www.list.co.uk/kids
Events are listed by city, then type. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to suzanne@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black.
Glasgow Activities and Fun Doctor Who Activities Sat & Sun until Sat 7 Nov, times vary. Free with exhibition ticket: £7.50 (£4.50). Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. A variety of craft activities and tours. Teddy Bear Drop-in Coffee Workshop Sat 24 Oct, 10am–noon. £3.50 per workshop. Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre, 8–10 Balcarres Avenue, Kelvindale, 339 6185. Kids can make a dancing teddy. We Dance, Wee Groove Fri 30 & Sat 31 Oct, Fri 10am & 1.30pm; Sat 10.30am, 1pm & 3pm. £2 (family ticket £5). Scottish Youth Theatre, The Old Sheriff Court, 105 Brunswick Street, 287 9835. A groove extravaganza for clubbers aged 0- 4. Part of the Inspiration Festival. Hallowe’en Family Party Fri 30 Oct, 6.30pm. £6. Glasgow Science Centre, 50 Pacific Quay, 08715 401000. Go guising, take part in workshops, see scary science or try something truly terrifying – karaoke – without braving the elements. The Great Hallowe’en Puppet Making Workshop Sat 31 Oct, 10am & 2pm. £6.95 (£3.50). Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre, 8–10 Balcarres Avenue, Kelvindale, 339 6185. Make an extra creepy puppet. Boo! Little Explorer Days: Animal Bites Wed 4 Nov, 10am–1pm. £6.25 per child (accompanying adult free). Glasgow Science Centre, 50 Pacific Quay, 08715 401000. Toothy fun (and learning too) in this sing-a-long session about baby, adult and animal teeth. Ages 2–5. Music Children’s Classic Concerts: Shake, Rattle & Roll! Fri 30 Oct, 6.30pm. £3.50 (£2). Platform, The Bridge, 1000 Westerhouse Road, Easterhouse, 276 9696. Owen and Olly are back with more musical mayhem. Ages 4–14. Children’s Classic Concerts: Magic and Monsters Sat 31 Oct, 3pm. £10 (£6; family ticket £29). Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. Owen and Olly present a Hallowe’en special with conductor David Danzmayr and CBBC’s James MacKenzie. Music at the Brewhouse: The Songbook of Unsingable Songs Mon 2 Nov, 7pm. £5 (£4; family ticket £16). Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. See preview.
Theatre, Dance & Comedy The Songbird Until Fri 23 Oct, Thu 1.30pm & 7pm; Fri 10.30am. £8 (£3.50–£4.50). Platform, The Bridge, 1000 Westerhouse Road, Easterhouse, 276 9696. Composer David Paul Jones joins Giant for an interactive performance about an extraordinary exotic bird. Ages 8+. Goldilocks & the Three Bears Fri 23–Mon 26 Oct (not Sun), 2pm & 3.45pm. £4.95 (children £4.75; £2 on Fri & Mon as part of the Inspiration Festival. Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre, 8–10 Balcarres Avenue, Kelvindale, 287 9835. Miriam Lambert and her puppets tell the story of naughty Goldie. Ages 3+. Glasgow Kids Comedy Club Sun 25 Oct & 1 Nov, 3–4pm. £3. The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0870 600 6055. Live laughs for younger comedy fans. 25 Oct: JoJo Sutherland, Silky and host Billy Kirkwood keep it clean for ages 8–12. 1 Nov: Siân Bevan, John Gordillo and host Bruce Devlin. No under 5s; all kids must be accompanied by an adult. A Moose in the Hoose Mon 26 & Tue 27 Oct, 10.30am & 1.15pm. £2. Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. A musical version of the Scots counting book by James Robertson and Matthew Fitt. Ages 3–7.
Oscar and the Deep Sea Pearl Wed 28 & Thu 29 Oct, 10.30am & 1.30pm. £2. Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre, 8–10 Balcarres Avenue, Kelvindale, 287 9835. Show by Mousetale Puppets. Ages 3+. Part of Inspiration Festival. The Three Bears Wed 28 Oct, 10.30am & 1.15pm. £2. Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. Clydebuilt Puppets takes the classic story and gives it a healthy eating spin. Ages 3+. Storytelling FREE Storytelling for Mums and Tots Fri 23 & 30 Oct, 10–11am. St James’ (Pollok) Parish Church, 183 Meiklerig Crescent, 882 3025. Weekly storytelling sessions. Holmwood: The Home of Hallowe’en Sat 24 & Sun 25 Oct, noon–6pm. £4 (£2). Holmwood House, 61–63 Netherlee Road, Cathcart, 0844 493 2204. Park your broom outside and join in the fun.
Edinburgh Activities and Fun FREE Fly on the Wall Sat 24 Oct, Noon & 2pm. National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, 225 7534. Learn about Romans at noon and Vikings at 2pm. Ages 8–12. FREE Brand New Super Science Show! Until Fri 23 Oct, 12.15pm, 1.15pm, 2.15pm & 3.15pm. National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, 225 7534. Scotland’s coolest inventions. FREE Love it and Leaf It Until Fri 23 Oct, 1–3pm. Royal Botanic Garden, 20a Inverleith Row, 552 7171. Find out about the life of leaves. Lyceum Workshops Thu 22 & Fri 23 Oct, 10am–4pm. £25 (£45 for both days). Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street, 248 4830. On Thursday look behind the scenes. On Friday find out what it’s like to work at the Lyceum. Ages 8–12. Spooky Hallowe’en Half-term Workshop Thu 22 & Mon 26 Oct, 10.30am–12.30pm. £10. Imagination Workshop, 136 Marchmont Road, 466 0148. Decorate a pumpkin on Thu 22. Ages 5+. Make a wire frame lantern on Mon 26. Ages 7+. Booking essential. The Old Trees of Lauriston Mon 26 Oct, 10.30am–1pm. £4 per adult/child. Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South, 529 3963. Find out why the leaves turn gorgeous shades of red and gold in the autumn. Book in advance. FREE Historical Haunted Hermitage Fri 30 Oct, 2–4pm. Hermitage of Braid Visitor Centre, 69 Braid Road, 447 7145. Meet spooky characters from the past. Ages 8+. Booking essential. Hopetoun’s Hallowe’en Walk Fri 30 Oct, 5.30–7pm. £5. Hopetoun House, Shore Road, South Queensferry, 331 2451. A spooky tour of Hopetoun House’s woods. Booking essential. Air and Scare Hallowe’en Sat 31 Oct, 10am–5pm. Included in admission: £8.50 (£6.50; under 12s free). National Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield, 247 4238. Go along in your scariest costume for a spooky day of activities. FREE Spooky Plants at Samhuinn Sat 31 Oct, 1–3pm. Royal Botanic Garden, 20a Inverleith Row, 552 7171. Many plants are symbolic to Hallowe’en . . . or just plain spooky! Ages 7+. Spooky Fun Sat 31 Oct, 2.30–4pm. £3 per child. Newhailes, Newhailes Road, Musselburgh, 0844 493 2124. Some gentle creepiness for the little ones on Hallowe’en. Ages P2–4. The Wicked Walk Sat 31 Oct, 6–7.30pm. Adults £2 (children £3). Newhailes, Newhailes Road, Musselburgh, 0844 493 2124. Scary walk around the dark estate. Ages P5+. Booking essential. Christmas Present Making Workshops: Smelly Feet Lavender Bag Sun 1 Nov, 3.30–5pm. £12. Imagination Workshop, 136 Marchmont Road, 466 0148. Make two scented lavender bags in the shape of a pair of feet. Ages 6+.
Kids
PREVIEW CHILDREN’S CONCERT THE SONGBOOK OF UNSINGABLE SONGS Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Mon 2 Nov; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Tue 3 Nov
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 something for children to sing,’ explains Deazley, ‘that was a licence for them to say things which perhaps they ought not to. That’s what makes them unsingable.’ Which means what? Swear words? Rude words? No, they’re just not singing about the stuff we adults usually foist upon them.
‘When we make something for children to perform, it’s usually very
worthy,’ says Deazley, ‘and involves friendship or recycling or other things that grown-ups think are very important for children to know about. But children don’t behave like that – they enjoy little tragedies and nonsense. So we’ve tried to make something which sits in a childlike world better than an adult’s view of a childlike world.’ The result is Songs from the Unsingable Songbook, and award-winning
composer Deazley and well-loved poet, Harvey have brought together 300 children to deliver it. Along with 14-piece band, Music at the Brewhouse, 150 Edinburgh children and 150 Glasgow children will entertain audiences with songs such as ‘Etiquette for Monkeys’.
‘Some of the songs are very surreal,’ says Deazley. ‘Some of them are
very funny and one of them is terribly sad. They’re giving children a chance to be free, fully rounded little people. And because we’ve got a very noisy amplified band, which is a cross between classical and rock, it also introduces them to a new sound world.’ (Kelly Apter)
Music Children’s Classic Concerts: Magic and Monsters Sun 1 Nov, 3pm. £10 (£6; family ticket £29). Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. See Glasgow. Music at the Brewhouse: The Songbook of Unsingable Songs Tue 3 Nov, 7pm. £5 (family ticket £16). Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. See preview.
Theatre & Dance Curse of the Demeter Thu 22–Sat 24 Oct, 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £13–£16 (£5–£12). Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. See review in Theatre. Storytelling FREE Tell-a-Story Day Fri 30 Oct, 2–3.30pm. Ticketed. Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 473 2000. Live storytelling for ages 6+. Part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2009.
FREE Tell-a-Story Day: Australian Tales Fri 30 Oct, 3–3.45pm. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, 556 9579. Magical stories from Aussie storyteller Anne E Stewart. Ages 5+. Part of the SISF 2009. Saturday Stories Sat 31 Oct, 11am. £5 (£4; family ticket £15). Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. Storytelling from Andy Cannon. Children must be accompanied. FREE Ti-Jean and a World of Stories Sat 31 Oct, 2–3.30pm. Ticketed. Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 473 2000. Stories, songs and crafts for all the family. Ages 6+. Part of the SISF 2009. FREE Talking Trees Storytelling – Native American Tales Sun 1 Nov, 2–3pm. Royal Botanic Garden, 20a Inverleith Row, 556 9579. Hear exciting and exotic tales of Native Americans. Ages 5+. Part of the SISF 2009. 22 Oct–5 Nov 2009 THE LIST 61