Holidays are child's play at the Kids Show
WHO can forget the fizzy whirr of excitement that would bubble through your belly with the end of term and beginning of the extended summer break from school?
It meant six whole weeks – that’s one, two, three, four, five, S-I-X whole weeks - of hanging around, climbing trees and not going to bed at the usual time. before returning to school with tales of incredible shenanigans and general getting up to all sorts of things.
Funny thing is, it doesn’t feel quite like that from the other side – of the steep and sometimes rocky hill that is parenthood.
Now it means six whole weeks of finding stuff for the little blighters to do, people to keep them safe, and worrying that they might start lighting fires and breaking windows. Even if they are all under the age of nine.
Look at it in another way, and that’s more than a month of saying ‘please don’t do that’ and ‘yes, that really was the last fiver you’re going to get today’.
Salvation might possibly lie in the Kids Fun Ideas Show, which takes place at Manchester Central on Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28, and makes the rather ambitious promise of to offering a different idea for every weekend, weekday and evening throughout the holiday.
It’s the brainchild of 41-year-old Ruth Robinson, who has no children of her own but knows from the travails of family members and work colleagues just how hard it can be to occupy the young ’uns and launched KFIS last year by way of signposting some solutions.
The really clever part of the Kids Fun Ideas Show is that it’s part exhibition and part fun day out in itself.
Parents are encouraged to take their children with them so that they can spend quality time look at the exhibition stands for ideas, breaking away from the leaflet picking to watch the action on stage, or take part in some of the many workshops.
One thing that lads and their dads might like is the interactive Manchester United workshop, where there’s even an opportunity to try on kit and football boots as worn by a certain David Beckham. You can almost hear the cries of ‘out of the way son, they’ll never fit you!’.
“Although the focus is inevitably on the kids we have deliberately set out to create an event that everyone will enjoy,” the show’s director explains.
Opportunities
“The great thing about the show is that it isn’t just an exhibition, there are loads of opportunities to get involved, try something new and discover the hundreds of exciting days out we have right on our doorstepin the UK.
“If people just want to bring along a picnic, spread a rug and make the most of all the live stage shows and workshop areas they are sure to have a wonderful day out and take home ideas for the holidays.
“But it’s absolutely not a creche,” Ruth adds. “This is about children and parents doing fun things together.”
Another added incentive for visitors are the goody bags for parents – kids get a passport to fun – and the promise of special offers and discount deals from many of the exhibitors.
They include Manchester United, Blackpool Illuminations, The Museum of Science and Industry, Camelot Theme Park and Splash World.
“We can’t say exactly what the deals will be, because the exhibitors themselves will decide that on the day.”
For Ruth, who also runs a sales and marketing support company, KFIS is as much a business enterprise as it is a pleasure. She’d eventually like to take the show on the road. to different cities across the country.
Who knows? Her initiative might just provide some welcome relief for frazzled parents everywhere.
“I was pretty sure there was a gap in the market,” she adds. “In the run-up to the holidays, you can hear everybody saying ‘six weeks, what are we going to do with the kids?’.”
Don’t I know it, Ruth. Don’t I know it!
The Kids Fun Ideas Show is at Manchester Central – formerly G-Mex – on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28. Ticket prices start from £6 per adult with children under 16 going free but must be accompanied by an responsible adultat all times. Visit kidsfunideasshow.com for further details.
Published: Tue, 23 June, 2009
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