Kids, Issue 635

Site Specifics - Alien Wars

What is it? Imagine stepping into the world of Alien and Aliens (as created by Ridley Scott and James Cameron respectively) as you are guided round the Arches’ basement with extra terrestrials leaping out to scare you at every turn. ‘A ghost train on…

Minibeast Safari & A Wander With Bugs and Butterflies

Ugly Bug Ball

If you’re already bored of staring at comedians, why not spend a little time investigating a very different kind of wild and unpredictable beastie? Summer is excellent bug-spotting time, as both Cammo Visitor Centre, who are offering A Wander With Bugs…

Andy and Mike's ... Big Box of Bananas

CBeebies guy goes bonkers

To the nation’s children, presenters on CBeebies and CBBC are practically like gods, bringing great programmes, reading out birthday cards and generally acting the fool. Currently enjoying his place in the sun is Andy Day, a regular smiling face on the…

Lighter Than Air

Balloon comic capers

As any parent of a six-year-old will confirm, kids love watching adults making total balloons of themselves. So, if you take one adult, arm him with a cupboard full of actual balloons, you’re probably on to a winner. ‘The bit where I walk my inflatable…

The Legend of Magnificent Moon & A Most Curious Quest

Double helping of African tales

Having discovered two great stories ripe for adaptation, Mara Menzies of Toto Tales was torn between which show to deliver at this year’s Fringe. But help was at hand. ‘I was deliberating for weeks, when my 7-year-old niece piped up, “Why don’t you do…

Lost World

Cinematic expedition

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s swashbuckling adventure, Lost World is brought to life by The Paper Cinema. Using angle-poise lamps, black-and-white ink illustrations and laptops, a DIY-film takes shape before your eyes. ‘The Paper Cinema is an illustrated…

Piping Live! – Family Fun Day

As this little lady ably proves, you’re never too young to pick up a pipe. ‘Come and try’ sessions are just one aspect of the Family Fun Day, organised as part of this year’s Piping Live! You can also try your hand at drumming and Highland dancing…

Plastic Fantastic - GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra

The action figure is now a movie star. But why stop there?

It’s all come a little too late for me. It’s been a long time since I put my armless and legless Action Men (or GI Joes as they were called in America) in a shoebox and sent them back to Palitoy Ltd for repair. You could do that kind of thing in those…

Kids Hitlist

Our pick of shows for the little festival goer to enjoy

Andy and Mike's Big Box of Bananas, Giraffes Can't Dance,Rapunzel and the Tower of Doom, Room on the Broom, Wind in the Willows, Patrick Monahan's Stories and Fables for Kids that like to sit at Tables!

Giraffes Can't Dance

Uplifting story for little ones

With so many shows to choose from on the Fringe, parents have to be canny about what they take their young charges to. In recent years, the wise money has been spent on a ticket to see Blunderbus Theatre Company. Specialising in musical tales for…

Jumping Mouse

A rodent on a quest

Like its previous Fringe successes – Funeral Games and No Obvious Trauma – Unpacked’s first show for children, Jumping Mouse, has a darkly comic feel. ‘Not that it will be frightening or unappealing,’ says the show’s director, Darren East, ‘but there’s…

Ice Cream Man and the Jelly Incident

Fun with food for kids

Writer Jonny Berliner certainly knows how to create an attention-grabbing show title. After the huge success of Dude! Where’s my Teddy Bear? – which went from Edinburgh sell-out in 2003/4 to runs at festivals nationwide, including Glastonbury…

Room on the Broom

If it’s innovative storytelling, great characterisation and witty dialogue you’re after, then Tall Stories theatre company should tick all your requisite boxes. The same could easily be said of children’s writer, Julia Donaldson – so it’s great to see…