’Tis the season to be jolly

Dec 22 2007 by Emma Pinch, Liverpool Daily Post

Don’t worry if the kids are starting to get cabin fever. Emma Pinch suggests a range of fun activities to keep them entertained

RETAIL THERAPY

REDISCOVER shopping the traditional way by popping into the Slater Street Living Market in Liverpool city centre. Open until Dec 22, the stalls sell art and craft from local artists, who also stage make-your-own gift workshops, and feature music performances and food and drink.

Or go to Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, in Ellesmere Port, where there are daily snowfalls, skating, funfairs and choirs injecting a bit of fun into the experience.

While tearing round the shops, take the time to ignite the children’s imagination with a visit to Father Christmas. He’s at TJ Hughes and Lewis’s until Christmas Eve, and it costs £5 at each for the full works, including gifts.

For an adult treat, pop into Williamson Square’s German-style market and grab a warming mug of mulled wine to dull the sound of the repetitive Christmas tunes blaring from every shop.

PANTOMIMES

THEY’LL be right behind you if you take the little ones to a matinee performance at one of the region’s line-up of pantos.

There’s a star-studded version of Cinderella at The Royal Court, running until Jan 13, priced from £8 (box office 0870 787 1866), while at Southport Arts Centre there’s Who Will Save Christmas?, an adventure musical about Santa’s present-sorting house being sabotaged by Vic and Vin Virus. The elves, Fairy Goodie and Auntie Biotics, get on the case in this fun production, strong on audience participation. Runs until Jan 5 and costs from £8. Call 01704 540011 for details.

MUSIC AND CAROLS

’TIS the season to be jolly, so feed your soul with some traditional carols.

For grown-ups, there is the Spirit of Christmas and the bewitching Carols by Candlelight at the Philharmonic, costing around the £15 mark, from tonight until Sunday. The latter features music by Vivaldi, Bach and Pachelbel with musicians in 18th-century costumes.

But there is also a host of family-friendly concerts at the Phil this year, including Frosty the Snowman & Friends (tonight, from £7) and Barbie at The Symphony on Dec 27, where sparkly legend Princess Barbie dances on screen to classical music. Tickets cost from £15, box office 0151 709 3789.

Step into a sumptuous Christmas as experienced by Victorian landed gentry at Tatton Park Mansion in Knutsford (tonight and tomorrow) and hear carols by the King Edward Musical Society Band (Sunday) in the atmospheric stableyard. Adult tickets cost £5, children £2.50, call 01625 374 400 for details.

For a free treat, hark at the herald angels singing at Liverpool Cathedral at the Annual Christmas Recital on Dec 22 at 3pm, or gather around the tree at historic Sudley House, in Aigburth, and enjoy live festive music from artists at the Philharmonic tomorrow night from 2-4pm.

MUSEUMS

HISTORY buffs young and old will find something to enjoy when exciting chapters of the city’s past are brought to life at Liverpool’s Albert Dock

At the Maritime Museum, an actor playing lady-in-waiting Eleanor de Montague describes life in medieval Liverpool in Are The Peasants Revolting? in three sessions on Dec 27 and Dec 30, while several centuries later Robert Hichins recounts the last dramatic moments of the legendary ship’s demise in Titanic – The Quartermaster’s Story tomorrow and Dec 30. And, for those inspired by the tale, there’s Spotlight on the Titanic on Dec 31. Children will also enjoy a glimpse of Liverpool through the ages on a ride on the museum’s time-travelling taxi, with actors dramatising the story. The dark world of smuggling is explored at the Customs & Excise National Museum in a Christmas-themed workshop on Dec 22, with dressing- up for under-sevens and story-telling with Mother Redcap on Dec 28. There’s also dressing-up for the under-sevens on Dec 27 and a contraband display on Dec 29.

All Liverpool Museums events are free, call 0151 478 4499 for more details.

Children with an artistic bent may enjoy a workshop at the Tate, with activities to aid appreciation of modern art on Dec 22-23. It’s free of charge to join in, more details on 0151 702 7444.

FESTIVE ACTIVITIES

ALL those chocolate stocking-fillers make for an excess of energy, so, if it’s fine weather, unleash them at Tatton Park to solve The Curse of the Winter Queen. Children hunt the gardens for words to lift her icy winter spell and are helped by characters Little Ray of Sunshine and Spring Sprite.

It’s held between Dec 27-30, adult entry is £3.50, and there’s one free child per adult. Today and tomorrow, children can race round Grosvenor Garden Centre, in Chester, finding cut-outs of Jack Frosts and snowflakes to win a stocking. Times and details on 01244 625200.

The whole family can have a splashing time, even if the weather’s lousy, at Europa Pools in Birkenhead, where there’s free swimming for children from today until Jan 30. The complex boasts tropical temperatures, a children’s lagoon, wave machine, two water flumes, water cannons and a geyser. The afternoon is family time and kids aged 8--16 can go unaccompanied in the morning session. Adult entry £4, more details on 0151 666 5555

Alternatively, they can scale climbing walls and bounce on giant inflatables or ride snake slides at the huge indoor adventure playground at the New Palace and Adventureland, in New Brighton, where sessions cost £3 per hour. Call 0151 639 6041 for more details.

Staying indoors, ice skating rinks are everywhere this year, but few are in more imposing environs than the St George’s Hall ice rink. It’s open from Dec 21 until Jan 5, closed on the public holidays and a family ticket costs £15.

Encourage your offspring’s creative side at Caferamics, a ceramic studio and cafe in West Kirby where you can decorate your own festive pottery. Tel 0151 625 8884.

WILDLIFE

WHEN the urban jungle gets too much, follow your animal instincts to one of the region’s premier wildlife spots. At Wetland Centre Martin Mere, in Burscough, Ormskirk, see Christmas visitors, such as huge flocks of Whooper swans, have their daily feeds. It’s open seven days a week except Christmas Day and costs from £3.95. Call 01704 895181.

See the polar bears bask in shivering temperatures at Chester Zoo and take a turn round the attraction’s Frost Fair. There’s an outdoor ice rink and kids can journey through Lapland to meet Santa, and play on the funfair rides. Open every day except Dec 25 and Jan 1. Zoo admission costs from £7.95, and off-peak Frost Fair from £2.

For an outdoor day with a difference, take the family to the Tommy Whittle Steeple Chase, at Haydock Park Race Course, in Newton-le-Willows, today, or The Last Fling Race on Dec 30. Call 01942 725963 for details.

emma.pinch