Things to Do With Kids in the Newcastle

Next week Little Miss is on half term for a week, so as usual the week before I’m trying to plan a few activities for us to do. We’re not going anywhere special as March is shaping up to be a busy month for us so I’m trying to save as much money for that instead, however unless the weather is truly terrible I’d rather we didn’t spend the whole time in the house.

We live on the Scottish Border so we can either go north or we can go south when it comes to finding thing to do. North we have up towards Edinburgh and south we have the coastal road to Newcastle. Unless we’re going in the car with my sister I usually stick to exploring south of the border with Little Miss as they not only have the train line but they have a really good and well priced bus service that can really help make an adventure out of it (and keep costs down).

So these are my suggestions of fun things to do in Newcastle with kids;

Do a City Sightseeing Bus Tour

This is one of Little Miss favourite things to do in a city. As soon as she sees the sign she goes crazy. We’ve done both Newcastle and Edinburgh, and I’m hoping if the weather is nice when we go to London we’ll be able to do one there as well. It’s a hop on hop off style tour so if you have a specific attraction you want to have closer look at you can get off the bus and rejoin again at a later time. The one in Newcastle extends over into Gateshead so you can have a closer look at the famous bridges. It also goes by the Baltic, The Sage, the Quayside, Greys Monument, Laing Art Gallery so you could use it as your days transport between the big name attractions in Newcastle & Gateshead because although it doesn’t look it, it’s a fair hike around the city. It’s a great way to see the city and if you have kids 5 and under they’ll probably just really enjoy riding on an open top bus!

More information here.

Visit Seven Stories – The National Centre of Children’s Books

This is on our list of places to visit at some point this year. Little Miss loves books and I have heard only good reports about Seven Stories so it’s a must do. It’s a bit like a museum for children’s books in the sense there are exhibitions but it’s definitely one of those places aimed to make educational things more fun for kids, a bit like a science centre. If your kid likes books, learning or hands on fun activities this is the place for you. Now I need to decide whether LM would prefer to be dressed as Alice or Belle to visit.. hah.

More information here.

Visit the Centre for Life Science Museum

If you’re looking for a way to entertain children a science museum is one of the best indoor you can do. It’s both educational, fun and hands on. I was a bit apprehensive before taking LM last summer as she hadn’t even started school at that point and had no concept of the world of science, however she found plenty to do. In the winter months they have a large ice rink outside but as we visited in the summer that wasn’t there. There is a main room with loads of science experiments to try that she really loved. An area when you can don a white coat which is focused around biology and micro-organisms (we gave that a miss as she really is too young). A brain and how your brain works exhibition and then an upstairs area for younger children where they learn through play. Another thing we missed is the 4D experience as I just didn’t know how LM would react. If you have dinosaur mad kids, go this half term as it’s currently Ice Age; Dawn of the Dinosaurs! Finally, Centre for Life often has a large exhibition on at the moment it’s a Lego exhibition.

More information here.

Eat at the Botanist

My favourite place to eat in Newcastle is The Botanist. It’s situated right in the centre of Newcastle, just off Grey’s Monument and although it is slightly upmarket it’s interesting enough that kids will enjoy it. LM LOVED it. It’s just an all around wonderful place to eat. The theming is brilliant, the food is good and LM got a really awesome colouring sheet which kept her entertained until her food came. Her food was brilliantly presented which just added to my love for the place as an adult. A little pricey but if you’re looking for a treat on a day out, this is your place. They apparently do great cocktails too!

You can check out my review here.

Explore Metro Centre

If it’s raining outside don’t forget just over the River Tyne there is the Metro Centre which offers fun for all ages under one roof. It’s mainly a shopping centre but there is also the Odeon cinema that has an IMAX screen, dozens of dining options, bowling, soft play, and an arcade. It’s probably my favourite place to go shopping with LM, as if she behaves I can reward her with an activity of her choosing. She loves the little train that runs and there is always activities put on for children during the school holidays. Definitely something to keep everyone happy! I’ve been going here during school holidays since I was a kid and they had a tiny cinema, it was just nice to eat somewhere that wasn’t Mcdonalds for a change!

More information along with mall maps here.

Visit the Great North Museum

When I was a kid if my dad had taken some days off in the school holidays we used to always go to the Hancock Museum (now known as the Great North Museum). I have some fond memories of going for the Star Wars exhibition, a Dinosaur exhibition and an Egyptian exhibition. I knew every room like the back of my hand. However, in the 20 years since I probably last visited it’s had a huge face lift and it’s much more hands on and younger child friendly. Kids like to touch and when I used to go there wasn’t much you could touch. It’s so different now and when we went last summer LM found plenty of things to see and do. If you’re on a tight budget and the weather is rubbish I cannot recommend enough that you pop by The Great North Museum which is just around the corner from Haymarket metro stop. It’s free to enter and that even include the new Bones exhibition that’s on until the 14th May.

More information here.

Newcastle is such a great place to entertain kids, not only do you have the Newcastle, but you also have Sunderland and Gateshead just over the Tyne which multiplies your activities to do by 3. There are millions of places to eat, multiple cinemas, theatres, parks, museums (I definitely recommend you check out Beamish in the summer!) it’s so easy to keep your child busy during the school holidays as there is something for everyone’s budget.

If you need anymore ideas you can always check out what’s on in Newcastle.