Primary Times - the definitive what’s on and where to go family guide of activities and events for children of primary school age. Things to do with your kids during the school holidays including arts and craft activities, music and theatre for children, parties, competitions, days out, and family attractions along with term time drama schools, dance classes, after school clubs and sports activities. Things to do at a place near you!
Activities at home during lockdown from Edinburgh attractions
Schools and families can access online teaching resources for Scottish Opera’s popular primary school production, Fever! To access Fever! resources visit their website Created especially for children in primaries 5, 6 and 7, the show, which was first performed by Scottish Opera in 2011, features music by Alan Penman and lyrics by Allan Dunn. A staple of many Scottish schools’ calendars, this is the very first time an online version of the tour has been made available, bringing the funny and fast-moving story to living rooms up and down the country, culminating in a nationwide virtual performance at the end of June.
Capital Theatres’ Tea & ‘Jam’ is an online celebration of music making on the last Friday of every month. Bring along your favourite instrument whether it’s your flute, guitar, or a homemade pair of bongos; they want to make music with you. Professional musician, Gus Harrower, will kick off the jam session but then it’s very much over to you! Email your interest to Dawn Irvine at dawn.irvine@capitaltheatres.com
The Scottish Book Trust has a Home Activities Hub helping you make the most of time spent at home. Look for resources for your home classroom, entertaining author events to watch online, and stories to share together. Go here to find out more.
Jupiter Artland has a Notes from Jupiter series of creative activities for you and your family to explore together at home, or in the garden, bringing you a little slice of Jupiter magic. Click here to find out more.
Edinburgh Printmakers’ has a Print Club @ Home. In a series of videos, tutors share variations on printing techniques that you can do at home. All of the methods featured can be done with items from around the house - and they're for everyone no matter what their experience level. Younger printmakers should ask for the help of an adult though wherever sharper tools are involved. A new video will be posted every two weeks on Saturday mornings, on their Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The Edinburgh Bookshop is now able to safely keep you stocked up with books by either “Click & Collect” from 10 am - 2 pm Monday to Saturday or their free, local delivery service. You can order on their website, via mail@edinburghbookshop.com, or call on 0131 447 1917
Girlguiding Scotland has set up a ‘Guiding at Hame’ online challenge for children and young people to take part in during the coronavirus lockdown. The challenge is open to everyone and the activities can be downloaded from Girlguiding Scotland’s website.
The National Galleries of Scotland’s Art Competition for Schools is still going ahead – the deadline has been extended with no set date as yet until it is known when schools will return. And for this year’s competition, entries will be accepted from families as well! Visit here to read about the categories and themes. Every Monday the galleries are posting five creative activities for children of all ages, including a mid-week challenge for the whole family. See this week's here.
The Royal Collection Trust, which looks after the Palace of Holyroodhouse, has a resource pack linked to its exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing. Developed in consultation with teachers, it contains activities, videos and worksheets that use Leonardo’s drawings as an entry point into a range of subjects, including maths and science for primary and secondary. Visit here.
Explore St Cecilia’s Hall music museum’s collection here, and download an app for a virtual tour from the website.
Almond Valley Heritage Centre is running live web cam or pre-recorded videos on different animals at the attraction at 11.30am every day on its Facebook page @AlmondValleyHeritage .
#DynamicEarthOnline is hosting a series of fun and thought-provoking content that ranges from hands-on experiments that you can carry out at home, through to fascinating insights about the history of our planet and the science behind climate change. Go here to check for updates and find out more.
You can tune in to Edinburgh Zoo’s live webcams to see what the Sumatran tiger Dharma, giant panda Yang Guang, koala Tanami and the penguins are getting up to here.
The doors are shut at the National Museum of Scotland but you can still explore the museums’ collections and play online games, designed for children. To find out more visit here.
The Scottish Seabird Centre has developed some marine themed learning activities that can be done from home. They include puzzles, word challenges, arts and crafts, videos and science activities. To find out more and to check for updates go here. They have also launched an urgent fundraising appeal to keep the charity going.
The Edinburgh Science Festival continues in online form, long after it would normally be all done and dusted. The festival (originally due for Easter) was rebilled as Elements of #EdSciFest and there are still many free content items such as videos, Facebook Lives, blog posts, Q&As, online challenges and downloadable assets.For a new way to reuse and recycle bits and pieces you might have lying around the house, join Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre for Puppet Snippets (5+) here. There is an Edinburgh Science takeover of the Earth Live Lessons YouTube series, here. Digital World (Skills Development Scotland) are sharing a range of digital workshops and online learning with fun tasks challenging audiences to Defend the Hospital (10+) here and Steal a Pizza (10+) here. Find more events on Facebook: @EdinburghScienceFestival, Twitter: @EdSciFest, website: sciencefestival.co.uk, Instagram: @edscifest.
Please contact Judy@writeplacemedia.co.uk with details of any other online events