Welsh Face and Body Painting Festival, Carmarthen, August 11-14

A chance to get covered in paint - and leave someone else to clear up the mess. Painters from Britain and around the world, including Emmy, Bafta and Oscar winners, will show their creations and alongside family-oriented lectures, demonstrations, competitions and hands-on classes.

Tickets: £3 adults, under-16s free.

Details: 01656 730451, www.welshfaceandbodyfestival.co.uk

Britain's great steam days out

More and more steam trains are going back into service on mainline tracks as demand grows

All aboard for Thomas Land

Jane Knight's video tour of Thomas the Tank Engine's theme park in Staffordshire

London tours - by water

One's a very green space, one not quite so - we see the sunrise by kayak and try a high-speed boat trip

A bird's eye view of Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens opens a walkway in the sky up in the treetops - by the designers of the London Eye

• Duke of Edinburgh can enjoy rare moment in the sun at Kew

• Devon's green credentials

Related Internet Links

• Read more in our Best of Britain section

Related Links

• Britain's best 10 family days out

• How to amuse the children for less

• Britain's best 50 days out

Time Travellers' Academy, Dover Castle, August 2-3

Learn some of the skills and tricks of the trade from historic characters. Children from 4 to 14 can discover if they would have made it as a gladiator, court jester or knight - after some instruction in sword fighting and skill at arms in Knight School. If you can't wait for Hallowe'en, Spooky Days Out, from August 23-25, offers a ghost tour of the castle.

Tickets: Adults £10.30, Children £5.20, family £25.80.

Details: 01304 211067, www.english-heritage.org.uk

Day in the Life of an Iron Age weaver, Ham Hill Country Park, Somerset; August 6

Is your child hooked on disposable fashion? Sign him or her up for few sessions with the fabric and craft expert Sarah Harris, who will reveal what it was like to make clothes thousands of year ago on Iron Age Ham Hill. Sessions will include a walk to collect leaves and flowers used to dye wool. There is also the chance to use hand spindles and a medieval spinning wheel. The sessions are suitable for children over 6 and booking is essential. Members of the family who don't fancy stepping back so far in time can do an orienteering course or a compass trail instead.

Cost per session: adults £4, children £2. Cost per day: adults £6, children £3. Details: 01935 462282, www.southsomerset.gov.uk/countryside

Children's Book Festival, Edinburgh, August 9-25

Get the youngsters reading a best- seller - and grab some peace and quiet for yourself. The festival has the largest specialist children's bookshop in Europe, an activity corner, free storytelling and, theoretically, a calm atmosphere that allows families to see an event, relax, read a book and eat an ice-cream. The RBS children's programme has events for all ages, from toddler to teenager, and this year includes the launch of Charlie Higson's fifth and final Young Bond novel on August 23, and a visit from Francesca Simon, who will be joined by the voice of Horrid Henry, Miranda Richardson, on August 16.

Details: 0845 3735888, www.edbookfest.co.uk

Greenwich Observation Wheel

Until the end of September a 55m (180ft) observation wheel will offer panoramic views beyond St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London to the west, past Canary Wharf to the heights of Hampstead Heath, and east to the Olympic site in the Lea Valley. The wheel is open seven days a week, from 10am to 10pm, and a single rotation takes about 15 minutes. Travel by boat from Central London and combine it with a trip to the new planetarium in the Observatory. Enjoy a picnic in the Observatory gardens, then roll down the grassy slopes of Greenwich Park afterwards.

Tickets for the wheel: £7 adults, £4.50 children under 16; a private gondola is £30. Details: 020-8241 9818, www.greenwichwheel.com

Dalek Invasion, Fleet Air Arm Museum, Ilchester, Somerset; August 10

Doctor Who fans should grab their sonic screwdrivers. Security at RNAS Yeovilton will be on high alert after news that an army of 12 Daleks, accompanied by menacing Cyber Men and Ice Warriors, plans to invade the museum and terrorise the public. The Dalek Invasion exhibition will be on display, complete with a Tardis, Davros and K9. Children are encouraged to arrive in sci-fi fancy dress.

Tickets: £10.50 adults, £7.50 children. Details: 01935 840565, www.fleetairarm.com

Fortress exhibition, Tower of London

Visitors will be able to fire full-size replica siege machines in the moat and new displays will include a reconstructed fighting platform on the East Wall Walk. The medieval shooting gallery under St Thomas's Tower will also be opened up for the first time.

Tickets: £16.50 adults, £9.50 children, £46 family. Details: 0844 4827788, www.hrp.org.uk

Petplan Equine National Riding Festival, different locations in August

This one beats a beach ride on a donkey - and it's free. Get the kids into the saddle, either on a real horse, or, for the faint of heart, on the well-behaved Trigger, a mechanical cantering horse. If you would rather watch, there are some stunning horse demonstrations, including vaulting and musical rides by local Pony Clubs.

Details: Scottish Equi-Complex, Lanark, Scotland, Aug 17; Mobberley Riding School, Cheshire, Aug 24; Liege Manor Equestrian, Bonvilston, Glamorgan, Aug 28; Middleton Equestrian Centre, Tamworth, Staffs, Aug 30; 0870 2411481, www.nationalridingfestival.co.uk

Airbourne, Eastbourne; August 14-17

Chat to pilots and test your skills in a flight simulator at the biggest seafront airshow in the world. There is a mix of jets, aerobatics, helicopters, parachutists and old fighter aircraft, but the Red Arrows always get the biggest cheer. This year the RAF celebrates its 90th anniversary so there should be some special displays.

Tickets: £5 adults, £5 children for access to the cordoned off area.

Details: 0871 6630031, www.eastbourneairshow.com

Family Friendly Film Festival, Manchester; August 8-17

Young Scorseses can learn to make their own films at several city venues. Other activities include a pirates day at the Opera House and a pyjama party at the Manchester Museum.

Details: 0161 234 2962, www.familyfriendlyfilmfestival.org.uk

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