Things to do in the Summer Holidays with the kids

You might think that the city's major art gallery is an odd place for a family day out but, apart from the wonderful permanent collection, there's a superb family activity space which is enough to keep the little ones happy, occupied and creative. What's more, until October, there's the joyful Grayson's Art Club exhibition in the main gallery, something which should inspire the kids no-end. 

Housed inside one of the most impressive of Manchester's modern buildings, this four-floor monument to football boasts that it contains the greatest football collection in the world. It’s the permanent home to the FIFA collection, the Football League collection, the FA collection and many more. As well as temporary loans and exhibitions, there's also plenty of opportunity for play and interaction. A discovery zone for under-fives allows kids to dress up and listen to stories. Football + is a series of seven interactive experiences, giving you the chance to test your ball skills and reactions, have your photo taken with a trophy and try your hand at being a football commentator. Back of the net!

Inside the museum sits Lark Hill Place, a wonderfully realised recreation of a Victorian street. If the galleries felt a little like stepping into the past, this finishes the job as you stroll down the lane on a winter's evening as the gas lights throw their warming glow onto the cobbles and you peruse shop windows and peek inside houses. There's a chemist, a toy shop, grocers and a blacksmiths and the street is filled with the sounds of children playing and of horse-drawn carriages. You can even dress up in Victorian-style dress to complete the experience.

The Quays is a beautiful waterside development grown from the once derelict landscape of what used to be a thriving dockland. It's a fantastic place to explore and The Lowry, with its theatre spaces and galleries, and Imperial War Museum North offer endless things for families to see and do throughout the summer. There's also no shortage of places to eat and drink whilst you're there.

From archeology and anthropology to earth sciences and entomology (that’s insects to you and me), the range of exhibits in the museum is mind-boggling. You can't miss Stan, a reproduction of a massive T-rex fossil, always popular with the kids, and there are elaborate Egyptian sarcophagi and creepy looking mummies. Children will love the vivarium, too, where they can get up close to all manner of frogs, reptiles and crawly things.

Z-arts, located just south of the city centre in Hulme, is Manchester’s only dedicated venue for children and families, with a mission to inspire young people through all forms of art and help them begin their creative journey. As well as a packed schedule of family performances in the theatre, Z-arts presents a wide range of participatory events, from early year’s arts workshops to after school and holiday opportunities. Adults aren’t left out with a diverse programme of theatre, spoken word and music events, plus vocational training and leisure activities.

Z-arts forms an artistic hub in a large, converted church building with twelve public rooms including a 230 seat theatre, gallery, fully equipped dance studio, music and recording studio, café, rehearsal and workshop rooms. Z-arts is also the leading partner in Big Imaginations, a consortium of North West venues and promoters bringing world class family theatre to the region.

This inspiring museum explores how science, innovation and industry have created modern society and continue to shape it. Sound dull? It isn't. For starters, MOSI is within Liverpool Street Station, the Manchester terminus for the very first purpose-built passenger railway in the world, making it the world’s oldest railway station. There's the Power Hall where kids can marvel at one of the largest collections of working steam mill engines anywhere. Or go to the Air and Space Gallery where you can see a triplane, fighter craft and explore space-age technology. The Revolution Manchester Gallery provides visitors with a unique barcode which activates a series of games and challenges. It also allows your image to appear on a huge digital sculpture in the gallery, and follow up your personal visit once at home.

If you're a family who enjoys a bit of the outdoors, the biggest horticultural project in Europe for years has landed in Salford. It's a perfect place to explore nature with the kids, a 154-acre garden at the former Worsley New Hall estate featuring the largest public access walled garden in the UK and over a quarter of a million plants increasing the city's biodiversity. 

This vibrant arts venue in the heart of Sale has a theatre, art galleries, studios and workspaces, and is an important regional hub for both performance and visual art. It frequently hosts family theatre from puppet shows to kids' comedy. Oh, and there's a cinema too for the latest family films.