KIDS
Events are listed by city, then by type. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to kids@ list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Kirstyn Smith. ✽ Indicates Hitlist entry KIDS
list.co.uk/kids
HITLIST THE BEST KIDS STUFF
Events are listed by city, then by type. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to kids@ list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Kirstyn Smith. ✽ Indicates Hitlist entry GLASGOW
want to get into singing and musical fun. FREE Mother’s Space Thu 22 May & 5 Jun, 2.30pm. Merry-Go-Round, 32–34 Nithsdale Road, Strathbungo, 423 2299. A friendly and supportive group for mothers.
✽FREE Katie Morag Highland Games Sun 1 Jun, 11am–4pm. The Children’s Wood, North Kelvin Meadow, Clouston Street, westendfestival.co.uk Highlights include storytelling and actors from the CBeebies Katie Morag series. Part of West End Festival. Family Fun with Attitude Mon 2 Jun, 2–4pm. £3–£6 (children £3–£4). La Bodega Tapas Bar, 1120 South Street, 581 3401. A day for the family to learn to dance. Toddler Tuesdays Tue 3 Jun, 10.30–11.15am. £3 per child; accompanying adults free; £20 for a year of sessions. The Tall Ship at Riverside, 150 Pointhouse Place, 357 3699. Songs, rhymes, puppets and play for ages 1–4. FREE Beasties of the Glen Sun 8 Jun, 2pm. Campsie Glen Gallery & Coffee Shop, Clachan of Campsie, Campsie Glen, campsieglengallery.com Wear your wellies and the ranger helps you to find the amazing little creatures that live in the Kirk Burn. Glasgow Kids Comedy Club Sun 8 Jun, 3pm. £4. The Stand, 333 Woodlands Road, 0844 335 8879. See comedy listings.
Books & Storytelling ✽FREE Bookbug Session Thu 15 Watch out Edinburgh, there’s a new kid on the east coast block. Well, OK, chances are Dundee’s bookish extravaganza might never May, 10am–noon. Langside Halls, 5 quite reach the exalted status of the capital’s world-beating literary Langside Avenue Shawlands, 287 5919. fiesta but it’s making a very strong case for itself with a series Rhymes, stories and songs to stimulate of events that includes the likes of Nick Cave, Jackie Kay, Alan and delight wee ones. With a fun, sporty theme to celebrate the Commonwealth Warner, John Carey and Iain Banks (pictured) plus an all-day comics Games. Suitable for under threes. conference. ■ Various venues, Dundee, until Sun 27 Jun.
Activities & Fun FREE The Games We Play Until Sun Aug 17, 10am–5pm. Scotland Street School Museum, 225 Scotland Street, 287 0500. Exhibition looking at the culture of game playing across centuries. Dance with Babies Every Thursday, HEADLINE GOES HERE 1.30–2.10pm. £5 (four classes £15). Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church, Observatory Road, 334 2788. Meet new people at this dancing workshop. FREE Il Viaggio Italiano – Italian Lessons for Pre-schoolers Every Thursday, 1.30–2.30pm. Merry- Go-Round, 32–34 Nithsdale Road, Strathbungo, 423 2299. Get your kid learning Italian from an early age. Who Stole My Sausage? Thu 15 May, Wed 21 May & Thu 22 May, 7pm & 8pm. Dogs £6; humans free (max 2 humans per dog.) Dash N Dogs, 340 Battlefield Road, 632 2556. Special sensory experience for our canine chums. Part of Southside Fringe. FREE Toddler Time Every Friday, 11.30am. Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. Songs, stories and fun for under fives. FREE Rediscover the Palace Sat 17 May, 10am–5pm. Sun 18 May, 11am– 5pm. People’s Palace & Winter Gardens, Glasgow Green, 276 0788. Weekends filled with fun activities and tours. FREE Saturday Art Club Every Saturday, 10.30am–12.30pm. Gallery of Modern Art, Royal Exchange Square, 287 3050. Art activities relating to the displays. Ages 3–12. FREE Dressed to Kill Sat 17 May, 11am–4pm. Burrell Collection, 2060 Pollokshaws Road, 287 2550. Discover the last 4000 years of fashion. Part of Festival of Museums. FREE You Play the Games Sat 17 May, 11am–4pm. Scotland Street School Museum, 225 Scotland Street, 287 0500. Find the game that suits you best – with everything on offer from tiddly-winks to tennis. Festival of Museums. FREE Twin Thing! Every Monday, 2–3pm. Merry-Go-Round, 32–34 Nithsdale Road, Strathbungo, 423 2299. Weekly meet-up for mums and dads of twins (or triplets, or more!) Blue Block Studio Tue 20 May, Thu 22 May & Sat 24 May, 10.15am & 11.30am & 1.45pm. Wed 21 May, 1.45pm. £5 (£3.50). Platform, The Bridge, 1000 Westerhouse Road, Easterhouse, 276 9696. Creative space for adults and baby to create, and learn. Tweeting Toddlers Every Tuesday, 11.30am–noon. £4 suggested donation. Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. Songs, stories and activities, including – if the weather behaves – outside exploring. Ages 0–3. FREE Sing Out Children’s Choir Every Tuesday, 3.30–5pm. St Margaret’s Scottish Episcopal Church, 353–355 Kilmarnock Road, Newlands, 636 1131. A new choir for kids aged P4–7 who
✽ Children’s Classic Concerts: Going for Gold The inimitable dynamic duo, Owen and Olly, are joined by hundreds of young performers to get in a Commonwealth mood. Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 17 May.
✽ Hetty Feather Jacqueline Wilson’s exciting tale of the
plucky Hetty Feather makes it onto the stage. King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 27– Sat 31 May.
✽ Katie Morag Highland Games Spend an afternoon
celebrating everyone’s favourite island-dweller, with storytelling and a visit by actors from the CBeebies series. The Children’s Wood, Glasgow, Sun 1 Jun.
✽ Fischy Music Infectiously catchy tunes dedicated to making primary-aged kiddies feel good about themselves. Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church, Glasgow, Sat 31 May.
✽ Saltbush – Children’s Cheering Carpet
Interactive fun for 4 to 8-year- olds, journeying through Aboriginal Australia. See review, right. Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Fri 23 & Sat 24 May.
✽ Bookbug Week Scottish Book Trust’s regular story
and song sessions for pre- schoolers take on a celebratory sports theme. See preview, page 69. Various venues, Edinburgh and Glasgow, Mon 19–Sun 25 May.
76 THE LIST 15 May–12 Jun 2014
✽FREE Bookbug Session Mon 19 May, 10–11am. Geoff Shaw
Community Centre, 25 Kerrylamont Avenue, Toryglen. See above.
✽FREE Bookbug Session Tue 20 May, 10–11am. Castlemilk
Community Centre, 121 Castlemilk Drive, 634 2233. See above.
✽FREE Bookbug Session Wed 21 May, 1.30–2.30pm. Task Childcare
Services, 347 Caledonia Road. See above.
✽FREE Bookbug Session Thu 22 May, 10–11am. Goals Glasgow
South, 941 Pollokshaws Road, 636 5334. See above.
✽FREE Bookbug Session Thu 22 May, 1–2pm. Pollokshields
Community Centre, 15 Kenmure Street, Pollokshields, 420 6464. See above. FREE Outdoor Storytelling in German And English Fri 6 Jun, 11am. The Children’s Wood, North Kelvin Meadow, Clouston Street, westendfestival.co.uk Bilingual storytelling. West End Festival. FREE Nick Sharratt: Just Imagine Sat 7 Jun, 11.30am. Hillhead Library, 348 Byres Road, 339 7223. An audience with leading children’s book illustrator and author. West End Festival. Tall Tales Saturdays 17, 24 & 31 May, 10am. £6. Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. Interactive storytelling session. Ages 3–5. Yellow Valley Tue 20 May, 1.45pm. Wed 21 May & Fri 23 May, 10.15am & 11.30am & 1.45pm. £8 (£3.50–£4.50). Platform, The Bridge, 1000 Westerhouse Road, Easterhouse, 276 9696. Musical storytelling performance inspired by Kenyan children’s book Who’s Calling. Family Storytime Sat 24 & Sun 25 May & Sat 7 & Sun 8 Jun, 10.30am & 12.30pm. £5 (family £15; under 2s free).
INTERACTIVE THEATRE SALTBUSH – CHILDREN’S CHEERING CARPET Festival Theatre Studio, Edinburgh, run ended; Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Fri 23 & Sat 24 May ●●●●●
The simple but effective conceit of this show by Compagnia TPO and Insite Arts offers a magic carpet ride into another world, if you will, and one which is simply executed but cannily designed to play upon the imaginations of its early primary school-age target audience. Seated along lengthy benches facing each other, the kids all have easy access to a long, rectangular central performance space.
At first this is just for the performers, two female and one male, and
for the giant animated projection which fills the space below them. Building up slowly in the low light, the performers interact gently with these images at first, splashing the ‘water’ flowing under them, until they invite children here and there from the front rows onto the surface to skip between fast-moving lily pads, dodge speeding city traffic and dance en masse under a floating fabric ‘sea’. The Australian Aboriginal aesthetic of the design and the show’s subtle reflection upon the tension between the land and the city is fairly ephemeral, not that it requires much expanding upon in this context, and parents might be put in mind of those interactive video floors in soft play centres which are designed to exhaust kids. Yet it’s a well-designed show in terms of building a sense of wonder and allowing controlled but energetic interaction, and it kept the kids firmly engaged throughout its 45-minute running time. (David Pollock)