Share your thoughts on historical days out and events with your children - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

It can be difficult to keep kids’ boredom at bay during the school holidays. English Heritage sites in London and the East are putting on events throughout the summer to help keep children entertained and they’d like to hear your thoughts surrounding historical days out and events you’ve attended with your children.

Here’s what English Heritage have to say: “English Heritage have a host of sites across London and the East that are perfect to keep your little ones entertained throughout the summer holidays. With a new themed activity each week at each property, your little adventurers will be thoroughly entertained (and may secretly learn a thing or two along the way!) during those long hot (here’s hoping!) holidays.

From London to Suffolk to Derbyshire and everything in between, English Heritage have castles, manor houses and sites with acres of beautiful gardens that are sure to keep even the most active of children busy! Not only are the sites fantastic, but each has a varied event programme for children throughout the school holidays. From becoming a home front hero to learning the ropes as a budding knight; from being inspired by Darwin’s science experiments to taking to the stage 1920s style and from going on a bug safari to playing games like a Victorian – your little time travellers will get hands on with history with English Heritage this summer.”

So, have you been on a really great historical adventure or attended an event which really brought history to life for your children? Do you think events you take your children on should be educational, or purely fun? Maybe you think that they should always be both? Whatever your thoughts or stories surrounding events and days out for your children, share them with English Heritage below.

All those who leave a comment below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher from a store of their choice.

Thanks, and good luck!

MNHQ

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We plan our holidays around where we can visit of historical interest. The kids and us love it.

Last holiday to Yorkshire we visited Byland Abbey, Rievaulx, Helmsley castle etc. The girls loved storming the castle, learning about the latrines and pretending to be knights and ladies. They asked about the put-log holes and were really interested in the visits (and ice creams).

I grew up close to Audley End and as a child was fascinated by all the taxidermy on display in the Great Hall. Especially the hornets nest. And i attribute my own interest in history and archaeology with all those visits to various places as a child.

The Audley End stables were a huge favourite with the little ones when we visited earlier in the year. And the play area is fantastic!

DD1s recent school trip was to Framlingham Castle, the whole class had a fab time. Obviously it was geared more towards the educational element but the children found one of the 1066 arrows too.

Personally I think visits should be fun and engaging, if they are children want to learn more. Make it obviously educational and they can lose interest quickly. Dressing up, learning what people are, where they slept, how they kept clean (or not!) are all fascinating to kids.

DD is only 6 but is starting to get into a bit of history. We like castles that you can wander round a bit on your own- maybe with a treasure hunt or other things to spot. DD also loves a bit of dressing up in historical outfits, suits of armour etc!
We had fun last year at a medieval day in Sherwood Forest, lots to see and do.

Do we know why just the south and east.
Anyway, some EH are good and have lots on however most are just piles of rocks imo. Lovely staff but defo dry day activities. The kids love climbing and explorIng but that will have a limited life. Also I miss the tea shops and play area that N T seem to have got down pat. I think we wil be going back there in the future.
I'm in the north east so may be by dint of the archeological piles of rocKs are our lot. Looking at you hadrians wall. Tbf whitby abbey is good, RICHMOND, warkworth and Barnard castles ok. Haven't got to belsay yet.

We really enjoyed the knights jousting at Belsay Hall. Bringing history 'to life' is a fab way at capturing the children's imagination

love english heritage properties as they always bring history to life whether there is a specific event or not. THose radio talks to listen to are amazing - especially as they have kids versions - we did stone henge and battle abbey with those - kids loved it. We've been to an event day at dover castle with a george and the dragon re-enactement - so funny and clever and kids loved it that the horse pooped.

not quite the same sort of thing but at wales museum there was the chance to handle ancient tools and the guide was so knowledgable - that was amazing too.

As a couple we love to explore and visit historical sites. To get the 3yr old interested I tend to find a picture book that can be linked with the outing.

So reading about dragons, kings and queens bring out their imagination & visiting a castle is so much more magical for her.

Have had a great day today at Warkworth Castle. It's a great place to visit anyway, but today they had a Horrible Medieval Jobs event which we all enjoyed, especially the gruesome Barber/Surgeon 😀

No as we live in the north west

I find its often hardest keeping my 4 year old son interested in things. When we go on historical days out its always the ones that mention lots of poo or wee that get his attention (or anything gory), plus anything that uses lots of sensory experiences. We recently visited the Nottingham caves and he was particularly interested in holding the items from an air raid shelter, listening to the air raid siren and touching the walls of the caves.

I love historical days out just as much as the DC! They are absorbed the whole time, no complaints of being bored, and love to tell my father, a real history buff, all about it. I love to see them so engaged and fascinated.

We visited the Black Country Museum. It is a fantastic place for the children to live in that period and see what life was like in the village, they even attended a school lesson.

I have always loved the Weald and down land museum and st fagans.

I really love historical days out, as there are so many beautiful and interesting sites in the UK for the kids to learn about and enjoy. On a recent trip to London, the kids loved seeing famous sites such as the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Westminster, and countless other sites, as these iconic buildings really are soaked in history. It's a great way for the DC to actively experience and engage with history.

I think that its really important for historical days out and events to combine fun and educational learning to make it thought provoking, memorable and beneficial. This definitely isn't difficult- historical sites are almost always rich with exciting tales and interesting facts, so the kids really enjoy these days the most and love telling all their friends about it when they get home. It's great because it inspires a love of history at an early age, and sparks a curiousity which is beneficial in so many ways.

My children are 7 & 3 and we love a historical event - my husband not so much, and he gets dragged round a fair few. Our favourite local place is Michelham Priory; they do lots of events, including recreating a medieval settlement. We've done archery, flint knapping, digs, reed weaving, pot making and all sorts of crafts there. But my poor old husband sometimes feels that once you've seen one historical re-enactment you've seen them all! We've been to Walmer Castle a few times recently as we had family nearby and the gardens are so lovely, and the children really enjoyed a treasure hunt there this Easter. My daughter is a bit of a history nerd (which I love!) and will often choose a visit to a castle/stately home etc over other activities.

We took the kids to Framlingham Castle a couple of years ago. It's only small, but very informative and very beautiful. Well worth the visit.

I take the DC to Wrest Park quite a lot and we all enjoy the annual St George's Day festival. The kids are 6 and 3 and as they're still very little some of the activities aren't suitable for them but they always like the live performances by the Roman soldiers, St. George vs the dragon (and the commentator/narrator is hilarious, I love him ) and also the soldiers blowing up the bridge at Audley End House at the WW2 days. Generally, they like staff-directed activities to be hands-on and short (30 mins max. for something like a bug hunt) and longer activities to be parent-led (the Easter egg hunt at Wrest Park is great). I also took them to non-EH Warwick Castle earlier this year and 6yo DS who's quite quiet and shy unexpectedly enjoyed the warrior school and they both loved the flaming catapults. So: short, hands-on and if not then watching something involving fighting seems to be the way to go!

I really loved historical days out as a kid, I think it makes the day far more memorable, fun and interesting. So I always try to find fun historical places to take my children. We have really enjoyed visiting castles and love it when we can keep the fun going by finding myths and legends and historical recounts to read before bed that are relevant to the place we visited. It is great when places put on fun and educational activities for the children, trails, crafts, dress up- things that get them involved and running around are great. We went to a huge house on holiday once and they had arranged a kind of sports day and pirate treasure hunt around the grounds ending with a water bomb fight! The kids really had fun!

We attended St Georges Day at Wrest Park last year. It was fantastic! History literally did come to life with the Roman battalion, archers, knights etc. The reenactment of the story of St George was dramatic, fun and the children were mesmerised and they really want to go again sometime. What made it for me was it reminded me of when my parents took me to the sealed knot re-enactments at Mount Edgecombe as a child which I don't seem to see advertised any more, so Wrest Park was a fabulous historical weekend all round for us all.

Too young to appreciate history here but a Hampton Court visit recently was fantastic and started a lot of chat about Kings and Queens. Dress ups and reenactment have always seemed popular with the friends kids over the years

We have membership access and have used it for:

Kenilworth Castle
Osbourne
Needles and Old Battery
Stonehenge

Our 3.5 year old loves castles and imagining being a princess in palaces.

Hampton Court Palace was excellent - especially the children's play area.

We love Warwick Castle. It's both educational and fun for children so it means they don't get bored.

We'll use my partners work pass to access English Heritage. Hopefully we'll get to pendennis castle for more jousting!

We home educate and have three little history nuts. They especially love open air museums such as The Weald & Downland Museum and Chiltern Open Air Museum. Exploring the houses and buildings, seeing how people lived, worked, shopped etc is fascinating to them. They aren't so keen on museums yet as they are only very young (6,4,2), but anything where they can get hands on with architecture or artefacts works brilliantly.

it's Hampton Court for us. The fabulous grounds, house, maze and magic garden are fantastic.