A GUIDE TO EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES ACROSS THE NORTH EAST FOR FAMILIES TO ENJOY OVER DURING THE MAY SCHOOL HOLIDAY, FROM DEN-BUILDING TO TRAIN RIDES, NATURE TRAILS AND CRAFTS 15:43, 23 May

2025Updated 09:36, 24 May 2025 This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more With the Bank Holiday weekend upon us and next

week's school holiday stretching ahead, parents and carers no doubt will be desperately looking for ways to occupy young ones. Boredom can set in fast during school breaks, which is

why visitor attractions around the region always work hard to provide programmes of holiday activities. During this May half-term there are plenty ideas on offer to fill each day and they

always free to enter and which, in an ongoing collaboration with Tyne and Wear Metro, run a Ways to Play programme during school holidays with the aim of giving young ones a range of free

or low-cost experiences, memorable enough to give them something to talk about when they return to school. During school breaks, children under 11 can also travel for free on the metro;

Shields Ferry and buses when accompanied by a fare-paying adult. Find out the full list of Ways to Play ideas here and explore our day out suggestions below. BALTIC'S BIG DAYS OUT

Visitors are invited to 'recycle and reuse pre-loved items' at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art during May half-term. The Gateshead gallery is hosting five days of eco-friendly

activities from May 28 to June 1, with all activities free and no advance booking required. Families can enjoy the likes of artist-led workshops; collaging; guided tours and storytelling and

even visit a toy repair café where broken playthings can be revived. In addition, any families in need of a free breakfast can pop in to Baltic for a Cereal Disco - a hearty breakfast mixed

with fun dancing - which will take place from 10am-11am every morning from May 28 to June 1. Activities to look out for include May 28 recycling workshops to make rockets from old pop

bottles. On May 29 there will be a Swap Shop to trade toys, books and board games plus a material station inviting people to get creative. Then a highlight on May 30 will be a visit by

cycling experts from North East Young Dads & Lads to provide tips on how to look after and fix bikes. They also will be offering free bike health checks and running a skills track for

people to learn new riding techniques. Anyone without a bike will be able to borrow one to take part. May 30 also will be the day that The Repair Café opens its doors then on May 31 the

gallery will be opening up its store room for a fund-raising Baltic Yard Sale, with some pre-loved furniture and other chosen items going on sale, and there will be free artist-led workshops

for children aged five to 12 on June 1. For full information, see here. TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC TRAIN RIDE IN WALLSEND On May 26 children are invited to take their favourite bear along for

a heritage train ride at Stephenson Steam Railway which will also include free entry into the visitor attraction's museum. Here, there will be a Teddy Bear Trail so that children - and

their bears - can collect clues and complete an adventure. Added entertainment on the day will be provided by The Moss Troopers, a roving set of 'storytellers, historians, educators,

entertainers and fools'. They will be giving short Woodland Animal puppet shows, bringing the animals of the woodland to life. Tickets cost £9 for adults and £7 for children and

concessions. A family ticket is available for £23 and there is an option to add a donation to the museum when booking: see here. FREE TREAT AT RABY CASTLE This beautiful location, at

Staindrop near Darlington has a half-term offer inviting those with a valid tickets for the Plotters’ Forest, Park and Gardens in the grounds to also visit inside the castle for free during

the May 24 to June 1 school holiday week. Inside the medieval castle the visitors can enjoy a free Family Explorer guided tour and a Castle Quest trail. A 1900s Victorian Workforce

experience, requiring tickets, also will be on offer on May 29 and 31. Outdoor options meanwhile will include free nature activities and more trails: The Little Gardeners one in the

Plotters’ Forest woodland adventure playground and another hidden in Raby's 300-year-old Walled Gardens where, on May 24 and 26, local singer Charley Penman also will be giving

hour-long performances in its amphitheatre from 1pm. Other attractions for young ones include a seed-planting station and - over at Raby Estates’ High Force Waterfall - a Butterfly Quest,

which is new for half-term week. Find full details of what's on offer here. Raby, as previously reported, is currently shortlisted for a Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award and

public voting is still open. DEN-BUILDING AT WASHINGTON Washington Wetland Centre in Tyne and Wear - which as previously reported is an absolute haven for families looking to escape the pace

of modern life - has lots to offer during half-term and den-building is just one of the treats in store. On May 28 there will be a drop-in session - no need to book - between 1pm and 3pm

and, starting near the flamingo enclosure, it will involve an afternoon of building dens from branches, sheets and other found materials: see here. Other activities available at WWT during

the week will include mini beast-hunting and pond-dipping, where the likes of water snails and great diving beetles can be safely caught before being released back into the water: find out

more here. Activities are included in the normal admission cost, which is free for members: see here. BLUEY VISIT TO STACK SEABURN Cartoon character Bluey will be paying a half-term visit to

the South Tyneside seaside hub as one of three main school holiday attractions there. The special event, A Celebration of Bluey and Bingo, will take place on May 29 with live performances,

meet-and-greets, games, a disco, colouring-in and interactive activities. Ahead of that there will be a Superhero Takeover on May 27, inviting young ones to turn up in their favourite

outfit, cape or mask and enjoy entertainment and photo opportunities, then on May 28 Magician Marvin will be performing tricks, balloon-modelling, juggling and puppetry. The events, aimed at

youngsters aged between two and 12 years, will run from noon until 1.30pm and tickets cost £1.50 for each child. To book see here. STEAM RIDES AT BEAMISH MUSEUM As previously reported,

Rowley Station at the County Durham museum is back in action from this weekend for the first time since Covid and steam train rides are on offer on its track as part of a nine-day Festival

of Transport. The steam-hauled passenger train rides will run daily during the May 24 to June 1 festival. After that, they will run during each weekend of the school summer holidays to

follow. Read more about it here. BACK TO NATURE AT THE BRIDGES Free family-friendly activities inspired by the new season will be on offer at the Sunderland shopping centre with a a special

nod to nature. Workshops themed around butterflies and bugs will be on offer from May 27. Youngsters will be able to make wooden 3D butterflies and butterfly life-cycle wheels as well as

butterfly masks and bug magnets. Then, Suncatchers and Rainbows will be the theme of the May 29 session when children can make rainbow heart mosaics; rainbow wands and suncatchers. Both

sessions will run from 10am until 3pm, and there will be bug-theme storytelling at 11am and 1pm. Another activity taking place at 11am and noon on May 28 and 30 is guaranteed to appeal to

the senses, with bath bomb-making workshops hosted for young people by the centre in collaboration with Lush. The cost is £5 to make Luna’s Butterfly and £4 for Toby’s Magic Cow and places

are limited so must be booked in advance. The Bridges’ soft play area for under-fives also will be open May 24-June 1 , costing £2 a child. Find full information here. BEAUTIFUL BLOSSOM AT

GREAT NORTH MUSEUM: HANCOCK In what sounds an absolute treat for parents as well as a relaxing time for children, the Newcastle museum is to show the dawn-to-dusk cycle of a Japanese cherry

blossom tree in a free drop-in exhibition which makes up an immersive experience. It forms part of The Festival of Blossom, a project by the National Trust that provides opportunities for

people to connect with nature, and it will run from May 24 until June 1. Described as a 'captivating visual experience', it was created by Newcastle design studio NOVAK and is a

collaborative project, also including sound and poetry. Read all about it - and other Blossom Festival events at the Hancock - here. BIRD OF PREY AT WOODHORN MUSEUM A flying display will be

among a range of half-term attractions at the museum near Ashington in Northumberland. The team from Ridgeside Falconry in County Durham will be coming up on May 28 to show off their

spectacular birds. The flying displays will take place at 12noon and 2pm on the day and there also will be opportunities to see the birds up close. The drop-in event is free with

Woodhorn's annual pass: for more about that see here. Also at Woodhorn during half-term there will be exhibitions to see; a pop-up Ashington Group hut for drawing and collage and an

opportunity on May 28 to have a go at making a musical instrument for the Northumbrian Miner's Picnic. TICKET DISCOUNT AT LIFE SCIENCE CENTRE The Newcastle home of science made fun is

celebrating is big 25-year anniversary and to celebrate its birthday it is offering 25% off admission tickets during half-term. The offer applies between May 24 and June 1 and those

interested just need to quote LIFE25 when booking online: see here. This weekend sees it open a stunning new exhibit to mark its milestone. Two years in the making and the result of a £1.5m

investment, Lightbox has transformed the centre's former motion ride area and is a blast of light, colour and sound. The 14 immersive and interactive exhibits contained inside include a

six-metre-high swirling tornado tower, said to be the tallest in Europe; an interactive digital water display by BAFTA-winning creators and an eight-metre-high moving String Wave sculpture.

On top of that are all Life's other exhibits and a half-term visitor programme: find out more here. Usual admission prices are £14.95 for adults; £13.95 for concessions and £11 for

children, which includes a donation towards Life, a charity, and helping the likes of its on-site research. ARCHAEOLOGY FUN AT ARBEIA At the Roman fort in South Shields, an archaeology

drawing activity on May 28 offers an opportunity for young ones to excavate objects, buried in table-top trays, and then record and draw what they find. The session is free to drop in. The

fort will be open from 11am until 3pm on the day but will close for lunch from 1pm-1.30pm. Find out more here. INSECT TRAIL AT WALLINGTON During a trail through the Walled Garden near the

East Woods of the National Trust property near Morpeth in Northumberland, children can learn all about insects, from the homes they build to the noises they make and the vital role they play

in the natural world. The trail will be available from May 24 until June 1 and is free with the admission price to the site: find out more about that, and other activities at Wallington,

here. Article continues below For the programme of half-term activities running at other National Trust properties across the North East see here. JOIN OUR WHATSAPP COMMUNITIES ChronicleLive

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