'd probably be better booking in advance.

Car parking was easy, with a token for the car park costing £3. We used our Tesco Clubcard Vouchers to get in, and also purchased tickets for a Planetarium showing - there were four time slots to choose from.

There are four floors in the science halls, all stuffed with science things  - very hands on for kids, masses to keep you busy for hours and plenty of staff around doing shows and demonstrations. We could have been there longer, and still not have done everything there was to do. I find it really hard to pick out one particular thing that made me think "wow" or something so popular we had to queue for a shot - in fact, everything was good but sad to say nothing was actually that memorable! But surely the most important judge is my daughter, since she's the kid, after all.

On the way out I said, "Well, we've done everything I think... what bit would you like to go back and do again?" and was a little amused by the answer "Well mum, I'd really like to go back on the escalator."

Landmark, Carrbridge

An old childhood favourite, I grew up with the Landmark Forest Park near Aviemore firmly on our Holiday Map. Back then, we only needed the Tree Top Trail (not a red squirrel in sight today!) and the Clydesdale Horse and Sawmill to keep us kids happy. Now you can add to that the Runaway Timber Train (rollercoaster), Three wild water rides The Otter (pictured), The Wildcat and for the really brave, The Falcon. 

There's also the SkyDive if you fancy throwing yourself off a wooden platform 50 feet up or the Ropeworx, a high wire challenge through the trees (and a smaller version known as The Tarzan trail). Added to that are a maze which seems to have shrunk since I was seven, but is still fun, and the fire tower with 105 steps to the top and a 360 degree view of the Cairngorms. 

There are also lots of slides and things suitable for smaller kids (which bigger kids still fit on!)

After nearly eight years, Leah's favourite bit is still the Man in the Toilet, which you can see for yourself at the Sawmill! It's worth getting a season ticket if you are likely to come back twice within a year, so a good investment overall.

Highland Wildlife Park, Kincraig

Brilliant day at the Highland Wildlife Park. We were lucky enough to see the two young male polar bears, Walker and Arktos playing in their pond. We had the best view of them close up from the car as we drove through the park, a fantastic sight. Other highlights included the baby snow monkeys - they must be the cutest babies in Scotland right now:

We also saw a red squirrel and several very sleepy looking wildcats, as well as other Scottish critters like the otters, pinemarten and capercaillie. And of course the Grey Legged Greater Striped Grock looking extremely fierce as usual:

Watch out Bison, you have a rival for Alpha Species!

Ceramics Cafe in Cupar

Raining again! Met friends at the Ceramic Experience in Cupar for a hot chocolate and some pottery painting. Wide selection of things to paint, think we now own most of the little animals, but managed to find a squirrel today that we haven't got. Girls (aged 7 ish) spent nearly an hour happily painting their critters and then had a quick go in the free soft play, but it's really more suitable for 5s and under. Fairly mediocre food and drink here, and cash only, which is a pain in the neck. Service a bit lacking. But at least it was warm and dry!

Cairnie Fruit Farm and Mega Maze

It stopped raining! We went with some friends to Cairnie Farm near Cupar for a picnic to make the most of the dry weather. Masses to do for kids with all the old favourites like go-karts, trampolines, slide, swings, sand pit, barrel bug ride (£1) and flying fox, plus some new things like the grass sledging and super fast slide where you sit on a mat. The weather has impeded the maize maze a bit, and it's not grown yet. They hope it will be ready by the end of July, but it didn't look very high at all (ankle height?) so I think that's optimistic.

Update 7th August - Visited again and maze is ready! Yippee!

Some strawberries ready to pick in the polytunnels, and we enjoyed ice cream in the cafe and a nosey round their rather lovely shop. Always a great day out with the kids - better enjoyed when dry outside!

Castle Campbell in Dollar

Was in the mood for a romp around a castle today, so we headed off to Dollar to visit Castle Campbell, A Historic Scotland property.  A lot of the adventure was in the getting there - he thought I knew where it was. Naturally, I thought HE knew where it was. And then when we eventually found Dollar, we discovered the road to Castle Campbell is rather steep and narrow, with little opportunity to pass another car should you meet one coming the other way. Luckily for us there was a space in the tiny car park at the top of the hill, as I didn't fancy reversing all the way back again!

A pleasant if slightly hilly walk takes you round and down to the imposing castle in its amazing setting, with great views out over Clackmannanshire and beyond. There's a quiz for kids, resulting in stickers and a "genius" certificate if you score 100% (we did!) There are lots of dark and spooky rooms in this old ruin, many many stairs to climb to the roof terrace, and some great interactive displays and information boards. There are also some fabulous gargoyles on one of the ceilings which are worth climbing up all those stairs for!

The gardens were lovely with plenty space and facilities for picnics. We were impressed to find inside one of the tiniest old castle rooms a modern loo, what must surely be the smallest toilet in Scotland! There is a "tearoom" of sorts - with provision to buy sachets of hot drinks and snacks at the shop and make your own drinks in the small kitchenette provided. If you intend to visit more castles, it's certainly worth your while thinking about buying an annual pass for Historic Scotland, which is good value. See their website http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ for more details. 

Scone palace with kids

After a sneaky look at the cute bunnies in Pets At Home we made it to Scone Palace with its amazing grounds and noisy peacocks for a picnic with the cousins.

Made it through the Murray Star Maze without getting lost (tip, follow the most worn path!) and enjoyed the butterfly garden, the gorgeous donkeys and newly renovated adventure playground, complete with old-fashioned stocks to put your big brother's head  in before stopping off for ice cream and coffee at the cafe on the lawn. 

Our bunch of children from aged 2 to 12 enjoyed rolling down the the grassy hills while we had a coffee and a blether. You can get a family ticket for the grounds for around £40, allowing 2 adults and up to 4 children access for the season.

Scotlandwell and Lochend Farm Shop

It stopped raining for a nanosecond this morning, so we donned our wellies with our pals and set off to Scotlandwell to walk around the forest and admire the Portmoak mosses! There's a great dog-friendly circular loop around the forest that takes about 45 mins, plus dawdling to build dens and poke at fungus.
This was followed by lunch at the child-friendly Lochend Farm Shop about 2 minutes further down the road. I had the Hot Roast Roll of the Day (highly recommended). Small cafe, great menu, child portions available. Lovely home baking, nice coffee, second hand bookshelf and colouring books for the wee ones. Also great gifts at very reasonable prices in the wee shop.

Rainy Summer Holidays

I decided it might be a good idea to blog about some of the places you can take kids in Scotland since I'm a bit of an expert at being out of the house. I think I might be allergic to housework. I'm certainly allergic to duvet days. Have to get up and out! There are tons of great places for kids in Fife and Perth that are on my doorstep, and whenever I try to look up things to do for kids in Scotland, I rarely find anything we haven't tried already. So maybe it's time to share my experiences.

That's the first week of the "summer" holidays done. It hasn't stopped raining yet. We've been to the cinema, the museum, the aquarium, the library (two actually), the swimming pool, to soft play (twice) and the ceramics cafe. Oh and we've been shopping, to friend's houses, had friends for sleepovers, and had a lazy-ish day spent mostly at home (that was today). Haven't resorted to dusting and hoovering yet, but there are still five weeks to go. It could still happen. Ha.