Kids

The Elves and the Shoemaker

An Easter treat for children and young people, courtesy of the Dundee Rep ensemble. This adaptation of the classic Grimm Brothers’ tale, about the penniless shoemaker and his wife who discover an exquisite pair of shoes waiting for them when they wake…

If I Was a Mouse I Would Hide in Your Hood

The myth that creating work for children is the easy option may have been busted years ago, but clearly not everybody got the memo. Musician, composer and presenter Paul Rissman is a leading light in the field of children and young people’s music, and…

National Theatre of Scotland's tfd season targets teenage audience

‘Teenagers aren’t aliens, they’re just us but younger.’ It’s a fact easily forgotten but one that playwright Rob Drummond and the rest of the team behind a new season for young people from the National Theatre of Scotland are keeping firmly in mind.

Kelvingrove Kids Fun

If you’re a primary school aged child growing up in the Central Belt, people are falling over themselves to entertain you with fun workshops. Pre-schoolers do increasingly well, too. But when it comes to those tricky teen years, the well of…

More for less: Kids

Like the slot machines in Vegas, a day out with a family of four can drain your resources in the blink of an eye. So, until they start bringing in a wage of their own, here are a few places where children can have fun for zero pounds. Glasgow City…

How Cold My Toes

The changing seasons can be a baffling concept for little ones. Sometimes it’s light at bedtime, sometimes it’s dark, not to mention alternating supplies of snow, rain, sunshine, falling leaves and budding flowers. When you’ve only encountered spring…

Tracy Beaker Returns

Anyone who tunes in to CBBC from time to time might not know it, but it’s five years since the last new episode of the show featuring the abandoned and shouty Tracy Beaker. But that constant loop of archive 20-minute snapshots of life within the…

Children's Classic Concerts: Let it Snow

There is no shortage of role models at the Children’s Classic Concerts Christmas show. Not only will young audiences experience the boundless enthusiasm of percussionist hosts Owen and Olly, but their Glasgow concert also features internationally…

Edinburgh's Christmas

‘Christmas is a time for families to be together, so we wanted to make Edinburgh’s Christmas suitable for all ages,’ says Nickie Gott, of She’s Gott It, the company charged with putting smiles on faces in the capital this Christmas. Gott and her company…

Chris Packham - Wild thing

Chris Packham recently suggested that we should just let the giant panda die out. As he comes to Glasgow, Kirstin Innes talks to the controversial conservationist.

The Weatherman

The inclement Scottish weather can be responsible for many things, most of them negative, so it’s nice to see that excessive rainfall can occasionally lead to some good. Moving to Glasgow from Dublin, musician Dave Boyd was immediately struck by how wet…

Halloween Guide: G - L

The next step in our Halloween runthrough

G is for Ghost Vigil Ghost hunting is a serious business – Derek Acorah has proved that. If you fancy busting some ghosts, then this all night Ghost Vigil aboard the Tall Ship in Glasgow is a good place to hone your skills. Conducted by experienced…

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Inspired take on the Dahl classic

Wes Anderson’s animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s much loved book is no straightforward children’s film. Wee ones might enjoy it to a degree, but they won’t get much of the typically arch humour and wanton eccentricities the filmmaker once again…

The Songbook of Unsingable Songs

Nonsense and surrealism in this show of songs for children

The songs in Stephen Deazley and Matt Harvey’s new songbook may be many things — funny, sad, silly, quirky. One thing they most certainly are not, however, is unsingable. So, why the superb — but cheekily misleading — title? ‘We both wanted to create…

Hare and Tortoise

A noisy audience at a children’s show can mean one of two things: the kids are so bored they’re chatting among themselves, or they’re so involved they just can’t keep a lid on it. Happily for Licketyspit theatre company, the latter was true at the…

The Sun, The Moon and a Boy Called River

Wee Stories Theatre isn’t afraid to tamper with a title. In recent years, the company has given us The Emperor’s New Kilt, Jock and the Beanstalk, and now they’ve taken an East European fairytale known as Old Man Almanac, and transformed it into The…

Milkshake Live!

Gently lure your wee ones away from the telly … by taking them to see their favourite telly types live. The idea is to induct the little ‘uns into a love of theatre at an early age, with all-singing and dancing appearances from the loveable likes of…

The Man Who Planted Trees

This charming show from Puppet State Theatre Company has been doing the rounds for a few years now, but the two performers approach it with the kind of freshness and wit you’d expect from a brand new show. Adapted from Jean Giono’s short story, the…

Kids hitlist

Room on the Broom Julia Donaldson’s popular storybook is transformed into a wonderful stage production by Tall Stories, complete with catchy songs, superb acting and a truly magnificent broom. Five stars. Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 31…

Who’s Afraid of the Brothers Grimm

Modern-day take on fairytale characters

The Brothers Grimm liked to show the dark side of life in their twisted fairy tales, and have scared generations of small children silly with their stories of girl-eating wolves and cannibal women living in gingerbread houses. This family show from…

Fair Trade on the Fringe

A fair day out at the Grassmarket

Every feel like the Fringe was eating a little bit of your soul? Yeah, us too, hon. Restore your karmic balance this week at the Fringe’s first all fair trade market, which features stalls selling homeware, fashion, food and books, as well as free…

Lighter Than Air

Balloon antics provoke belly laughs

It’s amazing the fun that can be generated from a few simple props. When clown Danny Schlesinger plods on stage wearing a too-tight suit and a deadpan expression, his arms weighed down with three enormous yellow balloons, you wonder whether he will be…

Twine

Moving tale of twine-made being brewed in a teapot

Riddles Court off the Royal Mile makes a suitably atmospheric location for the first Fringe show from Edinburgh-based children’s theatre company, Tortoise in a Nutshell. Their tale – in which a group of tea and cupcake-loving storytellers inadvertently…

The Brothers Lionheart

Heavy tale of death and doom

Jonathan and his little brother, Rusky set off an adventure that changes their lives forever. It’s a tale of dragons and monsters, and the mighty Tengil who has the villagers of Nangilaya living in fear. The boys must man-up and fight back against…