Leeds, Live it, Love it > Students

Fun and learning go hand in hand in Leeds, and each of the city’s attractions offers something guaranteed to inspire and entertain young minds. The Royal Armouries is a great place for kids for all sorts of reasons, whether it's watching knights in full armour jousting in the tiltyard or just gawping at falconry displays. It's always worth looking out for their workshops too.

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Fun and learning go hand in hand in Leeds, and each of the city’s attractions offers something guaranteed to inspire and entertain young minds. The Royal Armouries is a great place for kids for all sorts of reasons, whether it's watching knights in full armour jousting in the tiltyard or just gawping at falconry displays. It's always worth looking out for their workshops too.

Hands on fun is also available at the Thackray Museum with their range of giant interactive models designed to show those curious minds how our bodies work.

Kids can experience the outdoors and learn about nature in Leeds’ many parks. Roundhay Park is the largest, but there are plenty more across the city with facilities such as play areas and skateboarding ramps. The organic Meanwood Valley Urban Farm offers the chance to meet sheep, pigs, donkeys and fluffy newly hatched chicks.

Tropical World, beside the aforementioned Roundhay Park, ticks a lot of boxes as far as stimulation-starved children are concerned. Here they can take in all sorts of unusual and exotic wildlife, from birds to lizards to butterflies, and all within a self-contained tropical atmosphere for extra authenticity. The adjoining Canal Gardens in themselves, are a great spot to visit — even if only to recover from the equatorial temperatures of Tropical World!

At Harewood House, you’ll find an adventure playground, a fascinating Victorian museum, and a bird garden replete with penguins, as well as Yorkshire’s very own planetarium.

The Temple Newsam estate features vast expanses of grass to run around in and a rare breeds farm to visit, whilst there’s picnic plots a-plenty at Kirkstall Abbey and a diary of workshops at the Abbey House Museum.

There’s even a whole museum especially for children — the hands-on Eureka! Centre, in nearby Halifax.

If you want to enjoy an evening of culture, many events welcome children too, such as productions at West Yorkshire Playhouse and the City Varieties Music Hall. There’s music with the Leeds International Concert Season’s special family concerts and young people even have their own special week of cinema with the annual Leeds Young People’s Film Festival.

Teenagers can find events that interest them through www.breeze.org, and sign up for a free Breeze card to get leisure discounts.

That should keep them occupied — and there's more than a good chance you'll enjoy yourself just as much as they do!

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Thursday 21 Aug 2008

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